Новости за 14.06.2016

Rank outsiders Iceland fought back to salvage a memorable 1-1 draw with Portugal as they made their major tournament debut at Euro 2016 tonight. Birkir Bjarnason took advantage of slack defending by the Group F favourites to sweep the ball home for Iceland from six metres in the 50th minute. Nani had given Portugal the lead by turning in an Andre Gomes pass following an incisive move down the right in the 31st minute. Portugal dominated the game as expected but Iceland, backed by a noisy army of blue-clad fans... Читать дальше...

Belgium coach Marc Wilmots reacted in prickly fashion to a flood of criticism after a 2-0 loss to Italy yesterday called into question his team's credentials at Euro 2016. "The press have been praising me for four years and to now tear me down after a single game is easy, right? And now suddenly I'm a bad coach?" he told reporters on Tuesday. "I have to laugh at some of the criticism at our tactics. Having looked back at the game we deserved at least a draw. We had a couple of enormous chances to bring it back to 1-1. Читать дальше...

Four racers will battle it out for third place in the overall standings of the ASMK Pasta Poiatti championship season's modified category next Saturday.  Gordon Johnson and Joseph Micallef, both on an Opel Corsa, are very close to each other on the score board, with Josef Abela on a Nova and Josef Grech on a Ford Fiesta also standing a chance for 3rd place.  Christian Galea Mark on his Fiat Ritmo will be confirmed again as champion yet another time. It is expected that Malcolm Borg on an Opel Corsa... Читать дальше...

A man whose life has been turned upside down after being falsely accused of sexual abuse has written an impassioned letter to an MP asking "when will my life be given back to me?" Nationalist MP Jason Azzopardi read parts of a letter sent to him by Emanuel Camilleri in parliament today. He said he had obtained Mr Camilleri's permission to do so.  “I have not as yet been declared innocent and my name is still on the paedophile register for all to see. This situation has ill effects on me, physically... Читать дальше...

Authorities in the French cities of Lille and Lens, where thousands of English and Russian soccer fans are due to arrive for the Euro 2016 soccer tournament, have ordered alcohol bans running from Tuesday to Friday, officials said. Russian and English fans were involved in violent clashes in Marseille last week before and after the two sides met. They are likely to cross paths again with Russia playing Slovakia in Lille on Wednesday and England facing Wales only 40 km (25 miles) away in Lens on Thursday. Читать дальше...

Portugal have the superstar in Cristiano Ronaldo, but Iceland have the team spirit to put up a fight in this Euro 2016 Group F clash.  Hungary top the group after they beat Austria 2-0 earlier today.

Brazil fired Dunga as coach today, the national football confederation said, two days after his side failed to get past the group stages of the Centenary Copa America. The Brazilians drew 0-0 with Ecuador and beat Haiti 7-1 but were beaten 1-0 by Peru to exit the competition at the group stages for the first time since 1987. Dunga, who was in his second spell as Brazil coach, was fired after a meeting at the CBF in Rio de Janeiro. "The Brazilian Football Confederation decided this Tuesday to dissolve... Читать дальше...

Low female employment and segregation of skills are partly to blame for Malta’s poor performance in electing women to power, according to the head of an EU gender equality agency. “There are much fewer women than men within employment, most of whom opt for the same type of work, and therefore have the same type of skills. “This makes it difficult to find the critical mass with diverse technical expertise that voters opt for when choosing potential MPs,” Virginija Langbakk, director of the European Institute for Gender Equality said. Читать дальше...

Update 8.48pm - Full match report Austria, who were undefeated in their 10 qualifying games, lost 2-0 to long-standing rivals Hungary in the opening match of Euro 2016 Group F on Tuesday. The Hungarians, who only reached the finals through the playoffs, took the lead with a rare goal by forward Adam Szalai in the 62nd minute -- his first at international level since October 2014. Austria thought they had equalised soon after but Martin Hinteregger's effort was disallowed for a foul by Aleksandar... Читать дальше...

“Significant weaknesses and discrepancies” in the payments covering patients and staff meals at the Gozo General Hospital have been identified by the National Audit Office (NAO). NAO audit findings were discussed yesterday by Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) with the Auditor General, health ministry officials and the hospital management. The NAO reported it had encountered several instances where menu counts, purported to be showing the meals handed to patients, were more than the number... Читать дальше...

US law enforcement officials are investigating reports that the man who killed 49 people at a gay nightclub in Orlando may have been gay himself, but not openly so, two officials said on Tuesday, with one describing the massacre as a possible "self-hate crime."Omar Mateen, who was shot dead by police after a three-hour standoff early on Sunday, left behind a tangled trail of possible motives. He also called police during his rampage to voice allegiance to various militant Islamist groups.Federal... Читать дальше...

Lying down in the hospital, hooked up to a transfusion machine, Rachel Bezzina would often wonder who had donated the blood that allowed her to receive treatment for cancer. Five years on, the 20-year-old bodybuilder will be meeting a group of 17 donors made up of men who have donated more than 105 times and women who have donated at least 50 times. They will be at an event marking World Blood Donor Day, organised by the National Blood Transfusion Unit and the Office of the President to thank blood donors for their voluntary, life-saving gift. Читать дальше...

There's no shortage of history between these two nations, but it's the smaller Austrians who will fancy themselves the more likely team to emerge with three points from this Group F opener.

