Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1199625
THE Labour MP Robert Abela – appointed to Joseph Mus- cat's side as a consultant to the former prime minister – yes- terday became Labour's new leader and Malta's prime min- ister, at 42. It was a veritable case of the presumed underdog coming in from behind as his opponent, deputy prime minister and health minister Chris Fearne, was billed as the favourite of Muscat's Cabinet, supported by a majority of government ministers. Yet it was evident that Abela was favoured by staff close to Muscat himself: as counting got underway in yesterday's election at the PL headquar- ters, on Facebook, aides like Libyan envoy Neville Gafà, who has been by Keith Schem- bri's side, posted 'continuity' as their status update, a refer- ence to Abela as the continuity candidate; while Muscat's per- sonal driver Jesmond Sghendo posted 'invictus', the alleged soubriquet tattooed on Mus- cat's arm. Halfway through, Abela was leading by 60%. JAMES DEBONO IN an indication linking social class inequality to health problems, chil- dren in the southern region are more likely to be obese than those hailing from the north of Malta. In a study f o c u s i n g on the ge- o g r a p h i - cal distri- bution of the preva- lence of childhood o v e r - w e i g h t and obe- sity in Malta pub- lished in the Malta Medi- cal Journal, a higher propen- sity towards obe- sity was revealed in the south. One-third of boys attending primary schools in the southern harbour region which includes Cottonera, Valletta, Zabbar, Tarxien and Paola are obese, compared to a quarter in the north- ern (which includes Naxxar and St Paul's Bay) and the north harbour districts (which includes Sliema, St Julian's, Birkirkara and Qormi). 2 SUNDAY • 12 JANUARY 2020 • ISSUE 1054 • PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY AND SUNDAY INSIDE • MT2 maltatoday 2 INSIDE • LISTINGS • TV • LAW • CLASSIFIEDS Q and A Maxine Aquilina This Week Academic and cartoonist Gorg Mallia Film JoJo Rabbit SOUTH'S POUNDS ABELA WINS maltatoday Obesity link to social class PAGE 4 English or Maltese speaker? A survey among students breaks down the data PAGE 11 CELEBRATING 20 YEARS OF BOLD JOURNALISM WWW.MALTATODAY.COM.MT/20YEARS LIBYA. WHAT NEXT? The Middle East expert Prof. James Sater explains INTERVIEW PGS 16-17 LABOUR LEADERSHIP • Landslide win for Robert Abela who becomes Labour leader and Malta's prime minister at 42 • MaltaToday survey predicted win €1.95 2 0 20 YEARS OF THE MALTATODAY CARTOON PGS 14-15 PAGES 2-3 Not much of a devil's pact... 'underdog' Robert Abela beat heir apparent Chris Fearne