Weekly News highlights
Corpses at sea belonged to escaped migrants
Two badly decomposed bodies found at Armier, and off Qawra, in the last week of March, belonged to Egyptian immigrants who had perished at the start of an ill-fated bid to escape from Malta on March 3.
A group of 14 migrants had tried to escape. One Pakistani died soon after leaving shore when the boat he and others were on capsized off L-Ahrax Point, to the north of Malta.
Three others swam ashore, and a fourth was plucked to safety by the army after the rescue centre received a call about a boat in distress.
The police are understood to have contacted the victims' relatives in Egypt. One family couldn't travel to Malta to have a DNA test done to confirm his identity. The other victim's relatives might fly to Malta, and it is possible the remains could be buried in Egypt.
Another body found a couple of weeks ago probably belonged to one of the other seven who are still missing.
Private burial of miscarried foetuses now an option
Parents are now allowed to bury miscarried foetuses that are less than 24 weeks old, a Health Division spokesman said last week.
Previously, parents had no say as to the burial of their foetuses, which were interred during an annual collective ceremony in a special grave at Santa Maria Addolorata Cemetery.
The issue was raised in Parliament by Labour MP Justyne Caruana last month. Dr Caruana's plea that foetuses should be handed to the parents for burial as they thought fit was backed by Nationalist MPs Michael Asciak and Franco Galea.
The pro-life movement, Gift of Life, also expressed its full support for Dr Caruana's call to give parents the option of burying their babies where they choose.
Brothers charged with trying to kill each other
Two brothers, Anthony and Joseph Cachia, on Monday were arraigned separately and charged with trying to kill the other by shooting a gun in an argument over a low wall in a field.
Anthony Cachia, 52, of Safi, pleaded not guilty to the attempted murder of his 45-year-old brother Joseph when they argued about the field in the limits of Zurrieq yesterday week.
Joseph Cachia, also of Safi, pleaded not guilty to trying to kill his brother.
The brothers were granted bail against a Lm1,000 deposit each.
Sliema armed robbery
Around Lm19,300 was stolen from a female St James Hospital employee in broad daylight on Monday by two armed and hooded men in High Street, Sliema.
Sources said the woman was on her way to the bank to deposit cash and cheques when two men charged out of a Peugeot close to the Hole in the Wall pub, at about 12.20 p.m., stopped her, and demanded that she hand over her bag, before fleeing.
12 drug arrests
Fighting drug abuse over the Easter weekend produced some results, with 12 people caught in possession of drugs in various localities.
Cannabis, cocaine and around 200 Ecstasy pills were found in searches, the police said in a statement. In one case, two youngsters aged 14 and 15, were found in possession of cannabis in Msida.
The police also found a substantial amount of ecstasy after a body search on three men aged between 17 and 23 at Mellieha Bay.
There were further drug finds during searches carried out at a party held on Sunday night in the limits of Mellieha, where the police arrested six men and a woman aged between 18 and 29.
Charged with Lm3,000 theft
Michael Camilleri, 22, of Qormi, on Monday was charged with complicity in robbing two elderly people of Lm3,000, and slightly injuring them at their Mosta residence yesterday week.
The man pleaded not guilty to holding Carmelo Camilleri, 75, and Maria Borg, 74, against their will, complicity in robbing them of Lm3,000, and slightly injuring them.
The accused, who was also charged with relapsing, was caught red-handed and is being investigated over similar crimes.
Father, son accused of attempted murder
Joseph Polidano, 49, and his son Clayton, 22, both of Kirkop, on Tuesday were charged with trying to kill their neighbour's boyfriend, Robert Chetcuti, when they allegedly beat him with his own chunky, silver necklace in Zurrieq on Sunday. They pleaded not guilty.
Clayton Polidano was also charged with trying to injure his neighbour Fiona Cassar, damaging his father's car and Chetcuti's, driving without a licence or insurance cover, speeding and breaching the conditions of a previous release.