Updated 6.22pm - Adds video A 21-year-old man has been rushed to hospital following a car crash this afternoon in Mrieħel.  The man, a resident of Qormi, was injured after he appeared to have lost control of his Peugeot 607 while driving down towards St Venera, which smashed into a tree in Triq Notabile. The impact was so hard that the engine was dislodged from the vehicle, with debris ending up on both lanes.  The condition of the man is not yet known. Civil Protection personnel and an ambulance were called to assist the man. Читать дальше...

Five-times grand slam champion Maria Sharapova is seeking to have her two-year doping ban wiped out or reduced as she lodged an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) today. The 29-year-old Russian was banned by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) earlier this month following a positive test for the banned drug meldonium during January's Australian Open. "In her appeal to the CAS, Ms Sharapova seeks the annulment of the Tribunal's decision to sanction her with a two-year period... Читать дальше...

A big fair scheduled to take place at Montekristo Estate has been suspended after organisers were told they would not be allowed to overrun their allotted exhibition space.  Il-Fiera l-Kbira organisers said that the decision was taken after they were denied the use of extra space they had made use of in previous years. The fair was scheduled to take place between the 7 and 17 July.  They said that the permit they had obtained some weeks ago only "covers a part of the area needed to satisfy demand,"... Читать дальше...

Health Minister Chris Fearne should publish contracts related to the privatisation of various hospitals, the Nationalist Party's health and education spokespeople said today.  In a statement, MP Claudette Buttigieg and MEP Therese Comodini Cachia called on the minister to publish the contracts signed with Vitalis Global Healthcare and Barts Medical School. Vitalis are the government's chosen partner in the privatisation of Gozo General Hospital and St Luke's. Barts are to run a medical school in Gozo. Читать дальше...

Priests who do not welcome everyone should close their parish, the Pope told the disabled in a video which has just emerged. When asked by a young woman named Serena, 25 and in a wheelchair, why some disabled people aren’t able to receive Communion or go to Mass like other members of their parish, the Pope said the question touches on “one of the ugliest things among us: discrimination. It’s a very ugly thing.” To say that “you aren’t like me, you go over there” or that it’s not possible to receive... Читать дальше...

The conversion of an veterinary centre into a fully-fledged animal hospital in Ta' Qali will be completed in the coming weeks, Animal Rights parliamentary secretary Roderick Galdes was told today.  Once opened, Ta' Qali's Centru San Frangisk will include an emergency room, operation theatres, consultation rooms, labs, x-ray rooms, pharmacy, recovery rooms and conference rooms designed to host seminars.  The hospital will be run by private firm APH Ltd. A company spokesperson said the company had... Читать дальше...

Britain, Germany and the United States advanced plans today to spearhead a new NATO force on Russia's border from next year, but some eastern allies said the alliance's effort must go further to deter Moscow. Weeks before a critical NATO summit in Warsaw, three of NATO's biggest military powers said they would each command a combat battalion across the eastern flank to help deter any show of force such as that deployed by Moscow in Crimea in 2014. "Britain will lead one of the battalions," British... Читать дальше...

A 15-minute brisk walk each day could reduce an older person's risk of death, a new study has found. Fifteen minutes of exercise a day may be a reasonable target for people over 60 who do not feel able to reach current recommended targets for the amount of time they spend doing physical activity, experts said. If older people engage in a low level of exercise their risk of death reduces 22% compared with those who are inactive, according to a study presented at the EuroPRevent 2016 conference. ... Читать дальше...

Usain Bolt will fine-tune his preparations for the Rio Olympics by competing at the Anniversary Games in London on July 22. Organisers of the event, staged at the stadium where Bolt won double sprint gold and the 4x100m relay in 2012, said the Jamaican world record holder would race in the 200m. "The London Anniversary Games will be one of my last races before Rio and running in the 200m will hopefully set me up for a successful Olympic Games," Bolt said in a statement. "Britain has some very good... Читать дальше...

Usain Bolt will fine-tune his preparations for the Rio Olympics by competing at the Anniversary Games in London on July 22. Organisers of the event, staged at the stadium where Bolt won double sprint gold and the 4x100m relay in 2012, said the Jamaican world record holder would race in the 200m. "The London Anniversary Games will be one of my last races before Rio and running in the 200m will hopefully set me up for a successful Olympic Games," Bolt said in a statement. "Britain has some very good... Читать дальше...

Attacking midfielder and Malta international player Andre Schembri has reportedly signed a preliminary two-year contract with Portugal side Boavista.  Mr Schembri, who scored 19 goals in 45 appearances for Cypriot side AC Omonia this season, will now undergo a medical prior to signing a full contract with Boavista.  Boavista is one of Portugal's oldest football clubs, with a fierce rivalry with fellow city club Porto. The club finished 14th in Portugal's Primeira Liga last season.

The European Union's top envoy to Turkey has resigned, in a further sign of strained relations as Brussels tries to keep a deal credited with curbing the flow of illegal migrants to Europe on track. Hansjoerg Haber's resignation comes a month after he was summoned by Turkey's foreign ministry over comments critical of Ankara's handling of the migration accord. An EU official said his departure was "not for personal reasons". Ankara's EU Minister, Omer Celik, later said that Haber had violated basic... Читать дальше...