€71,375 in undeclared cash intercepted at airport by Customs

Dec 16 2021

Customs Malta intercepted a total of €71,375 in undeclared cash at the departures lounge at Malta International Airport.

Seized from four passengers, the carriers were travelling to Dubai, Turkey, Netherlands and Iraq. Three were offered an out of court settlement whereas another was placed under arrest.

Two Maltese passengers going to Dubai and Turkey were discovered to be carrying €33,200 and €17,400 respectively. One of the Customs Canine officials, Gypsy, reacted positively to the Dubai bound passenger.

The passenger said he was carrying €10,000 but checks revealed that he was carrying €18,200 on his person and €15,000 in checked in luggage.

The man travelling to Turkey was found to be carrying €17,400 during a random check. Other checks led to officials finding €10,345 on a Dutch passenger and another €10,430 intercepted by Charlie the Customs Canine on a Syrian passenger travelling to Iraq.

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Photo Source: Customs Malta FB

WasteServ processed 19,000 tonnes of recyclable material in 2021

Dec 16 2021

WasteServ confirmed today that around 19,000 tonnes of good quality recyclable material was processed and returned to the economy this year.

This means it surpassed the project record for processed recyclables since its inception. It also surpasses the best ever result acquired by a whopping 3,000 tonnes. Despite this being just a small fraction of the total waste generated in Malta, which stands at around 330,000 tonnes, environment minister Aaron Farrugia said that these are very encouraging results.

‘They are proof of all the work that is being carried out at WasteServ where the management together with the employees are working relentlessly to further improve the country’s performance when it comes to waste management.’

WasteServ CEO Richard Bilocca praised all the employees and said that such a positive result will only lead to more courage for WasteServ to continue on working. He also emphasised the importance of proper waste separation and referred to the newly published guidelines at wsm.com.mt.

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Photo Source: Aaron Farrugia FB

Non-essential travel to UK banned by France due to Omicron

Dec 16 2021

France will be banning all non-essential travel to and from the UK from the weekend to help mitigate the spread the highly transmissible Omicron variant.

The government revealed on Thursday that ‘from midnight Saturday there will be a requirement to have an essential reason to travel to, or come from, the UK, both for the unvaccinated and vaccinated.’

People will be unable to travel for professional or touristic reasons. ‘Faced with the extremely rapid spread of the Omicron variant in the UK, the government has chosen to reinstate the need for an essential reason for travel from and to the UK.’

The statement added that French citizens and EU nationals can still return to France from the UK, with government spokesperson Gabriel Attal saying that a system of controls will be put in place to tighten the net and slow down the arrival of Omicron cases.

‘Our strategy is to delay as much as we can the development of Omicron in our country and take advantage to push ahead with the booster drive.’

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Photo Source: Engage Education, European Union

Adrian Zammit loses court case but fans offer to pay his fine

Dec 16 2021

Social media personality Adrian Zammit has been ordered by the Court to pay €850 to former Marsa Mayor Frans Debono after he was found guilty of defamation.

Zammit, known for his Facebook videos in which he expresses his opinions about various topics, contested the last election for the Marsa local council as an independent candidate.

Debono filed a lawsuit at the Magistrates Court after he felt he had been defamed by Zammit in three videos posted in February of 2019. He accused Zammit of ridiculing him during the local council election campaign in May of the same year.

He complained that Zammit referred to him as ‘mustaccun’ and a Peeping Tom who spies on immigrants through a telescope. Zammit also said that the mayor buys a large amount of blue pills and gets things for free.

Zammit said that he was not actually referring to Debono but a fictional person he created so as not to offend anyone. He also claimed that he uploaded the videos to entertain people and was only expressing disappointment at the situation Marsa found itself in.

After news came out in regards to the ruling, Zammit was left overwhelmed by the support he received from his fans. They offered to pay him the fine, leaving him in tears, not over the fine itself, but the sheer support of the fanbase he has managed to create through his videos.

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Photo Source: Adrian Zammit FB