Новости за 09.02.2017

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat has once again warned that the government might have to intervene directly in the rental market if the difficult situation being created for some low-income families was not corrected through other means. Addressing the general meeting of the Malta Developers Association days after the controversial ITS deal, he said the construction industry was passing through a boom and it was necessary to make ensure that people did not fall by the wayside. Dr Muscat said that the... Читать дальше...

Contractors and developers are fuming over the deal struck between the government and the DB Group, which was granted a site at St George’s Bay for 99 years for a premium of €15 million. This newspaper learnt yesterday that the Malta Developers’ Association has called an urgent meeting for Monday. Its annual general meeting will be held this evening. Both the Prime Minister and the leader of the Opposition are expected to attend. The government insisted it would receive “every single cent of the... Читать дальше...

South African opposition politicians have tried to stop President Jacob Zuma from addressing parliament, repeatedly interrupting the proceedings to declare that he is unfit for office because of corruption allegations. The raucous scene unfolded as police and military forces patrolled central Cape Town to guard against protesters who want Mr Zuma to quit. While at least one group of protesters scuffled with police who blocked their path, the streets were mostly calm. President Zuma is "rotten to the core," said Julius Malema... Читать дальше...

The European Federation of Journalists will be submitting Daphne Caruana Galizia's case to the Council of Europe Platform for the Protection of Journalism. It will be the first violation of media freedom reported on the platform regarding Malta, it said tonight. Four precautionary warrants on Daphne Caruana Galizia’s assets for a total of €47,460 were filed yesterday by Labour deputy leader Chris Cardona and his EU presidency policy officer Joseph Gerada. The two men also each filed two civil suits... Читать дальше...

A scientist who helped a Maltese consultant develop a model of the local acute healthcare system could be sentenced to death, and the international community is appealing for his release. Ahmadreza Djalali, an Iranian academic specialising in disaster medicine has been detained in Iran since April of last year and has now been threatened with a death sentence. The 45-year-old medical doctor and father of two, who has taught at universities in Belgium, Italy and Sweden, was on a business trip after... Читать дальше...

No one was injured when Air Malta flight KM640 from Malta to Catania this morning was this morning struck by lightning during the approach into the airport. The aircraft landed safely in Catania. Chief operations officer Silvio Falzon said it was not uncommon in commercial aviation for aircraft to be struck by lightning. Aircraft were designed for this eventuality and Air Malta crews were specially trained to handle these situations. Passengers, crew and aircraft were never in any danger, the airline said... Читать дальше...

The traditional qarċilla is being held at Fort St Angelo on February 27 at 7pm, Heritage Malta said.  Il-Qarċilla is a poetic farce in Maltese which up to 100 years ago formed part of the carnival celebrations held in Valletta and was very popular in a number of villages. A man, acting as a notary, would in the presence of two youngsters, acting as husband and wife-to-be, read out a marital contract in verse filled with satirical innuendos and humour. The crowd would gather in the streets of Valletta to listen to the poem which... Читать дальше...

A number of music teachers have joined forces against the local representative of a foreign institution after they discovered that the certificates earned by their students over many years were worthless and that they had all been victims of a hoax. Rita Psaila, from Kalkara, is facing a judicial protest filed today before the First Hall of the Civil Court by 20 Maltese music teachers who are calling upon her to remedy the "serious and grave shortcoming" knowingly perpetrated by her over the years. Читать дальше...

Hungary plans to hold migrants in border camps made up of shipping containers while their asylum requests are settled, a top official said. Janos Lazar, Prime Minister Viktor Orban's chief of staff, also said once new rules are in place, any migrants detained anywhere in Hungary without documents allowing them to be in the country will be returned across the border. Human rights advocates noted that Hungary was already holding large numbers of asylum seekers in closed camps and that the massive... Читать дальше...

Soul music legend Aretha Franklin says she plans to retire from full-time touring after she releases a new album in September. "I am retiring this year," the 74-year-old singer told a Detroit TV station in a telephone interview this week. "I will be recording, but this will be my last year in concert. This is it." Known as the "Queen of Soul," Franklin said she planned about a six-month tour to support her upcoming album. She also plans to perform "some select things, many, one a month, for six months out of the year." "I feel very... Читать дальше...

€200,000 have been allocated for studies to be carried out in the next three years so that Dwejra and Majjistral Park could be considered as Unesco world heritage or national geoparks. The studies will be carried out by a committee led by Henry Frendo. The other members are Catherine Tabone, Claudio Maria Marciano Di Scala, Frank Zammit, Nathaniel Cutajar, Edward Gilson and Yanica Sammut, secretary. The initiative was launched this morning by Environment Minister Jose Herrera.

A surprise spot check on a nougat stall during last year's carnival celebrations left the vendor with a bitter taste when he was slapped with a fine after he was found guilty of issuing a fraudulent fiscal receipt. Justin Caruana, 34, from Marsascala, was allegedly selling nougat from a stall registered in the name of a third party during carnival festivities in Valletta on February 7, 2016. A surprise visit by a VAT inspector showed that the accused had issued a receipt which indicated that the... Читать дальше...

A man from Ghana ended up with a suspended prison sentence and a fine after he was found guilty of resisting police arrest in the course of an incident in Ħamrun yesterday. Yaw Akaadom, 35, currently residing at a social shelter in Birkirkara, was allegedly in a drunken state when at around 8.10pm, he caused some commotion in St Joseph High Road. The man was charged with resisting the officers who intervened to arrest him, assaulting them and injuring them slightly in the ensuing scuffle. The accused was also charged with breaching the peace. Читать дальше...

