Новости за 10.07.2017

Opposition MP Ryan Callus criticised the government’s actions prior to the election and in the period following it, during a parliamentary debate on the President’s speech made at the State opening of Parliament. Labour MP Stefan Zrinzo Azzopardi said in the opening speech - traditionally written by the Government, but on this occasion composed with input from the President herself - that the four principles at the heart of the Labour Party manifesto were social mobility, social justice, equality and national unity. Читать дальше...

French Open champion Rafael Nadal's challenge for a third Wimbledon title was ended by Luxembourg's Gilles Muller as the Spaniard succumbed 6-3 6-4 3-6 4-6 15-13 in a heart-pounding fourth-round classic on Monday. The 31-year-old Nadal fought back from two sets down and saved four match points in a 135-minute minute fifth set in which he successfully served to stay alive nine times. At the 10th time of asking, however, and with thousands of transfixed fans watching the drama unfold on the screen... Читать дальше...

US President Donald Trump's eldest son today offered to talk to a Senate committee investigating alleged Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, after he acknowledged meeting a Russian lawyer during the campaign. "Happy to work with the committee to pass on what I know," Donald Trump Jr wrote on Twitter. Trump Jr, as well as two other close associates of Trump, met with the lawyer, Natalia Veselnitskaya, in June 2016 at Trump Tower in New York. The younger Trump has said he agreed to meet the lawyer... Читать дальше...

Sweden is looking at whether to join the European Union's banking union, local news agency TT reported on today, days after neighbouring Denmark said it would decide in 2019 whether would join. Financial Markets Minister Per Bolund told TT the reasons to analyse whether joining the union would be a benefit were Britain's decision to quit EU and top Nordic bank Nordea's transformation into a branch rather than a subsidiary structure. The central bank has said that change increases the scope of Sweden's... Читать дальше...

The European Union's economic leaders today called for eurozone countries with high growth to spend more, an attempt to persuade Germany to step up its public spending and strengthen the bloc's economy. Germany's economy is expected to expand by 1.8% this year, according to upwardly revised estimates from the International Monetary Fund. Meanwhile, its trade surplus keeps growing. The expansion of the German economy has not, however, been matched by similar growth in public spending; the country... Читать дальше...

60 cases of maltreatment at childcare centres were reported to the authorities over the past year, Education Minister Evarist Bartolo said this evening. None of the reports were related to maltreatment by the children’s own parents. Mr Bartolo, replying to a parliamentary question by Stephen Spiteri, said that cases of maltreatment by parents were handled by government agency Appoġġ. He said that back in July of 2016 the Education Ministry had become responsible for the operation of the free centres... Читать дальше...

Members of Parliament this evening questioned why police officers no longer required a clean conduct history to be eligible for re-engagement or promotion, asking what message this sent to the public. Nationalist MPs Mario de Marco, Jason Azzopardi, and Beppe Fenech Adami today all posed a series of questions to Home Affairs Minister Michael Farrugia about changes that now allowed officers to be re-employed by the police corps, or to receive a promotion, even if they had been found guilty of a criminal offence. Читать дальше...

Children and youths need alternative leisure options to the online world, in particular more open spaces, according to a new study showing that a fifth of young teenagers are problematic internet users or at risk of becoming so. The results of this research show that the absolute majority of those aged between 13 and 16 are sensible internet users while 15% are at risk and another five per cent are problematic users.   These figures are similar to those of Spain and Britain, indicating that internet... Читать дальше...

Insurers are concerned the lack of comprehensive legislation on fire safety could prove problematic in the case of a major disaster. They claim they are often stuck in limbo when attempting to pinpoint responsibility. Raising the alarm following last month’s Grenfell Tower tragedy in London, which left at least 80 people dead, Malta Insurance Association head Adrian Galea expressed concern that many entities in Malta were working independently of each other due to the lack of a comprehensive law. Читать дальше...

Bank of Valletta is seeking shareholder approval to double its share capital to €1 billion in anticipation of any future regulatory demands to increase capital buffers. The bank’s authorised share capital currently stands at €500 million of which €420 million is issued. However, with the bank committed to issue €150 million worth of shares over the coming year, the issued share capital will overshoot the existing limit. Directors are thus asking for an increase in the authorised share capital to... Читать дальше...

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi formally declared victory over Islamic State in the city of Mosul today, marking the biggest defeat for the group since it declared a caliphate three years ago. "I announce from here the end and the failure and the collapse of the terrorist state of falsehood and terrorism which the terrorist Daesh announced from Mosul," he said in a speech shown on state television, using an Arabic acronym for Islamic State. The fall of Mosul effectively marks the end of the Iraqi half of the Islamic State caliphate... Читать дальше...

Manchester United have completed the signing of striker Romelu Lukaku from Everton. The Belgium international has signed a five-contract at Old Trafford after United had agreed a fee, believed to be an initial £75 million, with the Toffees on Saturday. Lukaku, who scored 25 Premier League goals last season, will now link up with Mourinho's squad in Los Angeles ahead of pre-season training. The former Chelsea man has been training in LA with new team-mate Paul Pogba and replaces Wayne Rooney in United’s squad... Читать дальше...

Former Finance Minister Tonio Fenech has been awarded a total of €4,000 in damages in two libel cases instituted against Glenn Bedingfield, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat as PL leader and Dr Stafan Zrinzo Azzopardi as party president. The dual proceedings concerned a report entitled ‘A favour worth €70,000’ aired on the One TV bulletin in November 2009 and a statement released by the PL Communications Office in May 2011 entitled ‘Ball in PM’s court.’ Both publications revolved around allegations that... Читать дальше...

