Former Pope Benedict XVI accused of failing to act on child sexual abuse cases

Jan 20 2022

Former pope Benedict XVI, who served as head of the church between 2005 and 2013, has come under fire for reportedly failing to act on four priests accused of child sexual abuse whilst he was archbishop of Munich.

A law firm which was commissioned to investigate historic abuse allegations has stated that Benedict, who then went by Joseph Ratzinger, has since denied the charges. “We believe that he can be accused of misconduct in four cases. Two of these cases concern abuses committed during his tenure and sanctioned by the state. In both cases, the perpetrators remained active in pastoral care,” said Martin Pusch from the German law firm Westpfahl Spilker Wastl.

In a letter written by the then-pope regarding such allegations, Benedict stated that he never tried to cover up such acts, despite widespread evidence of priests sexually abusing children.

What do you make of these claims?

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This Maltese singer-songwriter is putting out music with some of the biggest names in the scene

Jan 20 2022

Three years ago, Shaun Farrugia was in his bedroom in San Gwann taking voice notes and jotting down lyrics; nowadays he is rubbing shoulders with industry giants with a number of HUGE projects up his sleeve. The latest two being a co-writing credit together with Sigala on John Newman’s latest track ‘Waiting For A Lifetime’ which was released last Friday and Sigala’s upcoming track ‘Melody’, which Farrugia also co-wrote with the chart-topping British DJ and Producer.

“I’m just a small fish in a big pond and while sometimes you may feel like you’re king of the world, you’re not.” Humble as ever, Farrugia told Malta Daily that he is entirely grateful for being able to have such an experience and while he appreciates the huge support, both locally and internationally, he still has a long way to go.

Back in November, Shaun signed a major deal with Polydor Records, a British-German record label hosting a star-studded roster of international superstars such as Billie Eilish, Sam Fender, Lady Gaga, 220 Kid and many more. The hard-working songwriter stressed the importance of doing one’s utmost and remaining humble, stating “I’m feel like I’m still a nobody but I’m grateful for the stars aligning and will continue putting everything into my music.”

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He expressed how he started right out of the gate with big projects, with his first large-scale project being a co-writing credit with Irish super band The Script on their track ‘Hot Summer Nights.’ His fifth with Sigala is out on Friday and you can listen to John Newman’s latest track below:

With a number of HUGE projects in the works and a work ethic unlike anything we’ve ever seen, we can’t wait to see wait the future holds for Shaun Farrugia.

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“Joseph Muscat is one of us;” Jason Micallef criticises ‘obscene’ Muscat home raid

Jan 20 2022

Following the raid of Joseph Muscat’s home, Executive Chairman for the Valletta Cultural Agency and ONE Productions Jason Micallef has called upon Labour supporters to ‘let their voice be heard in the streets,’ in light of the raid’s ‘obscene’ circumstances.

Micallef stated that the police’s ‘assault’ on Joseph Muscat in Wednesday’s early hours is an obscenity of the highest regard in every aspect; from the way it was conducted to the reported “leak” to the media and the police’s confiscation of his children’s mobile phones.

Muscat’s Burmarrad residence was raided by the police on Wednesday 19 on court order; part of a probe into the controversial Vitals Global Healthcare hospitals deal. In a video posted to Joseph Muscat’s social media soon after the raid, the former Prime Minister stated that he was “half-surprised” by the search, alleging that a Nationalist party member had informed him of the oncoming raid and that he had a file of documents which was prepared back in 2021 ready for the authorities.

Micallef went on to state that what was done to the Muscat family is not acceptable. “Joseph Muscat is one of us. What happened and what was done, was built with the intention to embarrass the Labour Government and to create excess tension a few months away from the general election.”

What do you make of this?

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4,000 people received a fine for breaking COVID-19 measures in 2021

Jan 20 2022

In the past year, 4,000 people received fines from LESA officials after being caught breaking social distancing measures or not wearing a mask.

During an interview on TVMnews+ morning programme ‘TVAM’, LESA Chief Executive Svetlick Flores stated that in 2021, LESA issued close to 4,000 pandemic-related fines. He went on to explain that LESA enforcement goes on to this day based on the regulations put into place by the Superintendence for Public Health. Flores said that LESA enforces the regulations in public with 80 officials and a number of other officials assigned to particular tasks.

Meanwhile, 177,000 fines related to traffic regulations were issued in 2021.

#MaltaDaily