Sunday, 23 July

Accused of importing khat
Khalid Id Ahmed, a 27-year-old Somali granted refugee status and residing at the Marsa Open Centre is remanded in custody after being accused of importing 12 kilos of khat, a drug never seen in Malta but which is very popular in the Horn of Africa.

House arrest
Two Hamrun men are placed under house arrest after being charged with injuring a police sergeant, threatening and obstructing him from carrying out his duty.
Marvin Lanzon, 34, and Jean Paul Magri, 21, are forced to deposit a bail bond of Lm500 each and bound with a personal guarantee of Lm1,500.

Monday, 24 July

Funding for stem cell research
The EU Council of Ministers approves funding for embryonic stem cell research under the EU’s seventh framework programme, a position rejected by Malta and a minority of other member states on ethical grounds.
Competitiveness Minister Censu Galea says Malta has no problem with research making use of stem cells from naturally aborted embryos or cells deriving from blood chords, but objects to research carried out on clone lines available on the market.

Hold-up
Over Lm2,000 are stolen in a hold-up on a Group 4 employee as he leaves the offices next to the Fortina Hotel, in Sliema.
Police say two hooded armed thieves assaulted the security man before he could reach the security van.

Dismal trade fair
An overwhelming number of businesses surveyed by the GRTU say they fared worse than last year during the International Trade Fair of Malta. With 64% of exhibitors saying they fared worse, the majority felt the reason behind the fair’s slowdown was the lack of disposable income. Another 40 per cent blamed the economy’s general situation and 18 per cent the World Cup.

Tuesday, 25 July

Gonzi meets Prodi
During a one-hour meeting in Rome, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi and Italian premier Romano Prodi discuss the phenomenon of illegal immigration with Italy fully committed to carry out joint sea patrols in the central Mediterranean.
Italy is also suffering the brunt of irregular immigration.

Boundary changes
The EU Commission says government’s decision to extend the development boundaries may be in breach of the Strategic Environmental Assessment (Sea) and the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) directives.
The Commission will be tackling the issue in autumn. Government, however, insists there is no breach of directives, also denying claims by the Green Party and environmental NGOs that the rationalisation process falls under the Sea Directive.

Wednesday, 26 July

Building zones approved
Parliament approves government’s motion to extend the building development zones with MPs voting along party lines. Labour MPs are given a free vote unlike government MPs.
The vote is preceded by heated exchanges between MPs of both sides of the House, with Opposition Leader Alfred Sant insisting there were reports that many thousands of liri had been paid by some land owners for their properties in Mosta to be included in the development zones.
Environmentalists, Alternattiva Demokratika and hundreds of individuals stage a protest against the development boundaries, outside parliament ahead of the vote.

Guns turn on auditor general
The Public Accounts Committee approves a motion put forward by Austin Gatt to appoint a person to investigate the conduct of the Office of the Auditor General in its investigation of the Voice of the Mediterranean (VoM). The Labour MPs on the PAC vote against the motion which is carried by virtue of government’s majority.
Gatt insists the auditor’s report could have been manoeuvred an pre-determined. The Labour MPs had asked for a magisterial inquiry to determine the responsibility of everyone involved.

Thursday, 27 July

Air Malta flight problems
An Air Malta airplane is forced to land in Paris on leaving Heathrow after it develops cabin pressure problems. Air Malta flight KM103, with 144 passengers on board, lands safely at Orly airport about an hour after it leaves London.

Record profits
HSBC Bank Malta plc and its subsidiaries record a pre-tax profit of Lm20.6 million for the six months ended 30 June, an increase of 11.3 per cent over the Lm18.5 million earned in the same period last year.
The bank says tax on profits are Lm7.1 million, resulting in a net profit after tax of Lm13.4 million for the half year.
Total assets stand at Lm1,706 million representing a three per cent increase over December 31 last year.

Friday, 28 July

Electric shock
An eight-year-old boy is fighting for his life after suffering an electric shock while trying to connect a neon light to an electricity plug.
The boy suffers from severe injuries and is in critical condition.

Saturday, 29 July

Woman held up
No one is injured after three hooded thieves force their way into a private residence in Siggiewi demanding money from the residence owner, a 48-year-old woman. The thieves get away with around Lm500 in cash.