Новости за 15.02.2016

The shadow minister for transport, Marthese Portelli, asked in Parliament this evening whether Spanish-owned Malta Public Transport is getting special rates on the diesel used by the buses. Speaking in parliament on the adjournment, Dr Portelli said such an arrangement, if confirmed, would be scandalous for two reasons - the first because the Maltese were continuing to pay high rates for their fuel, and the second because MPT was already being given a subsidy of €30 million, three times as much as used to be given to Arriva. Читать дальше...

38 hold-ups were reported in the Maltese islands in the whole of last year, Home Affairs Minister Carmelo Abela said in reply to a question in Parliament today. The question was by Ryan Callus (PN).

Transport Malta last year received 13,234 SMSs about vehicles producing excessive emissions. 262 vehicles were tested of which 32 failed. Transport Minister Joe Mizzi explained in Parliament that Transport Malta only called vehicles for tests when it received three SMSs about them from separate numbers within three months. When a car failed the first emission test, a second appointment was given and the owner was fined. The process continued until the vehicle passed the test. If an owner failed to take his vehicle for test twice... Читать дальше...

The government is planning to issue 15 licences for owners of old route buses to offer services to tourists, Transport Minister Joe Mizzi said. He told Ryan Callus (PN) in reply to a parliamentary question that a call for tender will be issued and offers have to exceed €10,000.

The prime minister said in Parliament today that his wife is not given a salary and does not receive allowances or any form of remuneration. He was replying to questions in parliament by David Agius (PN). He said his wife worked out of various places and had no fixed office.Her role, he said, was the same as prime minister’s wives in previous legislatures. Asked if Mrs Muscat has a role in the Armed Forces of Malta, Dr Muscat said that as in the past under various prime ministers, his wife was occasionally asked to help a number of people. Читать дальше...

The monument set up at Castille Place to commemorate the Valletta summit last year cost €277,152, information given in Parliament this evening shows. The prime minister told David Agius (PN) that the supply and fabrication of the marble cost €177,000 (Halmann Vella Ltd). Engineering, transport and installation cost €33,040 (Halmann Vella). Provision of corten steel and fabrication of the steel structure cost €57,112 (Atlas Tool Engineerign Ltd) while €10,000 were spent on the design and on-site monitoring by Dr Vince Briffa. Читать дальше...

None of the bidders who showed interest in restoring the Tritons Fountain  in Valletta met the required eligibility criteria, Infrastructure Minister Joe Mizzi said in reply to a parliamentary question this evening. Asked by Godfrey Farrugia (PL) what had become of the restoration project, Mr Mizzi said the government planned to restore the fountain at the city entrance to its original condition while using the latest technology. He said the fountain had been allowed to deteriorate for many years. Читать дальше...

The Parliamentary Secretary for Health, Chris Fearne, told parliament this evening that as far as was known, no mosquitoes in Malta were infected with Zika. He said in parliament that the local health authorities were keeping a close watch on the development of the Zika virus through the EU’s early warning system and direct contacts with the World Health Organisation and the US Centres for Disease Control. Dr Fearne spoke about the nature of Zika, how it is spread and symptoms. He said the risk of... Читать дальше...

At least 23 civilians were killed when missiles hit three hospitals and a school in rebel-held Syrian towns as Russian-backed Syrian troops intensified their push toward the rebel stronghold of Aleppo. Fourteen people were killed in the town of Azaz near the Turkish border when missiles slammed into a school sheltering families fleeing the offensive and the children's hospital, two residents and a medic said. Bombs also hit another refugee shelter south of the town and a convoy of trucks, another resident said. Читать дальше...

The government and the opposition, meeting in the House Business Committee, this evening failed to set a date when Parliament will start to debate reform of the judicial sector. Bills by the government and the opposition on judicial reform are to be presented for first reading in Parliament this evening. The first reading formally authorises the publication of the bills.  However no agreement was reached on when the debates would actually be held and whether there would be one debate. The two sides... Читать дальше...

A woman was handed a suspended sentence after admitting to giving false testimony in a case which saw a bus driver being cleared of driving dangerously and critically injuring a woman. The case dates to 2008 when Inna Said was hit by a bus in St Paul’s Bay. She suffered head injuries and spent over 17 days in hospital, even suffering from epilepsy as a result of injuries sustained to her brain. In 2013, bus driver Massimo Bonello, 42, was cleared of driving negligently and dangerously and of seriously injuring Ms Said. Читать дальше...

A Russian regional court has ruled that an Orthodox Church diocese can repay part of an outstanding debt in prayers rather than money. Nizhegorodsky Regional Court said the local Russian Orthodox Church diocese can repay 258,000 rubles it owes for the installation of a boiler system - along with an additional 65,000 rubles in fines and legal fees - by praying for the health of the company that installed the system. According to the court ruling, the installation cost 916,000 rubles, of which the diocese originally paid about half. Читать дальше...

A fresh call has been made for the implementation of the 2010 national climate change proposals that include billing for private groundwater extraction, as the lack of rainfall has experts worried. The appeal was made by hydrologist Marco Cremona during a talk on climate change in Attard. The proposed climate adaptation measures, drawn up by an inter-ministerial committee six years ago, also included the introduction of legal instruments to ban groundwater use for landscaping. However, turf is still... Читать дальше...