Artists should use their talents to give something back to the community, Pauleen Micallef says, a belief which prompted her to set up an art sale with part of the proceeds going to the Inspire Foundation. As final preparations are underway for the exhibition, running from Thursday to Sunday at the Inspire Foundation’s reception area, Ms Micallef said that the decision to hold such a sale came as she wanted to clear up some space in her personal art gallery. “I was clearing up and have some 70 paintings... Читать дальше...

Valletta will first fall silent before erupting into celebration as activists from either side of the marriage equality debate line up events in the nation's capital over the next two days. Christian activists dead-set against the Marriage Equality Bill will gather in Castille Square tomorrow at 7.30pm and make their way round the corner to Parliament Square, in a last-ditch attempt to urge parliamentarians to "uphold traditional marriage". The marriage equality bill will allow same-sex couples... Читать дальше...

A storm on Sunday night lashed Paris with the highest rainfall ever recorded in the French capital, while other areas of France's centre-west saw as much rain as would normally fall in the entire month of July. Weather authority Meteo France said that 49.2 millimetres fell in one hour between 9pm and 10pm. The previous record for heavy rainfall in Paris was set on July 2, 1995, when 47.4 millimetres fell. In total, 66 millimetres of rain fell on the city from 8am on Sunday to 8am today. Civray, in the Vienne region... Читать дальше...

A driver has been fined €200 after he ignored a police officer's warning to move his vehicle, prompting a street chase after a verbal altercation. One evening last summer, Carlo Stivala, 28, parked his Chevrolet Captiva outside the Sliema Hotel on the Gżira seafront when he was approached by an officer who asked him to move his vehicle elsewhere. He ignored him and the officer came back and a heated verbal exchange between the two ensued. The driver decided to drive away, with the police motorcycle giving chase, siren wailing. Читать дальше...

The MSE Share Index edged marginally higher today to 4,724.826 points as the increase in the share price of HSBC was largely offset by declines in GO, RS2 and Medserv. Meanwhile, the other four active equities, including BOV and MIA, ended the session unchanged. Trading activity weakened by 17.4% from last Friday with €0.22 million worth of shares changing hands today. The only positive performing equity today was HSBC Bank Malta plc with a 0.4% increase to regain the €2.08 level albeit on insignificant volumes of 110 shares. Читать дальше...

A 10-week cholera epidemic has now infected more than 300,000 people in Yemen, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said today, a health disaster on top of war, economic collapse and near-famine in the impoverished country. "Disturbing. We're at 300k+ suspected cases with ~7k new cases/day," ICRC regional director Robert Mardini said in a tweet. The World Health Organisation has said there were 297,438 suspected cases and 1,706 deaths by July 7, but it did not publish a daily update on Sunday... Читать дальше...

Francis Zammit Dimech has confirmed to the Times of Malta that he will contest the casual election for European Parliament The election will fill the seat vacated by Therese Comodini Cachia, who was elected to the Maltese national parliament. Candidates who contested the European Parliamentary election in May, 2014 who were not elected may present their nominations – with Dr Zammit Dimech mathematically in pole position. Dr Zammit contested eight general elections in Malta but failed to get elected in 2017. Читать дальше...

Wayne Rooney admitted he was excited by the challenge of playing for Everton again after rejoining his boyhood club for an undisclosed fee. The 31-year-old signed a two-year deal with the club he left in 2004 on Sunday after a success-laden spell at Manchester United where he won five Premier League titles and a Champions League But for Rooney, Everton was always his first love and remained close to his heart. After being presented with his new Toffees shirt from manager Ronald Koeman, the striker told a news conference on Monday... Читать дальше...

Police closed off the main thoroughfare leading to Mġarr Harbour in Gozo this afternoon following an accident between a truck driver and motorcyclist.  The accident happened at around 2.15pm on Mġarr Road in Għajnsielem and involved a 25-year-old Xewkija man driving an Isuzu truck and a 19-year-old Għajnsielem resident riding a Sym Symphony motorbike.  An ambulance was called to the scene following the crash. No information about the medical condition of either driver was available at the time of writing.

Dutch prosecutors said today they will investigate possible misuse of vehicle emissions software by Suzuki and Fiat Chrysler's Jeep. They were responding after the Dutch road authority (RDW) found that the Jeep Grand Cherokee and Suzuki Vitara models produced unacceptably high levels of toxic emissions during road tests. The RDW said in a statement that its tests of more than a dozen car makers in the wake of the Volkswagen emissions scandal had singled out Jeep and Suzuki. It added that other manufacturers... Читать дальше...

Ukraine will begin discussions with the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation on an action plan to get it into the US-led alliance, its leader said today, while the country would work on reforms to meet membership standards by 2020. President Petro Poroshenko, whose country is fighting a Kremlin-backed insurgency in eastern Ukraine, revived the prospect of Nato membership during a visit by Nato secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg who himself used the occasion to call on Moscow to withdraw its troops from Ukraine. Читать дальше...

Malta's searing summer is about to get even hotter, with maximum temperatures expected to rise further during the next few days.  The mercury is expected to reach highs of 37 degrees Celsius on Wednesday and remain high until Saturday, when a dip to 31 degrees will bring locals some respite from the scorching heat. Temperatures reached highs of 36 degrees today - three degrees higher than July's average maximum temperature of 33 degrees Celsius.   Nights are also expected to be warmer than usual for July... Читать дальше...