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WEDNESDAY • 10 JUNE 2026 • ISSUE 997 • PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY AND SUNDAY
EDITORIAL • PAGE 11
Roderick
Cassar handed
more jail time
for domestic
violence
incidents before
wife's murder
RODERICK Cassar, currently serv-
ing a 40-year prison sentence for the
murder of his wife, has received two
additional jail terms linked to domes-
tic violence incidents that occurred
before her murder.
Cassar has now been sentenced to
three months in prison for holding a
knife to his wife's throat on Mother's
Day in 2022. He was also handed an
eight-month sentence for a separate
incident on 14 July, 2022.
CONTINUES PAGE 3
WEDNESDAY EDITION
THE island ranks first in the
EU regarding the perceived
threat of converting natu-
ral areas to other land uses,
with 72% of respondents de-
scribing this as "very much"
a threat.
This level of intense con-
cern is significantly higher
than that found in countries
such as Finland (32%), the
Netherlands (33%), or Swe-
den (34%), where citizens are
far less likely to see land con-
version as a primary environ-
mental danger.
This strong sensitivity to
land-use change in Malta re-
flects a broader national con-
sensus that the expansion of
urban areas and the loss of
natural territory represent a
critical risk to biodiversity.
While Maltese respondents
display high levels of con-
cern, their technical famil-
iarity with environmental
terminology is more mixed.
Only 48% of respondents
state that they have heard
of the term "biodiversity"
and understand its meaning,
which is lower than the EU27
average of 55%.
However, once defined,
understanding of its impor-
tance is clear.
CONTINUES PAGE 2
JAMES
DEBONO
jdebono@mediatoday.com.mt
Malta tops EU concern over land
use and environmental threats
72% of Maltese consider conversion
of natural areas to other uses as a
threat to biodiversity
MATTHEW
FARRUGIA
mfarrugia@mediatoday.com.mt
PRIME MINISTER ROBERT ABELA'S NEW CABINET MET FOR THE FIRST TIME ON TUESDAY SEE PAGE 3