A 19-year-old man from Sta Venera was hospitalised today after he grievously injured his hand with a machine while at work. The police said the accident happened at 11.30am at the Mrieħel industrial estate.

A traditional full-gun salute from Saluting Battery at the Barrakka Gardens in Valletta is being held by Fondazzjoni Wirt Artna at noon, to celebrate the feast of St Paul. The salute will be recreating an age old tradition when cannons were fired to mark important national and religious occasions from the fortresses. The gun salute will be preceded by an interactive guided tour of the historic battery and a commentary. The salute will be followed by other guided tours in English and Maltese of both... Читать дальше...

A self-confessed drug addict was arraigned in court to face multiple charges following a string of thefts committed throughout December and January from various locations in the Paola area. Jason Gatt, 37, an unemployed chef from Paola, was accused stealing a hair straightener, a shaver and alcoholic beverages from a supermarket in Paola which was targetted three times in four days. The accused also allegedly stole an unspecified amount of energy drinks from a mini-market, a pair of Adidas shoes... Читать дальше...

The MSE Share Index climbed by a further 0.19% to 4,734.735 points today as the gains registered in the share prices of BOV, GO and HSBC outweighed the 0.4% decline in MIA. Trading volumes were weak today as only €0.14 million worth of shares changed hands – the lowest daily volume this year. Week-on-week, the Index trended 0.40% higher largely on the back of the gains in the equities of HSBC (+2.0%), BOV (+0.9%) and RS2 (+0.3%). The equity of Bank of Valletta plc advanced by 0.8% to its highest... Читать дальше...

Malta's national dance company ŻfinMalta is making its UK debut this month. Martina Zammit takes you with the dancers on the journey. The Cast in Doncaster is a beautiful theatre, brand new and so warm. It's the first time we get to actually plot the double bill properly as well as rehearse particular sections in great depth. The day goes smoothly by as we plot all lighting cues and staging tips ready for a run the next day followed by a performance. We were only expecting an audience of around 20 people... Читать дальше...

The Council of the EU, represented by the Maltese Presidency, and the European Parliament have reached a provisional agreement on a decision that will establish 2018 as a European Year of Cultural Heritage. This initiative aims to raise awareness on European history and values whilst strengthening a sense of European identity. It draws attention to the opportunities that our cultural heritage offers, while also reminding us of the challenges it faces, with the impact of the digital shift, environmental and physical pressure on heritage sites... Читать дальше...

Ablecare Oilfield Services Holdings is paying an annual ground rent for the Mediterranean Maritime Hub on the former Marsa Shipbuilding site of €2,038,224  – which works out to €1 per square metre per month. “People think we got it for free but we are paying one of the highest ground rents. It was a clean deal. We got no favours,” MMH managing director Paul Abela told The Business Observer. Ablecare Oilfield Services Holdings won a competitive bid by the government for the 175,000-square-metre site to be used as an oil and gas facility. Читать дальше...

Car maker Nissan saw earnings slip into reverse in the third quarter despite notching up strong sales in the US, China and Europe. The Japanese group - which recently warned that it would review its Sunderland car plant after a Brexit deal - posted weaker-than-expected earnings of €1.36 million for the three months to December 31, down from €1.6 million a year earlier. Nissan sold 1.09 million vehicles worldwide during the quarter, up from 1.02 million a year ago, and said it was on track for a 3.3 per cent rise over its full year... Читать дальше...

Travel giant Thomas Cook has hiked the price of its summer package holidays by 9 per cent and shifted deals towards Greece after facing competition and soaring hotel costs in popular Spanish island resorts. The group said hoteliers in Spanish islands had put up their prices by 6 per cent to 8 per cent after seeing surging demand to destinations such as Majorca and the Canary Islands, as sun-seekers switched from Turkey and Egypt following political turmoil and terror attacks. Thomas Cook said it... Читать дальше...

Natural Cycles, an app that uses body temperature to track a woman's menstrual cycle, has been certified as a medical device for contraception by one regulator. The app, which records daily temperature and uses an algorithm to plot fertility on an in-app calendar, was part of a clinical study in 2016 of one million women that claimed it could be as effective as the contraceptive pill. Now, German-based certification body Tuv Sud has approved Natural Cycles as a Class IIb medical device, the same... Читать дальше...

Women who have premature babies are more likely than other mothers to develop heart disease later in life, even if they did not have any risk factors for cardiovascular problems before pregnancy, a recent study suggests. Compared to women who delivered their first babies after 37 weeks, first-time mothers of infants born earlier are 40 per cent more likely to develop heart disease, the study found. With extremely preterm infants born before 32 weeks, first-time mothers had twice the later heart risk. Читать дальше...

Police have detained four Islamic State suspects who were allegedly planning to carry out a "sensational" attack in Turkey and seized 24 suicide attack belts, officials said. The latest detentions came as CIA chief Mike Pompeo arrived in Turkey to discuss the fight against the extremist group in Syria and Iraq, making his first overseas trip since taking office in the US. The suspects were put under custody in an anti-terror operation in Gaziantep, near the border with Syria, according to the Gaziantep provincial governor's office. Читать дальше...