The General Workers Union has yesterday held a protest meeting against the way shipyards are being privatised and the way its workers are being treated. The protest which was attended by students and shipyard workers with families cheered the Union's officials when they said that the Union will keep battling for worker's rights.

As you may we are seriously concerned about two development applications to extend the St. John's Cathedral Museum out to the St. John's courtyard on Merchants' Street and also under St. John's Street and Square. These projects are potentially very damaging to our heritage for reasons which we have set out in the letter below. We feel that MEPA should refuse such applications especially as a much wiser alternative exists to restore and convert one of the nearby deteriorating palazzos as a museum extension.

Din il-ġimgħa bħal ma jaf kulħadd sar l-istrajk tal-ħaddiema tat-trasport pubbliku. L-istrajk, minkejja l-iskontri u l-battibekki li jġib miegħu kull tip ta’ strajk ġie penġut mill-midja bħala xi ħaġa illegali u ta’ barra minn hawn u l-ħaddiema saħansitra ġew demonizzati. Il-misinformazzjoni totali li pproduċiet il-midja lokali f’dawn l-aħħar ġranet kienu n-nuqqas ta’ professjonalità li jġorru magħhom ħafna ġurnalisti Maltin u l-intenzjonijiet opportunisti tal-parlamentari.

Tony Bunyan yesterday made a speech at the Hotel Excelsoir regarding the imporotance of the Freedom of Information Act in Europe. Malta is one of the only countries in the EU where there is yet no Fredom of Information Act Tony Bunyan who is head of State Watch (www.statewatch.org) has claimed that this Act has been suppressed and avoided due to the excuse of the war on terror. He claimed that the 'war on terror' has justified the suppression of civil liberties which have ben gained through long struggles especially, the right of the citizens to have any information and any document which the government possesses.

Just after the Nationalist Party entered office, Prime Minister Gonzi has boasted about an incoming reform in MEPA which will increase transperancy and opted a new chairman for the task. The situation of the Malte Environment Planning Authority has not become more transparent because corruption has actually increased and irregularities are on the rise again.

Nature Trust (Malta) called on the Prime Minister, as the responsible authority on the environment and tourism, to intervene in the Dwejra Heritage Park issue and help solve the various issues which have become long overdue.

Nature Trust (NTM) had been awarded a LIFE grant by the European Union in 2004. This project encountered problems from the very start, with the Malta Environment and Planning Authority delaying the approval of the action plan by over one and a half years. The project eventually came to an end in March 2007.

Since then all uncompleted tasks indicated in the action plan have come to a halt and NTM now feels that all the investment poured in to conserve the site is now going up in smoke and the park is falling into degradation.

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A rift is growing in this society, between those who are accepted by the law as normal citizens and must be punished accordingly if they break it, and those who are considered of a privileged nature and thus must be dealt differently from the others. The former is usually the simple and blue collar criminal and gets caught easily when the police forces launch their search operations. But the latter is a phenomenon which the mass media has always ignored due to its interest to hide the mischievous truths of its patrons. Mainstream journalists have most of them failed to research properly white-collar crimes for the simple reason not to defame and not to enter in any 'libellous' situations.

Il-kollettiva li tiproduċi l-gazzetta r-Realtà qiegħda torganizza seminar fuq is-suġġett ta’ l-urbanizzazzjoni u l-effetti tagħha fuq l-ambjent naturali. Dan is-seminar ser jilqa' fih numru ta’ NGOs u akkedemiċi li ser jagħtu l-kummenti tagħhom fuq is-sitwazzjoni lokali ta’ l-urbanizzazzjoni. Id-dibattitu ser jibda b'Dr Simon Mercieca (head of Mediterranean Institute, University of Malta) li hu skular mill-Università. Dr Mercieca huwa demografiku storiku u b'hekk ser jagħti sinopsi qasira ta’ l-urbanizzazzjoni u aspetti demografiċi fl-istorja ta’ Malta. Astrid Vella li hi l-mexxejja ta’ l-organizzazzjoni Federazzjoni Ambjent Aħjar, hija kelliema oħra li ser titkellem fuq aspetti riċenti ta’ l-urbanizzazzjoni u l-irwol ta’ l-NGOs u l-ambjent f'Malta. Kelliem ieħor huwa Matthew Giordimana li huwa membru fin-Nature Trust Youths. Matthew ser jitkellem fuq ir-relazzjoni taż-żgħażagħ ma’ NGOs u l-ambjent naturali.

In recent days three dead bodies of African men have been recovered from the sea by the Armed Forces of Malta. It has, until now refrained from launching proper investigations regarding this situation. According to Fortress Europe the situation is very alarming:

Moviment Graffitti has today staged a protest in front of the opening ceremony of the new parliament. Moviment Graffitti has claimed in a press-statement that Malta's two party system is disrupting any real democratic dialogue in the country. An example which is usually brought to prove this point is that this system is also preventing Alternattiva Demokratika from being represented in parliament due to district counting.