Father, two sons charged over fight
George Mifsud Bonnici, 27, of Marsascala, was on Tuesday charged with assaulting his father Benjamin, 56, and his brother, Stephen, 21, who were charged with beating him and seriously injuring him on Good Friday.
George Mifsud Bonnici pleaded not guilty. He was also charged with biting his father's hand, damaging his brother's car and his parents' residence and with threatening to kill his brother.
In a separate arraignment, Benjamin Mifsud Bonnici and his son Stephen pleaded not guilty to beating and seriously injuring George Mifsud Bonnici.
The three men were remanded in custody.
Art theft suspect denied bail again
Paul Spagnol, 38, of San Gwann, charged with stealing over Lm200,000 worth of paintings and antiques from several houses, has been denied bail a second time as witnesses have not yet testified in the case against him because the records of the inquiries into the burglaries have not yet been closed.
Spagnol is pleading not guilty to stealing paintings and antique furniture, valued at over Lm200,000, from different places between May last year and March this year, and hoarding them.
Lm80 million drug find
Joint investigations by the Maltese and Italian police are for the time being excluding the presence of any Maltese on the fishing vessel Carmelo Padre - allegedly used in an attempt to traffic over two tonnes of cannabis resin from Tunisia into Italy on Good Friday.
The vessel had been bought earlier by Italian interests from Gozitan owners.
Police Superintendent, Neil Harrison, said that a rough estimate of the street value of the haul would be around €200 million (about Lm80 million).
The drug haul was discovered by the Italian Guardia di Finanza when the cannabis was being transferred from the Carmelo Padre onto a dinghy close to the Lazio coast.
The dinghy was later found abandoned on shore with more than two tonnes and 150 kilos of cannabis resin. Assistant Police Commissioner Paul Debattista said the drug was packed in 70 packets each containing about 32 kilos. The two Sicilians who were on board were arrested. The two who had escaped on the dinghy that was laden with the cannabis resin were still on the run. Information in hand indicates they were Italians, Mr Debattista said.
Fuel liberalisation process
The much anticipated consultation paper on fuel liberalisation was launched by the Malta Resources Authority on Wednesday.
Malta was obliged, under the EU accession treaty, to abolish monopoly rights in the importation, stocking and wholesale of petroleum products by the end of last year.
The government had announced it would be delaying the process at the eleventh hour, and what is effectively the final stage before Cabinet has its last say on the matter started only on Wednesday.
The consultation period is one month, closing at end of business on May 22. The paper can be downloaded from the MRA Website at www.mra.org.mt and interested stakeholders can comment on the issues raised in the paper, and also on other matters they consider relevant.
Direct meetings with MRA officials can be organised by appointment during the consultation period, and comments in writing or by e-mail will be received by the MRA.
The revised proposals, taking into account the feedback received, will be submitted for Cabinet's approval by mid-May. The market will be liberalised soon after that date, the MRA said.
Over three million cigarettes seized
Over three million undeclared cigarettes were seized by the Customs Department over the past two days.
The cigarettes were detected after strong indications that the content of a few containers being transported from the Far East to North Africa did not match what had been declared in the bills of lading.
The Customs' vehicle and container inspection unit - a device used to scan closed containers - revealed that the cargo consisted of a consignment of cigarettes and not 635 boxes of vacuum cleaners, as listed in the paperwork.
A Customs spokesman said that had the cigarettes made it to the market, about Lm250,000 in excise and VAT would have been lost.
Mother fined for assaulting teacher
A mother, Josette Cassar, 38, of St Venera, was on Wednesday fined Lm150 and put on probation for two years after she admitted to assaulting her son's teacher because the boy told her the teacher had slammed him against a cupboard.
The magistrate handed down judgment after Cassar filed a guilty plea to assaulting and slightly injuring Antonella Cardona - a Grade 6 teacher at Dun George Preca School in Hamrun - last December 14.
Doctors awarded compensation
Three doctors, who worked as part-time resident medical officers at St Philip's Hospital, were each awarded Lm1,000 in compensation when the Industrial Tribunal ruled that the way in which their employment had been terminated was unfair.
