My impression might be a mistaken. Still it does seem as if during these past few months, the number of workers who have died or got seriously injured at their place of work has increased, as has that of men and women who've died or suffered grave injuries in traffic accidents. This could be just coincidence or a seasonal effect.

On the other hand, any increase could have resulted from factors new or others that have been changing and against which therefore new safeguards must be put in place. For instance: could it be that the resources deployed to monitor whether work sites are being properly managed, have become insufficient to cope with the volume of ongoing projects - so that rules are being observed "flexibly"? Or could it be that traffic regulations need an update to take into account the enormous increase of motor cycles on the roads? 

It is hugely regrettable that in the wake of the tragic circumstances that lead to such deaths, the concern about them seems to dim when it is discovered that the victims are foreign. 

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MALTA POSITION

It was the only position Malta could adopt in the current discussion within the EU regarding the Union budget for the coming years. This country cannot agree with the imposition of new "federal" taxes to finance the Union's prospective expenditures.

However the matter must be taken further. The budgetary proposals being made by the European Commission cover major new expenditures relating to new areas of European initiative (like in defence and security, immigration, regulation of electronic systems of research and communications...) Leading members of the Union - Germany, the Netherlands and the Scandinavian countries - are against the increase of outlays... although not the new initiatives. They claim that the latter should be financed through a reduction of commitments on the "older" initiatives. Others, like France, are prepared to envisage new "federal" taxes and/or an EU debt issue - something which the Union cannot do as of now.

At present, the Maltese government has not publicly clarified in any detail its position on these aspects.

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REPUTATION

One can safely claim that no other country has lost so fast in the short period of a few years, the respect and interest which it previously enjoyed internationally, as has happened and is still happening to Israel. What's surprising is how an enormous majority of Israelis - and not just Netanyahu's supporters - still mantain that the rest of the world is wrongly pillorying Israel, which they hold, should simply be considered as a country that's under threat and is constantly being victimised. Meanwhile, out in the open, injustices and attacks against innocent people (in the West Bank) continue, as well as the callous killing of Palestinian families (in Gaza) 

Little doubt could remain about the extent of Israeli responsibilties when even the US ambassador Huckabee, a radical defender of Israel, went on record to condemn what is happening in the West Bank as "terrorism". The international image of Israel is bound to continue deteriorating  in the coming weeks and months.