Новости за 15.03.2016

Justice Minister Owen Bonnici has been served with a formal letter demanding compensation for injuries which a man suffered in a traffic accident two years ago when the minister was driving his private car. The Ministry of Justice said the person who was unfortunately injured in the incident is demanding compensation from the company with which Dr Bonnici is insured, as well as from Dr Bonnici personally. It quoted the minister saying that that a few hours after the accident he had lodged a claim... Читать дальше...

Two men were hospitalised this evening after their car reportedly overturned three times in an incident at Mdina Road, Zebbug. The incident happened at about 7.45pm and involved a Toyota Glanza in which the two men were travelling, and a Peugeot 107. They were heading in the same direction, past St Dorothy School, towards Rabat, when the crash occurred. The two men, a 27-year-old from Luqa and a 23-year-old from Zebbug, were taken to hospital while the driver of the Peugeot, a 50-year-old woman from Sliema, refused medical assistance.

U.N. special envoy Angelina Jolie urged world powers today to do more to help the millions who have fled the conflict from Syria's 5-year-long civil war, as she visited refugees in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley. The war has killed 250,000 people, displaced half of Syria's population and created Europe's worst refugee crisis since World War Two. Talks on a political solution are underway in Geneva, but hopes of progress are modest. As a diplomatic solution eludes politicians, simply coping with the growing... Читать дальше...

The Justice Ministry is still awaiting advice on whether to take action against the General Workers’ Union (GWU) for breaching an agreement it signed with the government, Justice Minister Owen Bonnici told the Times of Malta yesterday. An investigation by the National Audit Office (NAO) last October concluded that the GWU breached lease conditions when it sublet office space to State billing company ARMS Ltd, the travel agency Vjaġġi Untours and the restaurant Sciacca Grill. The GWU does not have... Читать дальше...

Money has been poured by the hundreds of thousands into the national pool at Tal_Qroqq over the years, according to information given in parliament to Education and Sports Minister Evarist Bartolo. Replying to a question by Labour Mp Anthony Agius Decelis, the minister gave the following list of spending on maintenance between 2014 and 2015: 2004 €18,293.992005 €388,811.272006 €87,177.742007 €96,729.622008 €84,868.962009 €76,783.192010 €276,796.842011 €93,344.742012 €203,993.462013 €79,166.172014 €40,329.822015 €1,559,427.81 The figures... Читать дальше...

News that February set an unprecedented record for the hottest month globally since records began should be seen as a “serious warning shot” and prompt Malta to speed up measures to adapt to the effects of climate change, according to a leading environmentalist. Data released by Nasa on Saturday showed that the average global surface temperature in February was 1.35 degrees Celsius warmer than the average temperature for that month between 1951-1980, a far bigger margin than ever seen before. The... Читать дальше...

Tourism Police will be introduced as a pilot project in St Julian’s and Sliema next month, Home Affairs Minister Carmelo Abela told Censu Galea (PN) in reply to a parliamentary question. He said the project would be carried out in collaboration with the Tourism Ministry and would be gradually extended to other areas according to need. Last year, Tourism Minister Edward Zammit Lewis explained that the aim of the tourism police was not to inconvenience tourists, but to help them. The aim was to have... Читать дальше...

A snap election could have somewhat unusual ballot sheets, as none of the political parties have officially registered to be voted for, Chief Electoral Commissioner Joe Church told the Times of Malta. Rumours of a possible snap election began circling earlier this month as news organisations turned up the heat on allegations of government corruption in light of the Panama scandal. Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, however, last week dismissed the possibility of turning to the electorate to reaffirm his... Читать дальше...

Opposition whip Godfrey Farrugia complained to the Speaker this evening that the area where journalists could doorstep MPs in parliament was not delineated and journalists ‘in their enthusiasm’ were following MPs right to the stairs of Parliament House. Dr Farrugia said he respected journalists and their right to seek information, but the box within which reporters should stay in order to question MPs should be clearly marked. He said he had even asked the police to ensure that reports stayed in the area assigned to them. Читать дальше...

The Police Force has formally welcomed seven recruits - of the four legged kind. Red, Blue, Yellow, Green, Brown, White and Pink - two males and five females were born at the end of January at the Police Dogs Section in Mosta to Sergeant Kiva (an explosive search dog) and Sergeant Axe (General duties) the police announced on their Facebook page. Their breed is Belgian Malinois (Belgian Shepherd).  The police said their 'current status' is Socialisation and Environment Training and their mission is 'to serve the country'.

Silvio Zammit, the man accused of bribery and trading in influence when John Dalli was EU Commissioner for Health, has filed a criminal complaint with the Belgian police over an allegedly illegal telephone recording. Back in May, Belgian investigators had asked the European Commission to lift the diplomatic immunity of officials from the anti-fraud agency OLAF. The officials had been accused as far back as 2013 of making recordings of phone conversations without judicial authorisation, which is illegal under Belgian law. Читать дальше...

Two men were granted bail today after pleading not guilty to smuggling two shotguns from Libya and attempting to sell them on the black market. Manolito Magri, 35 of Santa Venera, and Albert Fenech, 44 of Gharghur, who both work on a ship which transports goods from Libya to Malta, were arraigned in court this afternoon and charged with importing and possessing two pump action shotguns without a licence from the Police Commissioner. The two shotguns were valued at a total of €500, excluding the unpaid... Читать дальше...

