Новости за 04.03.2016

This dog was lucky to escape the raging waters of the River Chili in southern Peru. The heaviest rains to hit Peru in the past two decades have left at least nine people dead. But it was not the end for the dog. Taxi driver José Luis Coaguila rushed to its rescue. "Any life is like a human being's life. Nobody would want to see the little dog vanish." The dog survived, but the el Nino-driven rains are expected to continue.

Government entities were passing the buck on pesticide regulation, causing fragmentation that was having disastrous results on biodiversity and public health, a leading environmentalist has warned. Alfred Baldacchino told the Times of Malta that, since July 2014, he had attempted to raise concerns over the indiscriminate spraying of herbicides and insecticides with several government departments and bodies but none assumed full responsibility. The Parliamentary Secretary for Agriculture, the Health Ministry... Читать дальше...

Elementary school students offer their views on the US presidential election as several new children's books about Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton hit store shelves. Vanessa Johnston reports.

Staff at the Bidnija shooting range were in for a surprise when they turned up at the facility this afternoon. For they found that two aluminium rooms had been extensively damaged by fire. The police said they received a report of the incident at 2pm. The fire is likely to have been caused by a short circuit.

The decision to turn Two Gates Street in Senglea into a one-way street has raised concerns, as those who regularly use the road are claiming that a number of near misses have already taken place. The street is popular with motorists driving to Gardjola Gardens but is also used by electronic vehicles supplied by Rolling Geeks, which provides guided tours to tourists who rent the battery-operated vehicles to drive around Senglea, guided by software highlighting sites of interest. To change the route... Читать дальше...

The United States is pressing the UN Security Council for the first time to confront the escalating problem of sexual abuse and exploitation by UN peacekeepers, which has undermined the credibility of the world group. The US is the biggest financial contributor to the UN's far-flung peacekeeping operations, and US officials say the Obama administration wants the council to send a strong signal that it will not tolerate sexual crimes by troops and police sent to protect vulnerable civilians, especially children. Читать дальше...

A European Parliament photographic exhibition “Women Refugees and Asylum Seekers” was inaugurated by Speaker Anġlu Farrugia and the EP’s director-general for communication Juana Lahousse-Juarez at Parliament in Valletta. Speaker Anġlu Farrugia remarked that whereas the theme chosen by the United Nations for International Women’s Day 2016 is “Planet 50-50 by 2030: Step It Up for Gender Equality”, the European Union rightly concentrated on Women Refugees and Asylum Seekers. In recent years, Europe... Читать дальше...

The 2016 edition of The President’s Ball, organised by the Malta Community Chest Fund, shall be held in its original venue and format, in the Grand Council Chamber, at The Palace in Valletta, the MCCF said in a statement this afternoon. Organising committee chairman Marchesino Daniel de Petri Testaferrata said that he was very pleased that the patrons of the President’s Ball would have the opportunity to experience the beauty of the Presidential Palace and the grandeur of the Grand Council Chamber. Читать дальше...

The value of pawned items at the Monti di Pietà at the end of January 2016 stood at €311,425, the highest for the last 10 years. Finance Minister Edward Scicluna gave this information in an answer to a parliamentary question put by Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici (PN). A total of 3,183 gold items are currently pawned at this institution, the longest outstanding of which was pawned 35 years ago in 1981, Prof. Scicluna said. Similar institutions originated in 15th-century Italy and were developed in cities... Читать дальше...

A 16-year-old Tibetan living in India has died in hospital three days after he set himself on fire in a protest against Chinese rule. The Tibetan suffered burns over 98% of his body and died late on Thursday, said Pankaj, an official at New Delhi's government-run Safdarjung hospital. The teenager set himself on fire on Monday in the northern Indian city of Dehradun and was taken to New Delhi for treatment. It was the second such protest this year, seen as an extreme expression of the anger and frustration... Читать дальше...

US detectives are investigating a knife purportedly found some time ago at the former home of OJ Simpson. The former American footballer was controversially acquitted of murder charges over the 1994 stabbings of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman. The knife was supposedly found by a citizen, possibly during demolition of the home years ago, and turned over to a now-retired police motorcycle officer who was working as a filming location security guard, Los Angeles Police Captain Andy Neiman said. Читать дальше...

Joseph Muscat's Labour Party swept to power in impressive manner three years ago. While the government registered success in a number of sectors, it has been embroiled in scandals, the latest involving the Energy Minister and the Prime Minister's chief of staff. Three years on from the thumping victory, does Malta really belong to all under Labour? Has it lived to its pre-electoral pledges? Times Talk provide the platform for a debate featuring prominent party officials from the government and the opposition. Читать дальше...

Residents of Gozo’s capital, Victoria, are vehemently opposing government plans to build a new primary school in an area currently used as a football ground, Times of Malta is informed. However, the Education Ministry is insisting that the project is desperately needed and that it will not cause any of the problems claimed by residents. A petition signed by dozens of residents was recently sent to the government and all Gozitan MPs. The petitioners made it clear that the government should drop plans... Читать дальше...

Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini insists his side will not give up in the title race. City have fallen 10 points behind Barclays Premier League leaders Leicester and slipped to fourth - albeit with a game in hand - after losing their last three games. Prior to that sequence they had been regarded as title favourites. With City closing in on a place in the Champions League quarter-finals, there has been a suggestion the club could prioritise the European competition but Pellegrini is still determined to reclaim the domestic crown. Читать дальше...

A rare, albino gray whale has been spotted off Mexico's Pacific coast. Marine biologists from the National Commission of Natural Protected Areas (CONANP) captured footage of the magnificent, white mammal swimming with her normal-coloured calf during an annual census off the coast of Baja California. The bright white whale, which actually belongs to the gray whale species, or Eschrichtius robustus, has been given the nickname Gallon of Milk. Gallon of Milk was first spotted during the 2008 - 2009... Читать дальше...

Media mogul Rupert Murdoch has married Jerry Hall at an aristocratic palace. Mr Murdoch, whose News UK company publishes The Times and The Sun newspapers, smiled for photographers next to the former supermodel, who was wearing a trench coat and flat shoes. The ceremony was held at Spencer House in London, a venue which is described on its website as "one of the most sumptuous private residences ever built" in the capital. A spokesman for the Murdoch family confirmed that the ceremony took place. Читать дальше...

Dozens of people have been rescued after a ferry capsized in the strait between the Indonesian islands of Bali and Java. TV footage showed passengers standing on the side of the stricken boat, then jumping into the sea as it sank in placid waters. Officials said 71 people had been rescued and at least four were still missing from the ferry which was travelling from Gilimanuk port in Bali to Banyuwangi on Java. Didi Hamzar, head of Bali's Search and Rescue Agency, said the ship's manifest listed 51 people on board including 14 crewmen... Читать дальше...

Just when you think that Premier Joseph Muscat can't get any more transparent, he goes a step further. I am not using transparent here in anything approaching, even remotely, a good sense, but in the more proper sense of us now being able to see right through him. When Panama Konrad was wittering on in his little love-fest with Reno Bugeja, on Labour's own personal station, he also flew a kite for better transparency, maybe this is what he meant too, that we're become able to see right through him. Читать дальше...

Foreign Affairs Minister George Vella today left Malta on an official visit to Iran. This is the first visit to Iran by a Maltese Foreign Affairs Minister since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries in 1972. The visit is taking place at a very important juncture following elections to the Iranian Parliament and Assembly of Experts last week, which strengthened the country's moderate and reformist leadership. It is also taking place in the wake of successful negotiations... Читать дальше...

A refugee who admitted to stealing a handbag containing smart phone worth €600 and €80 in cash was sentenced to nine months in jail. The incident happened on February 7, in Triq Santu Wistin in St Julian’s at about 4.30am. The court, presided by Magistrate Joe Mifsud, heard that Libyan Mohamed Rajab Ali Alsagheer, who pleaded guilty to all charges including breaching a two-year treatment order, had returned all the stolen items. Inspector Trevor Micallef prosecuted.

A Libyan man caught stealing from a car in Valletta two hours after his release from prison filed a guilty plea today and found himself back in prison. Abdulhamid Saied, 36, from Tripoli, who lives in Malta but has no fixed address, filed his plea before Magistrate Joe Mifsud and was sentenced to nine months in jail. He was also slapped with a fine of €800 and ordered to repay €1,040 in damages he caused when he tried to break into the car with a concrete brick. The crime was committed on February 23 in Strait Street. Читать дальше...

Malta International Airport welcomed 236,631 passengers last month, a growth of 13.3 per cent, it said in a notice on the Malta Stock Exchange. The airport said these positive results came hot on the heels of the announcement that the company had been named second in the Best European Airport by Region award by the Airport Councils International. The growth, it said, partly stemmed from February’s leap day, which resulted in an additional 8,421 passengers passing through the airport. This equates... Читать дальше...

The General Workers Union has condemned without any reservation an attack on Police Officers’ Union president Sandro Camilleri. According to reports, a man was arrested this morning after he attacked Insp. Camilleri at the GWU offices. The GWU said no one should use methods of aggression and intimidation to justify his arguments.

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has challenged a TV interviewer when quizzed about any retirement plans, asking him: "Do you want me to punch you to the floor to realise I am still there?" The 92-year-old, known for his pugnacious comments, was responding to an interviewer from state TV after a question about who would succeed him. "Why 'successor' when I am still there?" he said in the interview. "Why do you want a successor?" Mr Mugabe, who has led Zimbabwe since the country was formed in 1980 from the ashes of white-ruled Rhodesia... Читать дальше...

An international competition for the design and implementation of a Museum for Gozo was launched today by Gozo Minister Anton Refalo and Parliamentary Secretary Ian Borg. The museum, for which European funds are being sought, is being set up together with Heritage Malta. The regional innovative museum would bring together folklore, archaeology, natural history, and visual arts in a new and unique experience. More information about the competition can be obtained here.