Weekly News highlights

Around 3,400 pairs of counterfeit shoes were intercepted by customs officials last week in a six-metre container on board the Puget, which had left from a Far East port at the beginning of the month and was passing through Malta on its way to Algeria. The merchandise included Nike, Adidas, Puma, Wenta, Jinhui and Southern-Woodpecker shoes. This was the first time that the last three brands were seen in Malta.

Gonzi meets Blair in Downing Street

Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi met British premier Tony Blair at 10, Downing Street, on Monday, saying the two countries were "on the same wavelength". Both agreed that illegal immigration had to be tackled as part of the world's response to globalisation. Other issues discussed during the meeting were economic reform in Europe and a possible budget deal in the EU, and the Commonwealth summit to be held in Malta next month.

Lm1.5 million budgeted for CHOGM

A Total of Lm596,784 has so far been spent by the government on the Commonwealth Heads of Govern-ment Meeting (CHOGM); Lm1.5 million have been budgeted for the event, Foreign Minister Michael Frendo told Parliament on Monday. Dr Frendo said some of the spending would be recouped through payment for services to journalists and the accommodation of delegates at the Golden Sands Hotel.

Hotel suspected of electricity theft

A gozo hotel is being investigated on suspicion of electricity theft after a seal was found missing and the phase disconnected. Sources close to Enemalta Corporation told The Times last week that the illegal practice yielded an unregistered and unbilled amount of Lm10,000 per annum.

Probe into major jewellery theft continues

The police are still investigating a hold-up on Monday, when two hooded, armed robbers held up three Italian salesmen who were about to unload about Lm40,000 worth of jewellery at Vascas Jewellers in Naxxar. The stolen Toyota van used by the thieves was later found abandoned in Lija.

Electricity surcharge raised to 55%

THE electricity surcharge has been raised from 17 to 55 per cent as Government on Tuesday announced wide-ranging measures to cushion the impact of spiralling oil prices. Unleaded and lead replacement petrol prices will increase by 3c9 a litre; kerosene and diesel prices remain unchanged. Petrol prices will now be reviewed monthly.

The government and Enemalta next year will cover Lm31.2 million in fuel costs while the new surcharge rate, the subsequent adjustments and the new excise duty on petrol are expected to raise about Lm33 million from consumers.

Three youths jailed for beach rape

An unnamed Libyan youth has been jailed for raping a 14-year-old student on a St Julian's beach on June 27, 2002, after he made a bet with two Libyan friends. The youth, who was 17 at the time, was jailed for four years; his friends, who were both 16, were each jailed for two years for complicity.

Search for Rosso's body continues

Anthony Bugeja, 37, and Piero Di Bartolo, a 31-year-old Sicilian living in Malta, who were charged last Sunday with the murder of Albert Brian Rosso, were escorted onto a patrol boat to help with the search of Rosso's body on Wednesday afternoon. Rosso disappeared on October 10. Civil Protection Department divers searched the area in depths of 60 metres close to the Freeport in Birzebbuga.

The two men denied all charges and were remanded in custody.

All week the search proved difficult because of poor visibility, underwater currents and rough seas. A fishing boat suspected to have been used in the crime was taken away by police for forensic tests. On Friday divers lowered a robotic camera into the water to scan the seabed.

Pandemic threat 'extremely serious'

Almost 25 per cent of respondents to an online poll by The Times last week said they were taking the threat of an influenza pandemic "extremely seriously"; 28.88 per cent said they were not taking it seriously at all and that the threat was overblown.

Examinations carried out on Monday on three dead birds found on board the container ship Norsuk on Sunday evening by stevedores at the Freeport established that they probably died of natural causes. A Food and Veterinary Division official said it was unlikely that the birds were on board when the ship left Taiwan as decomposition indicated they had only been dead for a few days.

A ban on imports from third countries of captive live birds, other than poultry for commercial purposes, was also announced by the EU on Tuesday.

Zurrieq shooting

Mariano Grixti, 42, of Zurrieq, on Thursday was charged with trying to kill Joseph Mifsud, 49, and his son Redeemer, 15, when he lost his temper and shot them following an argument over a rubble wall in a Zurrieq field on Wednesday afternoon. Grixti pleaded not guilty.

Jumbo Lido to be demolished

The derelict Jumbo Lido in Qui-Si-Sana, Sliema, is to be demolished and the site completely cleared. The site had been leased by private operators from the government, but following an agreement earlier this month between the Estate Management Department and the operator, the property was handed back to the government.

Ninth corpse found at sea

Nine Corpses were found at sea this week. On Friday morning a corpse found in Bahar ic-Caghaq is thought to be unconnected to the other eight, believed to be of immigrants who were wearing life jackets, fished out from the sea. The last corpse could be that of a tourist who has not yet been reported missing.

The body of a man found at Comino on Wednesday also raised suspicions as he had a lighter complexion and was wearing swimming trunks. The badly decomposed body could have been out at sea for about 10 days.

DLH cultural awards

George Cini, a The Times deputy editor, on Friday was presented with Din l-Art Helwa's award for heritage journalism by President Emeritus Ugo Mifsud Bonnici. The award, held for the first time this year, was part of the organisation's 40th anniversary celebrations. Mr Cini, who won his award for his series of articles on Strait Street, donated his Lm200 cash prize to DLH.

Twelve entries were received from six journalists. Daniela Attard Bezzina (l-Orizzont), and Lino Bugeja and Astrid Vella, both contributors to The Sunday Times, were each awarded a diploma. Mr Bugeja wrote a colourful dissertation on the troglodyte churches in Rabat and Ms Vella an in-depth article on Sarria church, highlighting the value of restoration, both published by The Sunday Times on September 26, 2004 and June 5, 2005 respectively.

Teenagers accused of holding elderly couple

Costantino Felice, 19, of Qormi, and an unnamed 16-year-old were on Friday charged with holding an elderly couple, Francesco and Grazia Camilleri, on Wednesday morning and trying to rob them. The two youths were placed under house arrest and each was bound against a personal guarantee of Lm2,000.

Young woman held up at home

On Friday morning, a 20-year-old woman from Attard was robbed of a small sum by two armed men who accosted her in her garage and then forced her inside the home at gunpoint.

The police said two hooded men, one of them armed, got away in a car. The woman was not injured.

Suspended jail term for string of shop thefts

A Couple from the former Soviet republic of Georgia were on Friday given an 18-month jail term suspended for three years after they admitted stealing several items and clothing from Miss Selfridge, Promod, Marks and Spencer's, Memory Lane, Morgan, Next, BHS and Square Deal all in Sliema over the past two months. Jimsher Abdaladze, 47, and his wife Bela Babunashviti, 46, filed an early guilty plea and had returned the stolen items.