Weekly News highlights

A group of 33 refugees left for Holland on Monday under an agreement reached earlier this year when Holland pledged to resettle 36 refugees to help allieviate Malta's immigration crisis. The resettlement was described by Home Affairs Minister Tonio Borg as a breakthrough - Holland is the first EU country to take refugees from another member state.

Matsec to be rescheduled

Students finishing fifth form and upper sixth form in 2008 are likely to be the first to sit for their Matsec exams in June and July instead of in the April to June period. The government's plan to schedule the exams closer to summer, effectively lengthening the scholastic year by five teaching weeks, is based on a recommendation made in a review of the Matsec system.

Elderly man dies in accident

John Agius, aged 87, of Swieqi, died on Thursday after being involved in a traffic accident in St George Street, St Julian's, on Tuesday morning. Mr Agius, who was driving a Peugeot 106, was involved in a head-on collision with an Isuzu van driven by a 29-year-old from St Julian's. The other driver was not injured.

Credit card fraud charges

Zdravko Svilenov Milouchev, 34, a Bulgarian from San Gwann, on Thursday was charged with credit card fraud in one of a series of similar arrests carried out across Europe. Milouchev pleaded not guilty. Searches at his house yielded over Lm1,300 and over €2,000. Milouchev was denied bail and Magistrate Silvio Meli ordered his financial assets frozen.

Cannabis trafficking charges

Egyptian Ekramy Abdel Aziz Mobarak, 30, of St Paul's Bay, and Andrea Zammit, 54, of Rabat, on Friday were charged in court with conspiring to deal in 14.3 kilos of cannabis resin. The two men pleaded not guilty. Both were remanded in custody and their assets were confiscated.

Tuna farm relocation contested

The tuna farm operators who will have to relocate their facility to the newly approved aquaculture zone are to appeal MEPA's decision. Dr John Refalo, the legal representative of Salvu Ellul and Joseph Caruana, owners of Malta Fish Farming and Fish and Fish Ltd respectively, said his clients would resort to "other legal procedures". On Thursday, MEPA gave the green light for an aquaculture zone six km off Marsascala where two tuna farms currently operating close to shore to be moved.

Tobacco adverts outlawed

A legal notice published in Friday's Government Gazette has made printed adverts promoting tobacco illegal. Described as a "breakthrough law" by Health Promotion Department head Mario Spiteri, LN 406 of 2005 states that no person can advertise cigarettes, cigars, tobacco or tobacco products on billboards, shop canopies, sunshades, umbrellas and any other medium intended for communication.

Two women robbed

Two women were terrorised when three hooded robbers, one of whom was armed, barged their way into a house in St Paul's Bay on Friday and made off with cash and jewellery. Both women were slightly injured in the incident. The robbery took place at about 7 a.m. in Parades Street. An elderly neighbour was in the house at the time.