€700,000 of drugs seized

Nearly 30 kilogrammes of cannabis resin with an estimated street value of around €700,000 were seized during a police drug squad raid in a street-level garage in Matthew Pulis Street, Sliema. Three Italian men were arrested. The find came a few days after the Maltese Customs seized almost 11 tons of cannabis, the greatest drugs haul in history.

What made the headlines

Chief Justice hits out at lawyers dragging cases: Lawyers who keep dragging cases even when they are lost on appeal are “unprofessional” and should lose their warrant, Chief Justice Joseph Azzopardi said at the opening of the forensic year. The Chief Justice stressed that judgments needed to be respected by all, and he criticised lawyers who, instead of respecting the finality of court decisions, tried to prolong proceedings through new applications. He also lamented certain disparaging comments about court sentences made on social media.  

PN wants Tony Zarb stripped of national award: Nationalist Party leader Adrian Delia presented a motion to Speaker Anġlu Farrugia calling on MPs to debate former GWU head Tony Zarb’s inflammatory comments towards murdered journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia and to then take a vote on stripping him of his Ġieħ ir-Reppublika award. The motion, which accuses Mr Zarb of being among other things, an “apologist for murder”, was unanimously approved by the Nationalist Party parliamentary group. 

German Green MEP’s HSBC remarks cause outrage: German Green MEP Sven Giegold sparked controversy when he said he would campaign for HSBC to withdraw from Malta unless the Maltese government improved its efforts to combat money laundering. MFSA CEO Joe Cuschieri said this was not the way to improve money laundering supervision, Finance Minister Edward Scicluna accused Mr Giegold of “political bullying” and Nationalist MP Hermann Schiavone told him to “f..k off”.

Deputy Police Commissioner must step down from Caruana Galizia case: The court of appeal confirmed that Deputy Police Commissioner Silvio Valletta must desist from taking part in the Daphne Caruana Galizia murder investigation, declaring his presence had breached a fundamental right of the journalist’s family. The victim’s husband and sons had contested Mr Valletta’s presence in the murder investigation, insisting he had a conflict of interest as a result of his marriage to Gozo Minister Justyne Caruana and his role as a board member of the Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit (FIAU).

Teachers ordered to strike over warrants: Teachers were going to stay away from all schools tomorrow in protest at proposed changes to the Education Act which their union said would see educators’ warrants revoked and replaced. The Malta Union of Teachers said the changes would have resulted in warrants being renewed on the basis of continuous professional development. Prime Minister Joseph Muscat denied the warrants would be affected but offered to withdraw the new Education Act if the MUT called off its strike. In response the union stormed out of a mediation meeting with the education authorities saying it was “unacceptable” that Dr Muscat had disclosed what was being discussed during the meeting “moments after” it had been raised. The MUT then rejected Dr Muscat’s offer. However, it called off the action yesterday.

Aquarius migrants brought to Malta: Fifty-eight migrants rescued by the humanitarian vessel Aquarius off Libya were transferred to an AFM patrol boat and brought to Malta after several days stuck in rough seas. The migrants, mostly Libyans, Syrians, Palestinians, Somalis and Pakistanis, included three children under five. The vessel was first refused entry by Italy, France and Malta but an agreement was eventually reached following discussions between France and Malta. Meanwhile a group of migrants who arrived in Malta on the Aquarius in August and September left for Spain.

Probe into hiring of private jet: The Ombudsman has opened an investigation into the hiring of a private jet to ferry a Planning Authority board member from Sicily for a vote on the controversial db Group City Centre project. The investigation came after a complaint by former Alternattiva Demokratika chairman Arnold Cassola, who requested the Ombudsman to examine whether the decision was a case of maladministration and whether it was discriminatory towards applications and objectors in other cases when no such measures were taken.

Money-laundering warning from Brussels: The European Commission is set to issue binding demands on the Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit after the government’s anti-money laundering agency failed to address European Banking Authority concerns. The European banking watchdog said the FIAU had “systematic weaknesses” in enforcing anti-money laundering measures. It had also found the agency had breached anti-money laundering directives when it failed to conduct proper supervision of Pilatus Bank.

What trended

To strike or not

If you’re a working parent, you were, until yesterday, most likely  to have been scrambling to figure out just what to do with your children tomorrow during the planned teachers’ strike.

The tug of war between the government and educators’ unions was still playing out until the Malta Union of Teachers decided to walk back from the cliff edge.

The stand-off gripped readers last week and prompted some heated debates on the online comment boards.

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat’s offer to withdraw proposals if the teachers’ union called off the strike seemed to irk many teaching professionals.

“Not good enough,” said Erica, arguing that the proposals had to be “scrapped” completely.

Fellow educator Stephen took exception to the way in which Dr Muscat had presented the government offer.

“So the Muscat government started all this and now expects teaching professionals to bow down first?” he asked.

Others were less sympathetic to such lines of argument.

“This is an argument that small children make,” replied Colette. “’He started, no me!’ Well, I don’t care who started this, sort it out immediately”.

Parents like Patricia wished they could be spared the last-minute drama.

“Friday 11.45 and we’re still waiting,” she wrote. “Postpone any decisions on the bill till you have all met and talked it out, but we need to know now if our little ones will be in school on Monday”.

Wabi, meanwhile, was asking all the hard questions.

“How the heck are teachers posting, commenting and sharing this article?” he asked on Friday morning. “Aren’t you supposed to be at work?”

Breaking chains

It’s finally illegal to keep dogs tied up or chained unless they’re being walked, to the relief of anyone who has animal welfare at heart.

The new law drew plenty of praise and sighs of relief fom animal lovers, though at least a handful felt legislators should also have included provisos for pedestrians.

“The amendment should have made it compulsory for all dogs to be kept on leashes at all times while in public places,” argued K Pace, adding that muzzles should also be made compulsory for “large” dogs.

Joseph had a somewhat curious objection to the new law. “What if a dog owner takes his dog to a public place and sits down to read a book? Wouldn’t the owner become the stationary object, and thus illegal?”

Paul, meanwhile, seemed to get somewhat ahead of himself. “Now how about freeing caged birds, especially those in small cages,” he wrote. Right after lawmakers give pigs a licence to fly, Paul. 

What they said

“Joseph Muscat has private lawyers, the Attorney General and, now, we are to believe that the Justice Minister is also giving him legal advice. Why does he need so many lawyers?”

Nationalist Party leader Adrian Delia commenting, on Net FM, about the Prime Minister’s use of so many legal advisers in connection with the Egrant report.

“We’ve finally found where Malta’s heart is when it comes to migration and sea rescue – and it’s with dogs.”

Lifeline rescue ship crew member Marc Tilley speaking to the Times of Malta while protesting in Valletta against Prime Minister Joseph Muscat’s tweets about a dog who was rescued, together with 58 migrants, by the Aquarius vessel.

“I hold meetings with both objectors and applicants. But I never get any direction [from politicians] to ensure a permit goes through. It’s never happened since I’ve been in the job.”

Planning Authority executive chairman Johann Buttigieg, telling Times Talk, in the wake of the controversial db Group project decision,  that he never had any political interference or received any phone calls from government officials to favour a particular development application.

“It is rather disappointing to learn about such matters from the press before having received any communication through the official channels.” 

FIAU deputy director Alfred Zammit, speaking to the Times of Malta, after being informed that the anti-money laundering agency unit will be issued with a number of binding demands by the European Commission after it failed to address European Banking Authority concerns.

“It cannot be language I endorse”

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat distancing himself from comments made by government consultant and former GWU secretary general Tony Zarb about slain journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.