The doctors - Maria Iris Felice Laumann, Glorianne Briffa and Stefan Fenech - had initiated proceedings against St Philip's Hospital and Golden Shepherd Group Ltd that runs the hospital.
In three separate cases the chairman of the tribunal, Harold Walls, heard how the three doctors had been employed as part-time resident medical officers at St Philip's Hospital.
When the company learnt that the doctors were seeing their own private patients at the hospital, the company was worried that the hospital insurance did not cover employees who did not work for the hospital's patients.
So, on October 22, 2003, it informed the doctors that their part-time employment at the hospital had been terminated and their status changed to self-employed as from August 31, 2003. This meant that between August and October, the doctors had been working without knowing that their employment had been terminated.
The doctors were also owed payment for those months of work. Dr Klaumann was owed Lm1,233, Dr Briffa Lm637 and Dr Fenech Lm2,416.
The tribunal ordered the company to pay the three doctors the money owed to them as well as an additional Lm1,000 in compensation.
Couvre Port vandalised
The paving at one of the most historic gates in Vittoriosa, Couvre Port, was the target of vandals who soiled it with a large quantity of burnt oil on Thursday evening at about 9.30 p.m..
Mayor John Boxall said that despite efforts to clean the paving, stains were still visible. The council has now ordered chemicals to clean the slabs completely.
An attempt to clean the oil was immediately embarked upon, lasting until late on Thursday night. The work was resumed Friday morning.
Man mugged in Lija
A Briton, John Stilgoe, was taken to hospital early on Thursday morning after he was attacked by two robbers as he was about to enter his home in Lija.
The 52-year-old man was assaulted by two hooded men, one of whom was wielding an object.
They stole Lm300 from his home, sources said, after which they fled, leaving the victim in a state of shock and suffering slight injuries.
Arsonists strike again
Two more cars went up in flames early Friday morning, one of them at least being an arson attack, police sources said.
As the police combed the area and interviewed people for clues, a senior officer admitted the situation was "alarming" after a spate of car fires destroyed over 15 vehicles over the last six weeks.
The first incident took place at about 2.30 a.m. in Triq Wied il-Ghajn, Zabbar, when a car belonging to a police sergeant was deliberately set on fire, the sources said. It is the second attack on a vehicle belonging to a police officer in the space of a week after a fire in Siggiewi.
Just an hour later, another car was in flames in Triq Fontanier, Qormi.
Nobody was injured in the incidents.
The police are still trying to establish whether a fire which engulfed a car in Marsascala early on Thursday morning was connected with the work of the Jesuit Refugee Service. Individuals forced the car door open and poured flammable liquid into it before setting it alight, sources said. The car belonged to the son of an individual who worked with JRS on a part-time basis.
Lm57,300 fine over illegal building
Teddy Rapa, 54, of Nadur, who for eight years ignored a court order to demolish an illegal building, was on Friday fined Lm57,300, that is Lm25 for each of the 2,292 days the structure remained standing.
In a judgment handed down in November 1997, Rapa had been fined Lm100 for going ahead with construction without a permit.
The court had also ordered him to demolish the illegal structure within three months or pay a Lm25 fine daily.
On June 20, 1998, the Court of Criminal Appeal rejected Mr Rapa's appeal and confirmed the original judgment. Magistrate Consuelo Scerri Herrera heard how Rapa failed to abide by the appeal court's final judgment as the illegal structure was still standing.
Church 'investigating' Madonna tears claim
CLAIMS that a statue of the Madonna is shedding tears of blood at a private residence in Birzebbuga are shrouded in mystery, with the Church saying it is investigating the matter.
The Curia said on Friday it was reported some weeks ago that a statue of the Madonna was shedding a red liquid.
The Church authorities had in that case established that the liquid was human blood, the Curia said.
Weeks after those tests took place, red liquid was again reported emerging from the same statue and the Church authorities "will continue with the necessary investigations".
The identity of the family has not been disclosed.