Weekly News highlights

An Armed Forces of Malta (AFM) Bulldog single-engined light aircraft crash landed in an uncultivated field just a few metres from a cliff edge near the Azure Window in Dwejra, Gozo, while it was on a coastal patrol on Sunday evening.

The plane was extensively damaged but miraculously, the pilot, Mark Brincat, and flight technician, Kevin Borg, suffered only slight injuries and were airlifted to Malta to be treated for shock.

An air pocket is thought to have caused the accident, which is now the subject of a magisterial inquiry and an AFM internal inquiry. The wreckage was airlifted by helicopter on and brought to Malta later in the week.

60 illegal immigrants rescued

Sixty illegal immigrants were rescued at sea by the AFM on Sunday night about 80 miles south of Malta. The immigrants - 51 males, six females and three infants - were aboard two boats that were in difficulty due to bad weather.

Mqabba win Rome fireworks festival

St Mary's Fireworks Factory of Mqabba won the fifth edition of the coveted world fireworks championship, known as Caput Lucis (capital of light) festival held near Rome. Competitors from England and Spain came second and third respectively.

The factory won the right to represent Malta at the festival after winning the Malta Fireworks Festival last year.

€4 million in EU funds invested in MCAST

Nearly €4 million from the EU's Regional Funds have been invested in MCAST so far, of which half has gone to the new Institute of Community Services, which will cater for over 600 students of hairdressing, beauty therapy and other services.

While visiting the institute's new building, Education Minister Louis Galea said that over 3,000 students have applied to follow MCAST courses.

Men charged with defiling girls

Raymond Bonnici, 45, of Marsa, was charged with holding a 15-year-old girl against her will and defiling her on Thursday night.

He was also charged with the violent indecent assault of the girl and of offending public morals in an area known as Il-Golf tat-Tafal, limits of Xaghjra.

He pleaded not guilty and was released on bail and also bound not to go anywhere near the girl.

In a separate case, a 32-year-old man from Attard was similarly charged with the violent indecent assault and defilement of a 10-year-old girl and with holding her against her will.

Magistrate Audrey Demicoli agreed to withhold publication of the name of the accused but turned down his request for bail and remanded him in custody until the minor gives evidence.

Mater Dei serves first outpatients

Nine expectant mothers became the first outpatients to receive medical services from Mater Dei hospital since it opened on June 29.

Meanwhile, as part of the first worldwide attempt to set a Guinness World Record of simultaneous breastfeeding, 82 mothers breastfed their babies simultaneously for one minute at the hospital's outpatients department.

Charged with sexually assaulting granddaughter

A 66-year-old pensioner from Paola was charged with repeated sexual assaults over the past few years on his granddaughter, who is now 17.

The man, who pleaded not guilty, covered his face with his hands and wept as he stood in dock to answer the charges of defilement and the violent indecent assault of his son's daughter.

Magistrate Miriam Hayman ordered a ban on the publication of the man's name in his granddaughter's interest and granted him bail on condition that he did not leave his residence except to sign at the local police station once a week.

Police seize illegal fireworks

In several raids carried out last week police seized fireworks allegedly being stored or manufactured illegally in a commercial premises in Triq il-Kanun, Qormi, in a field at Ta' Kandja, limits of Siggiewi, and on a farm in Wied Qoton, Birzebbuga.

The police declined to say whether any arrests were made but said that investigations were continuing.

Nadur cemetery development suspended

The Gozo courts upheld an application filed by 12 farmers and provisionally prohibited the Nadur archpriest, Fr Saviour Muscat, from proceeding with the development of a new cemetery on agricultural land at Ghajn Qasab, Nadur.

Magistrate Anthony Ellul appointed an architect, Godwin Abela, to investigate and submit a report by the end of the month on the farmers' claims that chemicals from the bodies to be buried in the planned cemetery would contaminate the water they used for irrigation.

PBS welcomes Big Brother, drops Tista' Tkun Int

The PBS board of directors is proposing to include programmes such as Dejjem Tieghek Becky and Big Brother in TVM's proposed winter schedule, but leave out another popular show Tista' Tkun Int, PBS chairman Joe Fenech Conti revealed on Wednesday.

