Italian driver guilty for crash that killed 5 including Maltese woman

Nov 16 2022

An Italian tourist who was extradited to Scotland was jailed after being convicted of causing the deaths of five people, including his oldest son in a car crash.

Alfredo Ciociola was driving a Fiat minibus when he crashed into a Nissan SUV on wrong side of the road at the Drummuir junction near Keith in Morayshire.

His son Lorenzo, four-years-old, died in the crash, along with a rear passenger in his vehicle, the Maltese 63-year-old Frances Saliba. Her husband, Francesco Patane was seriously injured along with Ciociola’s wife Concetta.

Concetta was in the back with her children. Younger son Frederico, aged 3, survived with minor injuries.

The driver of the other car, Morag Smith, 44, was severely injured. Her three passengers Edward Reid, 63, Evelyn Collie, 69, and Audrey Appleby, 70, died following the crash.

Ciociola, 50, an officer with the Italian Coast guard, who was also injured, had denied causing the deaths by driving dangerously on the A96 on July 26 in 2018.

A jury convicted him of the lesser offence of causing the deaths by careless driving and deleted allegations that he had fallen asleep and repeatedly braked from the charge.

Ciociola was extradited from Italy after failing to attend an earlier court appearance in Scotland. The naval officer will be sentenced at a later date, and was remanded in custody. Ciociola had denied that he had fallen asleep or repeatedly driven onto the wrong side of the A96.

Morag Smith, who was driving the other car, said Ciociola had never taken responsibility for his actions.

“I know he didn’t set out that day to kill anyone but he made such huge mistakes,” she said in a statement. “I believe he deserves jail time – but even if he is, no length of time behind bars will compare to what we have suffered.”

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95% of Maltese homes have an internet connection

Nov 16 2022

The Malta Communications Authority carried out a study pertaining to the preferences of household consumers when purchasing internet services.

The research, which involved around 800 net respondents, informed the authority on the availability of internet in Maltese households and types of contracts; the average monthly expenditure on internet services; the level of satisfaction’ the quality of the operator’s response to faults amongst other things.

The report found how almost all households (95%) have an active internet connection. 4 in 5 respondents with internet have an ultra-fast connection, supporting download speed of 100 Mbps or more.

Meanwhile, the leading factor influencing end-user choice for is download speed, with 34% respondents ranking it as such.

Price and upload speed ranked second and third respectively, for 27% and 16% of participants. 36% of households with people under 18 years of age, say that these members spend 3 to 5 hours online daily, with 1 in 3 of under 18 year olds using it for entertainment purposes.

44% reported that the speed measured was equal to that advertised, whereas 38% found speed slightly lower than that promised.

86% of surveyed households are aware of their monthly expenditure on the fixed internet service, with 2 out of 5 of this cohort reporting spending more than €50 per month.

74% of internet users are largely satisfied with the quality of service, with 3 out of 5 respondents have experienced faults and disconnections with their fixed internet service in the last 12 months. 62% of those reporting faults say that these were handled well by their service provider.

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Read the full study here.

Adrian Delia hits out at Minister for evading parliamentary questions

Nov 16 2022

Taking to social media, PN MP Adrian Delia hit out at Transport and Infrastructure Minister Aaron Farrugia after he did not show up in Parliament following the video showing Transport Malta officials beating a man.

Delia said that during every Parliamentary sitting, between 1600 and 1630hrs, a question time is held for parliamentary inquiries concerning various matters.

‘It was your turn to start answering yesterday’ Delia told Farrugia in a statement. ‘As you know, however, you were not in the room of deputies but instead, Culture Minister Owen Bonnici informed the speaker that you had other work to address. And he answered in your stead.’

‘At around 1615 however our colleagues informed the speaker that you (Farrugia) were in fact in the parliamentary building but avoided entering the chamber to answer questions’ he said.

‘This is a very serious absence. It is a disrespect to the room of deputies, to the population that chooses its deputies and a serious disregard to the question time dedicated to you. You need to lift political responsibility.’

The video in question was uploaded to social media showing two officials beating up a man as he was lying down in the middle of the road in Marsa. The officers have since been suspended pending an investigation.

#MaltaDaily

Scandals surrounding the Qatar 2022 World Cup

Nov 16 2022

As the world gears for the first ever winter World Cup, the atmosphere surrounding the Arab state’s first ever holding of the football competition has been marred by negative press and stories.

But what exactly is causing all this uproar? The 2022 tournament had been making headlines ever since FIFA named Qatar as hosts way back in 2010.

Here are just some of the main concerns concerning ethical issues and scandals associated with the upcoming World Cup.

Homosexuality is illegal in Qatar and is even punishable by imprisonment. Despite this, the FA have assured gay English fans that they will not be arrested for public arrested.

Adelaide United’s Australian left-back Josh Cavallo, who is the world’s only openly gay top-flight men’s footballer, also expressed concern about visiting Qatar. This discrimination unfortunately extends to LGBTQ+ citizens all year round.

Back in February 2021, an investigation by Guardian revealed that 6,500 migrant workers died in Qatar since the World Cup was awarded.

This falls under the Kafala sponsorship system, which turns employees into indentured labourers unable to leave the country without an exit visa insured by their employer.

While recent labour reforms ended the Kafala system, the World Cup construction project was nonetheless built on low pay, poor conditions, and a “culture of fear” in which outspoken workers were imprisoned for “publishing false news”.

Going back to 2015, Swiss authorities arrested 7 high ranking FIFA officials who awarded votes to prospective World Cup hosts in exchange for bribes. The main two were Russia and Qatar.

Of the 22 FIFA executive committee members who voted in Qatar’s 2010 bid for the World Cup, 15 have faced criminal charges. Stripping Qatar of hosting rights became impossible due to much infrastructural work having already been completed.

#MaltaDaily