Weekly News highlights

24-year-old Janet Bartolo, of Sta Lucija, was in danger of dying after a head-on crash between two cars on the Coast Road early last Sunday.

Man dies, Chinese seriously injured in two accidents

Joseph Cilia, a 48-year-old father of three from Qormi, died on Sunday afternoon after falling a height of three storeys while carrying out works on the roof at his home. The man died on impact.

In a separate accident, a 40-year-old Chinese, Liu Huan Zhang, suffered life-threatening head injuries when he fell from a third floor window at a building in Hal Far on Sunday.

Italian's death in hotel

The body of Fedele Rossi, a 67-year-old Italian who lives in Germany, was found sprawled in the courtyard of the Galaxy Hotel, Sliema, early on Sunday morning. He was discovered by a chambermaid, after he fell to his death from a fourth floor balcony.

Police said the victim's German wife checked out of hotel at about 5 a.m., telling hotel reception that her husband had not returned and that she had to catch the plane. She left his air ticket at the desk. The couple were meant to leave together on a flight to Germany at 8 a.m. but the woman decided to catch an earlier flight, the sources said.

She was ordered by the police to fly back for interrogation and returned on Sunday afternoon.

Dutch PM in Malta

Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende arrived on Sunday evening for a one-day working visit. He had meetings with President Guido de Marco, Prime Minister Eddie Fenech Adami, Foreign Minister Joe Borg and the members of the House Foreign Affairs committee.

Mr Balkenende said although he could understand Malta's request for a sixth seat in the European Parliament, he was not convinced the case was strong enough.

Malta-EU Joint Parliamentary Committee holds last meeting

The Malta-EU Joint Parliamentary Committee held its last meeting in Malta on Monday. Contrary to the previous 18 meetings, there was no political bickering between Government and Opposition after the Labour Party accepted to work in the framework of EU membership.

Lm10,000 dog bite

William Ronald Murphy, owner of an Alsatian, on Tuesday was ordered by the First Hall of the Civil Court to pay Lm10,474 in damages to Pacifico Fenech, who was bitten by the dog.

Plaintiff claimed that on June 6, 1994, while he was on a waste disposal truck (Scammel) near the defendant's house at Santa Maria Estate, Mellieha, he had been bitten in the leg by the Alsatian, which was loose. Fenech claimed he had sustained a permanent disability as a result of the incident and he requested the court to condemn Murphy to pay damages.

Editors withdraw suit after Mintoff's declaration

The Times editor Ray Bugeja and former editors Victor Aquilina and Charles Grech Orr on Tuesday withdrew a libel suit against former prime minister Dom Mintoff after he made a statement in court.

In his statement Mr Mintoff declared he "does not know the three editors to be bought but knows that, as editors, they abide by the newspaper's policy and further declares that he did not make any reference to them during his speech".

Mintoff testified before Magistrate Denis Montebello and explained that at a meeting of his Front Maltin Inqumu he had spoken about The Times as an institution and did not make reference to individuals.

Plans for new Lm40 million power plant

Enemalta Corporation is expected to purchase a new Lm40 million generation plant for the Delimara power station which will increase the corporation's electricity generation capacity by 20 per cent.

Enemalta chairman Tancred Tabone told journalists on Tuesday the corporation had made a presentation to the government over the project and the corporation was now waiting for the green light from its shareholders. The new equipment will be installed over "a number of years".

Hunter awarded Lm12,000 damages

Mario Xuereb, a hunter, was awarded almost Lm12,000 in damages on Tuesday from Joseph Borg, another hunter, after the court found that he had been shot in the eyes in May 1990.

PBS restructuring plan includes axing 100 jobs

Public Broadcasting Services is to shed about 100 employees according to restructuring plans to be discussed by the Cabinet shortly. The matter was discussed at a meeting between Investments Minister Austin Gatt and General Workers Union representatives on Tuesday night. Sources said Dr Gatt gave the union an outline of the restructuring plans and promised he would be discussing these in more detail after Cabinet approval.

PBS has a workforce of 180 and the government proposals are that these should be reduced to between 50 and 85. PBS loses about Lm2.4 million a year, which works out to Lm13,300 per employee annually. Talks between the government and the union are expected to focus on a new collective agreement, voluntary retirement schemes and a restructuring exercise that would drastically trim the workforce to make PBS economically viable.

Bishops set out stand on child sexual abuse

following the highly publicised claims that sexual abuse took place a number of years ago in a Church institution, the Church said in a statement that it strongly condemns any form of sexual abuse, particularly when it is committed on children, the Archbishop, Mgr Joseph Mercieca and the Bishop of Gozo, Mgr Nikol Cauchi, said on Wednesday. They said sexual abuse caused a lot of hardship and harm to victims. In such cases, particularly when children were involved, the primary consideration was to help and protect the victims.

Stowaways found on ship at Freeport

Fourteen stowaways are being held on a ship at the Malta Freeport after arriving from Morocco on Thursday afternoon. The stowaways were discovered by the crew of the mv Cimel after noises were heard coming from two sealed containers aboard the ship. Five stowaways were found in one container and nine in the other. They are all men in their early 20s.

Girl falls off van and is hit by minibus

A schoolgirl was badly injured on Thursday after falling out of the back door of a school van in Tal-Qroqq and being run over by a mini-bus, the police said. The police at first said the 14-year-old girl from ex-Yugoslavia was critical but later in the day the Ministry of Education said she was out of danger and announced it had set up a board of inquiry to look into the incident.

The Malta Transport Authority has withdrawn the public transport licence of the tail-lift van driver involved in the accident pending the outcome of a board of inquiry set up by the Education Ministry.

Inflation at 'lowest level'

Edwin Vassallo, parliamentary secretary in the Finance and Economic Affairs Ministry, said on Friday that at 1.14 per cent, the annual inflation rate was at the lowest level in a number of years.

New PN leader for next election - PM

Prime Minister Eddie Fenech Adami told The Times in an interview published yesterday that he would definitely want to see a new Nationalist Party leader in place in time for the next general election.