Weekly News highlights

Stephen Northrop, a 42-year-old British tourist, died after inhaling smoke in a fire that broke out on Monday in the boiler room of the Halland Hotel, Ta' l-Ibrag. None of the hotel staff or of the other residents was injured.

A full scale fire drill just days before the fire could have avoided more serious consequences, the hotel owners believe. Tourists returned to the hotel on Tuesday to collect their personal effects and lauded the manner in which hotel staff handled the emergency. They also had words of praise for the firemen.

The tourists were transferred to the Dolmen Hotel, Qawra, on Monday night, after the fire.

PM joins world leaders in Moscow

Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi joined world leaders at the 60th anniversary celebrations of the end of World War II in Moscow on Monday.

Dr Gonzi attended a parade in Red Square to pay homage to the role played by the then Soviet Union in the defeat of Nazism in 1945.

Jailed for attempted theft

Justin Fenech, 21, of Qormi, on Monday was jailed for three years for trying to rob two elderly men and trying to carry out a hold-up at a Qormi lotto booth last year.

Mr Fenech pleaded guilty to trying to hold up a lotto booth belonging to Charles Pool, holding the people inside against their will and slightly injuring Mr Pool on November 24, 2004. He also pleaded guilty to the illegal possession of a harpoon, assaulting and trying to rob Salvatore Fenech and John Muscat on the same day, stealing Brian Camilleri's car and stealing Edwin Emanuel Fiott's car on November 19.

Smuggled goods found in greengrocery

Whisky and cigarettes on which excise duty had not been paid were found on Monday at a hawker's greengrocery in San Gwann.

The goods, 252 cartons of cigarettes of various brands, each containing 200 cigarettes and 22 one-litre bottles of Bell's whisky, were found by Customs officers, who had been tipped about the sale of smuggled goods by a vegetable hawker.

The Customs Department estimated that the unpaid excise duty amounted to about Lm4,000.

Sheltered housing for the elderly

The first sheltered housing project, consisting of eight one-bedroom apartments reserved for elderly people, has just been completed by the Housing Authority.

Due to the high demand for this first block of Category 1 sheltered housing flats, the authority is trying to incorporate similar flats in its next project. Fresh plans are being submitted to MEPA to facilitate this.

Both blocks are located in Floriana the finished one in 22, Capuchins Street, and the other one under construction in Argotti and Lion Street.

Shorter jail term for pensioner in defilement case

A 67-year-old man who was jailed for six years for defiling two minors has had the term reduced to four years after the Court of Appeal noted the circumstances of the case.

Chief Justice Vincent DeGaetano, presiding over the Court of Appeal, examined the plea in which the man claimed he suffered from a personality disorder and was obsessed by nudism.

The court held that the fact that a person suffered from a personality disorder or the fact that he believed his actions were not morally or legally wrong did not exonerate him from criminal liability.

Taking into account all the circumstances of the case, as well as the fact that the incidents had occurred on only two occasions and that the touching of the private parts of the minors had happened sporadically, the court ordered that the accused be jailed for four years rather than the maximum of six.

New oil drilling deal

Oil and gas exploration company MedOil plc signed an agreement with the Maltese government last Tuesday week to carry out a one-year exploration study of Maltese waters. Details of the study surfaced on Thursday.

The study would focus on an area off northern Malta near the maritime boundary with southern Sicily, not far from the Italian Vega oilfield.

The company, which believes its chances of striking black gold are good, reckons the study will cost about £120,000

Man held up in Bugibba

Three hooded men got out of a white Nissan van and held up a 49-year-old man as he was leaving his house in Julius Street, Bugibba, on Thursday morning. A fourth accomplice was reportedly in the van. Around Lm700 in cash and several cheques were stolen.

Mgarr terminal designs

MEPA on Thursday unanimously approved an application for the construction of a sea passenger terminal for the Gozo ferry service and associated works at Mgarr Harbour.

The designs will supersede those approved in a previous development application. The main changes include a reorganisation of access routes, a reduction in size and height of the terminal building and a change in its external appearance.

Dutch PM in Malta

The Dutch Prime Minister, Jan Peter Balkenende, took a break from a private visit to Malta to meet his Maltese counterpart, Dr Lawrence Gonzi, on Friday and to officially inaugurate the Dutch Embassy at the Whitehall Mansions, Ta' Xbiex.

After the two prime ministers met at Castille, Dr Gonzi underlined Malta's pivotal role in Stabilising southern Europe and said the two sides touched on a number of common issues, including the further enlargement of the EU.

Dr Balkenende also called on President Fenech Adami.

Stabbing charge

William Mercieca, 31, of Valletta, on Friday was charged with stabbing a Somali refugee in Floriana, seriously injuring him, on Wednesday night. He pleaded not guilty.

Moroccan woman charged with importing heroin

A Moroccan woman, Fatiha Khallouf, 32, of Msida, who holds a Maltese passport, on Friday was charged with importing 1.5 kilos of heroin from Tunis the previous day.

The woman pleaded not guilty. Magistrate Jacqueline Padovani Grima denied bail.