Alternattiva Demokratika has written to the President, asking her to intervene so that Daniel Holmes may serve the remainder of his prison sentence in his native Wales. Party chairman Arnold Cassolla wrote that without going into the merits of the case, it should be made possible for Mr Holmes to see his children more often, especially as his wife has just had a baby. He therefore asked the President to consider proposing that Mr Holmes serve the rest of his prison term in Wales, in order to be near his family. Читать дальше...

Three police officers were slightly injured when shots were fired during an anti-terror raid in the Belgian capital Brussels, an official has said. The exact circumstances of the incident, and whether the police officers were struck by bullets or injured in another way, were still unclear, the police official said. Media reported that the anti-terror raid took place in the Forest neighbourhood, which is close to Molenbeek, home of several people involved in the November 13 attacks on Paris that killed... Читать дальше...

The MSE Share Index registered its third consecutive negative performance on the stock exchange today as it declined by a further 0.09% to 4,543.519 points with aggregate values traded remaining close to the €0.4 million level. RS2 Software plc continued to reverse recent gains with a further 2.3% drop during this morning’s session to the €3.949 level across a total of 8,490 shares. Similarly, Tigne’ Mall plc released some of last Tuesday’s 16.2% jump as the equity retreated by 8.7% today from its... Читать дальше...

Traffic fines are to rise next week, the general secretary of the Police Officers' Union, Inspector Sandro Camilleri has announced. He said the union had a fruitful meeting with the prime minister last week and several of the union's complaints were dealt with immediately. The union also called for the introduction of higher traffic fines, as announced in the budget, because far too many motorists were ignoring traffic lights and speaking on the phone while at the wheel. Insp. Camilleri said that... Читать дальше...

A 53-year-old truck driver from Birżebbuġa was today given a six-month jail term suspended for a year, after he admitted to breaching bail. Joseph Grech, who has a 7.30pm curfew, was seen in Valletta at 11pm. Lawyer Roberto Montalto told Magistrate Antonio Micallef Trigona that the accused had ended up in Valletta following an argument with his former partner and had allegedly left his home to go and collect his children's clothes. The lawyer argued that the breach was not a rampant one, and that the accused had left his home to clear the air. Читать дальше...

The fertility rate in Malta is slightly below the EU average and continuing to decline, according to data issued today by Eurostat. It shows that the fertility rate in Malta in 2014 was 1.42, compared to 1.48 in 2001. The EU average in 2014 was 1.58. A fertility rate of around 2.1 live births per woman is considered to be the replacement level in developed countries, Eurostat said. In other words, that is the average number of live births per woman required to keep the population size constant in the absence of inward or outward migration. Читать дальше...

Enemalta has decreased non-technical losses to a new low, saving up to €30 million last year, it said today. The company told a news conference that 1,220 cases of electricity theft were concluded last year. In each case, customers caught stealing electricity signed agreements for the electricity stolen as well as the applicable penalties and interests. Some of these cases had been left pending for years. Customers who refused to pay were referred to the police. The company said that between 2014 and 2015... Читать дальше...

A 30-year-old man from Valletta was remanded in custody for breaching bail conditions after he was found in his father's garage, washing his car. According to his bail conditions, Janis Caruana was supposed to be at home between 7.30pm and 7am but was found in his father's garage between 2am and 5am. Lawyer Veronique Dalli requested bail, arguing that his case was hardly the most flagrant of breaches and asked the court to hear the testimony of witnesses. Magistrate Antonio Micallef Trigona immediately turned down the request for bail... Читать дальше...

A 24-year-old tourist who was allegedly manhandled by the police was left with "no alternative" but to plead guilty to threatening the officers as he would have otherwise had to remain in Malta until the case was re-assigned. Suleyman Omar Ahmed, who is originally from Somalia but who is currently studying at a British University, was charged with threatening the police, resisting arrest, breaching public peace and being drunk in public. The incident occurred at around 3.30am in Paceville. It is... Читать дальше...

Mother Teresa will be made a saint on September 4. Pope Francis set the canonisation date, paving the way for the nun who cared for the poorest of the poor to become the centre-piece of his year-long focus on the Catholic Church's merciful side. The announcement was expected after Francis in December approved a second miracle attributed to Mother Teresa's intercession - the final hurdle to make her a saint. The actual date falls on the eve of the 19th anniversary of her death.

The PN is calling upon Prime Minister Joseph Muscat to follow "the lecture in good governance” just given to him by Allied Newspapers. Without entering into the merits of the allegations made that the Prime Minister’s Chief of Staff Keith Schembri, through his private company Kasco Group, was bribing Allied’s managing director, PN Deputy Leader  Beppe Fenech Adami said that Dr Muscat should follow the example set by the newspaper. Following these allegations, Allied Newspaper set up an inquiry on... Читать дальше...

A criminal investigation is under way after a video surfaced online showing a man urinating on a Kellogg's factory assembly line in the US, the company said. The firm said it learned of the video on Friday and immediately informed law enforcement authorities and regulators. A criminal investigation is being conducted by the US Food and Drug Administration's office of criminal investigation, the company said. The graphic video shows a man urinating on an assembly line, then panning to a sign with the Kellogg's logo. Читать дальше...

Young people are still failing to speak up about gender equality, according to members of University organisation Gender Equality Malta, GEM, launched earlier at the University’s Quadrangle. Addressing the press, GEM secretary general Johann Aguis said the organisation would be working closely with other organisations to promote gender equality through campaigns and regular debates. Mr Aguis, a fourth-year law student said that the group’s first order of business would be getting more males involved. Читать дальше...