Weekly News highlights

A group of 49 illegal immigrants were rounded up on Monday soon after their boat landed at Il-Qammiegh, near Anchor Bay.

They had split up into two groups, one making its way towards Marfa and the other to Cirkewwa. After being interrogated they were taken to Ta' Kandja and the Hal-Far reception centre.

They are understood to be mainly Iraqis and Egyptians and their boat is thought to have left from Turkey.

Health Division orders inquiry

The Health Division last week ordered an internal inquiry at St Luke's Hospital into the death of a 14-year-old Norwegian girl. A magisterial inquiry is also under way.

The girl, Marie Line Andersen, reportedly fell ill at St Aloysius College, where she was attending English-language lessons, on July 29, and fell unconscious. She was rushed to hospital where she died four days later.

A post-mortem examination held showed that the girl died of a brain haemorrhage after she had fractured her skull.

GDP grows by 1.4% in first quarter

During the first quarter of 2002, the economy showed some signs of recovery from the downturn that had characterised the second half of 2001, particularly after September 11, according to the June issue of the Central Bank of Malta Quarterly Review.

The Gross Domestic Product grew by 1.4 per cent in real terms, after a decline of 2.2 per cent in the previous quarter.

Customs seize Lm400,000 worth of contraband cigarettes

Customs has seized Lm400,000 worth of cigarettes smuggled in a container at the Freeport over the weekend.

Describing the operation as one of the most successful to date, customs said it seized 21,000 cigarette cartons. The ship carrying the container, Ville De Taurus, entered the Freeport a few days ago. Its last port of call was Chiwan in China.

A total of 414 boxes, each containing 50 cartons, were seized. Each carton contained 200 cigarettes.

Dies in fall while watching fireworks

Vincent Muscat, a 70-year-old man from Lija, died when he fell a height of three storeys from the roof of St Andrew Club in Lija.

The accident happened at about 1 a.m. on Tuesday when he was watching the eve-of-feast fireworks display. The man suffered serious injuries and died in hospital about three hours later.

Water plant shutdown hits 24 localities

Thousands of people in central areas were relieved on Friday to find water trickling back into their tanks, as the Pembroke reverse osmosis plant became fully operational by the morning after shutting down on Wednesday.

The plant was forced to close down on Wednesday after power failed due to a fault in a principal 33 kV cable running underground between Marsa and Paceville. Twenty-four localities, including Valletta, were left without water. A delay in Sliema was due to the fact that a number of water pipes were very old, affecting the water pressure.

Woman hit by TV set died of natural causes

An autopsy on a 74-year-old woman, who died the day after a 28-inch television set fell on her head at St Luke's Hospital on Monday, concluded that she died of natural causes.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, the Department of Health said the death of Antoinette Ebejer, a patient at the hospital, was in no way related to the injuries she sustained in the incident, which happened when she was being taken back to her ward on a stretcher after an operation.

Tremor causes no damage

A slight tremor was felt on Thursday afternoon following a quake on the seabed 20 km north of the island. The tremor measured three on the Richter scale and was felt at 4.58 p.m. The police said no structural damage was reported.

Five-year-old missing

The police said that five-year-old Yousef Bounad, who was reported missing by his mother on Saturday, was still missing.

The search for the child was launched after Karen Bounad of Gudja lodged a report at Hamrun police station that her estranged husband Laounar had failed to return their son Yousef.

Birzebbuga residents protest

Birzebbuga residents and representatives of different organisations on Friday evening marched in protest against a proposed landfill in Benghajsa. The protest was organised by the action committee Le ghall-Mizbla f'Benghajsa.

The Benghajsa site is about 900 metres by 600 metres and consists of arable land, farmhouses and residences housing about 100 people.