A construction worker died this afternoon after falling a height of about one storey at a construction site. The incident took place at about 2.15 p.m., in Vjal De La Cruz, Qormi. The victim, whose identity has yet to be confirmed, was pronounced dead on site. Investigations are underway by the Qormi District Police while several experts have been appointed to assist with a magisterial inquiry.

A 35-year-old man from Xgħajra was taken to court this morning, accursed of growing 35 cannabis plants in his father’s field. Standing in the dock looking dazed, Manuel Abela was charged with cultivating cannabis, possessing the drug in amounts denoting it was not for his personal use and possessing heroin. Prosecuting officer Josric Mifsud told Magistrate Ian Farrugia that the police acted on a tip-off and located the plants after a raid on a field in Xgħajra. The accused was also charged with keeping four robins, a protected species. Читать дальше...

A Russian woman’s “indoctrination” of her children against her estranged husband led a court to convict her of fabricating a story alleging their six-year-old daughter was sexually abused by the man. The woman, who lives in Gozo, was jailed for 13 months suspended for two years after being found guilty of concocting the story. The two are currently engaged in acrimonious separation proceedings. The court heard an investigating police inspector explain how his interviews with the young girl and her... Читать дальше...

The share index kicked-off the week in the red as it slipped 0.17 per cent lower to 4,461.614 points, largely on the continued decline in HSBC. On the other hand, RS2 and MIA continued to trend higher and closed at fresh all-time highs. The total value of trades across the equity market amounted to €0.45 million today. The equity of HSBC shed another 1.8 per cent to the €1.60 level across high volumes totalling 117,718 shares. The equity is at its lowest since late July 2004. The bank is scheduled... Читать дальше...

Pope John Paul II had a close relationship with a married woman which lasted over 30 years, according to letters which feature in a documentary being shown by the BBC on Monday. While the documentary does not claim he broke his vow of celibacy with Polish-born philosopher and writer Anna-Teresa Tymieniecka, the tone of some of his letters to her points to intense feelings between them, the broadcaster says. The two spent camping and skiing holidays together and went on country walks. In one letter from September 1976... Читать дальше...

A woman accidentally struck and killed her three-year-old son with her car while learning to drive, an inquest in the UK has heard. Lyndsay Turner, 34, was pulling the Citroen C4 hatchback into a parking area near their home in Adland Road, Watton, Norfolk, when she hit her son Liam as he played nearby. Father Stephen, 37, moved the toddler from underneath the vehicle and drove him towards the hospital before flagging down an ambulance, the court was told. Liam was airlifted to the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital but could not be saved.

A passenger on board a New York-bound plane which was turned back to Heathrow after a laser incident saw a pilot taken to hospital has described the ordeal as "scary". The Virgin Atlantic flight returned to the west London airport when the co-pilot reported feeling unwell after a laser was directed at the plane as it took off on Sunday. A spokeswoman for Virgin Atlantic confirmed the incident took place shortly after take-off and that the pilot was taken to hospital as a "precautionary measure",... Читать дальше...

A Spaniard was today fined for running onto the airport apron in a bid to stop an aircraft from leaving for Spain without him. Luis Salas De Teodoro, 33, admitted in court to breaching the restricted area without authorisation. Prosecuting officer Silvio Magro told the court that the incident happened yesterday at around 9.45am. The accused was meant to have boarded the Ryanair flight to Madrid but was running late. The gate had already closed and the staff had vacated the check-in counter. Upon seeing that the aircraft was still parked... Читать дальше...

A UN human-rights expert is calling on the UK and Sweden to follow the recommendation by a UN panel to allow freedom of movement for Wikileaks founder Julian Assange. Alfred de Zayas says the countries should set a "good example" and follow the finding announced on February 5 by the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention that Mr Assange should be free to leave the Ecuadorian embassy in London. Authorities in Britain and Sweden have rejected the finding, saying Mr Assange has detained himself by... Читать дальше...

An 18-year-old man from Żebbuġ, Gozo, was today placed under a two-year probation order and fined €800 for using violence against the police. He was also ordered to pay for damages he caused on Sunday at around 2am and earlier when he threatened, attacked or resisted two officers with violence. He was also charged with using indecent language in public, breaching the peace, disobeying police orders, being drunk in public and insulting or threatening another man.

Energy Minister Konrad Mizzi would not commit to the June 2016 deadline he gave Parliament for completion of the new power station. Addressing the media at the Labour Party headquarters today, he instead said that the new plant should be commissioned in summer. Asked whether this meant that there was another new completion date, since he had given June 2016 as the final date, Dr Mizzi said that he did not make that commitment but only that the plant would be built by June. Dr Mizzi said that what... Читать дальше...

Justice Minister Owen Bonnici will not ask the Commission for the Administration of Justice for guidance on the constitutionality of Caroline Farrugia Frendo’s nomination for magistrate. As various legal experts and a member of the commission raised fresh doubts on the eligibility of the Speaker’s daughter due to the fact that she has been working as a court attorney and did not practice law for the past months, Dr Bonnici said today he would not consult the commission. He insisted he had no doubt... Читать дальше...