Weekly News highlights

Ray Bugeja, 46, of Attard, has been appointed editor of The Times on Monday following Victor Aquilina's retirement. Mr Aquilina, who joined The Times as a reporter in 1964, will be working as editorial adviser. He had been editor since January 1, 1993.

13 years, Lm20,000 for drugs

Divina Alacon Ortiz, a Turkish woman of Filipino origin, on Monday was jailed for 13 years and fined Lm20,000 for importing two kilos of heroin with a street value of Lm88,000 in July 2001. Ortiz, 37, pleaded guilty.

New magistrate

DR Lawrence Quintano, 53, of Balzan, is to be appointed magistrate next month. Dr Quintano works at the Attorney General's office, and is a senior lecturer in Civil Law at the University of Malta.

Young motorist shot by motorbike rider

Giovanni Spiteri, 19, of Cospicua, was slightly injured early on Monday morning while driving in Marsascala towards Zabbar, when a motorcyclist pulled up alongside him and fired shots at him, hitting him in the right shoulder. As a result, Spiteri lost control of his car and crashed into a wall, but managed to make his way to the Zabbar police station and lodged a report before he was taken to St Luke's Hospital.

KSU for EU accession

The Kunsill Studenti Universitarji (KSU), the largest students' organisation, has formally declared its support for Malta's EU membership. The relevant motion was adopted on Monday with 19 votes in favour, two against and three abstentions.

Meanwhile, Pulse, Moviment Graffitti, MOVE and the Anthropology Society in a joint statement on Wednesday, dissociated themselves from the motion.

Ecstasy, cannabis seized

Police on Wednesday arrested a 29-year-old man after allegedly finding 24 Ecstasy pills and about 50 grammes of cannabis resin at his Tarxien house.

Priceclub liquidator sues directors

Priceclub Operators Ltd liquidator Andrew Borg Cardona on Thursday filed two actions against the company's former directors Victor Zammit, Chris Gauci and Wallace Fino and Priceclub Holdings Ltd: one for a declaration that the directors were guilty of fraudulent trading, and another for a finding that they continued to trade when the company was insolvent.

In the fraudulent trading case, the liquidator is asking the court to find the directors unlimitedly liable for Priceclub Operators Ltd's debts. In the wrongful trading action he is requesting the court to order that the three persons make a contribution (to be determined by the court) to the amount payable to the creditors.

Two traffic fatalities

Michelina Azzopardi, 81, of Zurrieq, died on Thursday after being run over by a route bus at City Gate two days earlier. Meanwhile, a man died in a motorcycle accident at Tal-Qroqq on Thursday night in the third traffic fatality of the year. The motorcycle skidded and crashed into the wall of the tunnel that goes in the direction of the Kappara roundabout.

Man found dead on farm

Clayton Cauchi, 18, was found dead at a farm in Benghajsa on Friday afternoon. The police believe Cauchi died after inhaling carbon monoxide fumes on his farm in Triq il-Kuncizzjoni. There were no external signs of violence. There is no electricity on the farm and the police believe the death was caused by a faulty generator. Some birds and animals on the farm were also found dead, leading the police to believe the death was accidental, the police said.

European Court upholds Dutchman's plea against Malta

A Dutchman's application against Malta in the European Court of Human Rights on Friday was upheld and he was awarded Lm3,140 for moral damages and costs. The court found that it was not proven that Mohamed Kadem, who was arrested in Malta in 1998 for alleged involvement in drug trafficking, had a remedy under Maltese law for challenging the lawfulness of his detention, and that this constituted a violation of the European Convention on Human Rights.

Sant wins Lm700 damages

Opposition Leader Alfred Sant has been awarded Lm700 libel damages by an appeal court over the publication of a caricature in In-Nazzjon in June 2001 depicting Sant as Adolf Hitler on a podium hung with a swastika.