Rachel Vella, producer and presenter of the latter show, said that by the end of the week she would decide where she would go, adding that she had offers from other TV stations.

Big Brother would be produced locally in partnership with Endemol International, said Pierre Portelli, director of Watermelon, which had produced the successful L-Ispjun reality programme over the last two years.

$20 million IT contract

The Health Ministry on Wednesday signed a seven-year $20 million contract with ACS Healthcare Solutions, a subsidiary of US-based Affiliated Computer Services, Inc., to provide hardware, software and expertise needed to maintain laboratory and radiology information systems, picture archiving and communication systems.

The agreement is the first phase of the government's Integrated Information System programme to improve the management of healthcare records and integrate state-of-the-art digital medical equipment at Mater Dei Hospital.

Council secretary resigns

Alphonse Anastasi, secretary of the Mosta council, has resigned after he started being investigated in connection with alleged fraud, misappropriation of the council's funds, and a series of unpaid bills that the council knew nothing about.

Labour Mosta mayor Dr Paul Chetcuti Caruana said he had appointed a private firm to conduct an audit of the council's accounts since May, the results of which would be made public in about a month, and another one going back 10 years.

Jail term suspended to protect victim

Mr Justice Joseph Galea Debono, presiding over the appeal of 27-year-old Milovan Camilleri, who had been jailed for six months for slightly injuring his younger sister, ruled that it was preferable for Mr Camilleri's jail term to be suspended for four years than for him to serve his sentence in full, as otherwise his sister would have had to face his anger once he returned home.

Mr Camilleri had been found guilty of beating up his sister since she was six, and had even dislodged her cheekbone, burst her eardrum, and had forced her to live in a garage with her 15-month-old daughter and sleep on a mattress on the chilly floor.

Justice Galea Debono added that to ensure the victim's safety he would have liked to place Mr Camilleri under a supervision order but he could not, since the sentence handed down by the first court did not exceed six months.

Policeman appeals

David Sant, the police sergeant convicted last month of attacking and slightly injuring a 56-year-old French woman Catherine Sophie Pernot Sprangers outside the Bay Street complex in St Julians, asked a court to revoke his four-month jail term.

The accused was suspended from the police force.

The sentence will be handed down on October 12.

Man jailed for breaching bail conditions

Overturning a previous court ruling that had found him not guilty, Justice Joseph Galea Debono last week sentenced a Lebanese man, Michel Abou Haidar, to four months' imprisonment for having escaped to his home country last year, breaching his bail conditions in a local drugs possession case.

Because of the nature of his work the man had been allowed to travel for short periods, but on one trip he spent a year and a half in Lebanon, occasionally travelling to Dubai.

Ryanair to start Valencia-Malta service

Ryanair announced it would start operating a Valencia-Malta service as from October 30, which is expected to carry 40,000 passengers a year.

The service will operate on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, departing Malta at 3 p.m., arriving at 5.10 p.m., with the return flights leaving Valencia at 12.30 p.m., arriving at 2.35 p.m.

Dead dogs dumped at Sant'Antnin

The committee fighting the Sant'Antnin waste recycling plant in Marsascala has called for an inquiry following media reports confirmed by the waste management agency WasteServ that dogs that were put down by the SPCA were being kept at the plant to be disposed of.

WasteServ said the dog carcasses would be stored in a freezer at the plant and incinerated at the new Marsa incinerator that is expected to be commissioned soon.

Gozitan man dies in sea rescue attempt

A 49-year-old man from Ghajnsielem, Salvu Zerafa, died on Friday while trying to help seven children who found themselves in difficulty while swimming at Ramla Bay.

Police said that he could not swim back after he went out to help the children.

Elderly woman robbed

An elderly woman living in Triq l-Isqajjaq, Tarxien, suffered shock but was otherwise uninjured when four hooded thieves surprised her in her home on Friday and stole an undisclosed amount of cash and other objects.