Новости за 11.07.2017

Red Bull Salzburg have all but wrapped up their passage to the next round of the Champions League when they eased past Hibernians 3-0 at the Hibs Stadium. The Austrians dominated the match right from the outset but had to wait until the 31st minute to break the stalemate. Jackson Lima was sanctioned for handling the ball inside the area in an attempt to block Munas Dabbur’s cross and from the resultant penalty Valon Berisha fired the ball past Hibs goalkeeper Andrew Hogg. Salzburg were now on the... Читать дальше...

Both the government and the Opposition came under attack this evening in a protest march against the Marriage Equality Bill, which, according to participants will dismantle the concept of traditional family. Organised by the Coalition for Life, Marriage and the Family, the protest of some 150 to 200 people, included the participation of Life Network, Moviment Patrijotti Maltin, Gift of Life, River of Life Evangelical Church, Assemblies of God Evangelical Church and the Defend Traditional Marriage Facebook Group. Читать дальше...

Milan goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma has signed a new four-year deal, the Italian club said on their website (www.acmilan.com) on Tuesday. The 18-year-old put pen to paper on the new contract after initially rejecting an extension to his current deal, which was due to expire at the end of the coming season. The Italy international made his Under-21 debut in 2015 and was called up to the senior side in 2016, earning four caps. Donnarumma played in the European Under-21 Championship last month in Poland... Читать дальше...

Johanna Konta sealed a Wimbledon semi-final spot on Tuesday in a feast of tension-filled tennis, powering past Simona Halep 6-7(2) 7-6(5) 6-4 to become the first British woman to reach the last four in almost 40 years. The second-seeded Romanian shaded the early Centre Court exchanges, pouncing on errors and breaking serve to lead 3-0, as the Briton struggled to keep her searing groundstrokes in court. But with cheers and cries of “C’mon Jo” echoing around the roofed-in arena, sixth seed Konta fought back... Читать дальше...

Vodafone Malta's servers are currently down, the company has confirmed. A spokesman for the company told clients experiencing difficulties this evening that it was still investigating the cause and was sorry for the inconvenience caused. It said it did not have a timescale as to when the service will be back but it was working to restoring it as soon as possible.

Karim Benzema has won a partial victory in his fight against a charge of conspiracy to blackmail former France team-mate Mathieu Valbuena. The Real Madrid forward is accused of playing a role in a plot to extort money from Valbuena over the reported existence of a sex-tape showing the Lyon playmaker and his partner. Benzema and his friend and co-defendant Karim Zenati had contested the legality of the investigation and claimed that some of their conversations had been illegally listened in to. A... Читать дальше...

Pope Francis has added a fourth pathway to possible sainthood. Until now, gaining consideration for sainthood in the Catholic Church required martyrdom, living a life of heroic values or - less frequently invoked - having a clear saintly reputation. The Vatican announced on Tuesday that the Pope has issued a law outlining a new route: people who lived a good Catholic life and who freely accepted a certain and premature death for the good of others. While John Paul II streamlined the canonisation process... Читать дальше...

European MPs meeting in the Belorussian capital Minsk have unanimously backed Malta’s call for greater trans-border cooperation to safeguard scarce drinking water resources. As a result, the issue will be on the agenda of the ministerial council of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe later on this year. The subject was brought to the fore on the initiative of Democratic Party MP Godfrey Farrugia who sponsored a resolution during the OSCE’s Parliamentary Assembly. The Maltese delegation... Читать дальше...

If you have ever been to St Paul’s catacombs you know several chambers are out of bounds, whether for conservation reasons or because they cannot be reached. For others with accessibility difficulties or claustrophobia issues, a trip to the subterranean cemetery in Rabat could be completely out of the question. Lecturers at St Martin’s Institute of Higher Education have, therefore, come up with a solution: using virtual reality to enhance everyone’s experience, irrespective of whether one can or cannot visit heritage sites. Читать дальше...

The share index eased by 0.17% to a near one-week low of 4,716.834 points. Trading activity was spread across 11 equities: four moved lower, another four closed unchanged while only three shares registered gains. Volumes improved to a four-day high of €0.35 million. Simonds Farsons Cisk advanced by 0.6% to yet another all-time high of €7.75 on a single deal of 1,381 shares. Bank of Valletta recaptured the €2.20 level (+0.5%) across 41,432 shares. The bank is scheduled to hold an extraordinary general... Читать дальше...

A hawker renting out umbrellas and sun beds at Ramla l-Ħamra in Nadur is going to have to back off after the court found that he had encroached on an area already allocated to his competitor. Nigel Carl Azzopardi had obtained a licence from the trade department to operate as street hawker, renting out ‘non-food and non-beverage items.’ This licence had been supplemented by a Mepa permit to operate as fixed hawker, which gave him the right to encroach on the public land. This permit was subsequently given the green light by the Lands Department... Читать дальше...

The British Grand Prix faces extinction from the Formula One calendar after Silverstone’s owners triggered a break clause in its contract on Tuesday. The British Racing Drviers’ Club, which owns the Northamptonshire circuit, gave notice of its intent to leave its current deal in two years’ time. Its decision means 2019 will be the last year for the British Grand Prix at Silverstone unless a new deal is brokered with F1’s American owners Liberty Media. Nearly 140,000 spectators watched triple world... Читать дальше...

The Regional Road - Triq Mikiel Anton Vassalli - going towards St Julian’s will be closed to traffic between 9.30pm tonight and 2am tomorrow, so that works on services and connections at the new junction can be carried out. The road will be closed before the tunnels up to the roundabout in Regional Road. During works, traffic will be diverted onto Birkirkara bypass. Traffic towards the University will not be affected. Drivers are to drive carefully and follow instructions by the officials on site. Читать дальше...

The developers behind SmartCity, including the government, have formally asked the Planning Authority for radical changes to the master plan regulating the area, the Times of Malta is informed. The proposed changes, which were officially submitted last February, aim at increasing drastically the height limitation in various areas of the planned project. Changes particularly concern residential and commercial zones, changes to the phasing of the development so that certain real estate development will precede other areas... Читать дальше...

Second seed Novak Djokovic eased into the Wimbledon quarter-finals with a routine 6-2 7-6(5) 6-4 win over France’s Adrian Mannarino on Tuesday. The match was postponed after the marathon battle between Rafa Nadal and Gilles Muller concluded late on Monday. Djokovic was due to follow Nadal on to Court One but the Spaniard’s defeat by Muller lasted 4 hours 48 minutes and made it impossible for the Serb’s match to be completed before dark. Light rain led officials to close the roof over Centre Court. Читать дальше...

The United States and Qatar signed an agreement on combatting terrorism and its financing during a visit to Doha by US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, his senior adviser R.C. Hammond told reporters. "Qatar and the United States have signed a memorandum of understanding between the two counties outlining future efforts Qatar can take to fortify its fight against terrorism and actively address terrorism funding issues," he said. "This is a hopeful step forward," Hammond added. Tillerson told reporters... Читать дальше...

The sums of money the European Union is to demand from Britain as part of its Brexit settlement "seem to be extortionate", British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said today. The EU wants an agreement on how the "Brexit bill" will be calculated before launching talks on a free trade agreement. It puts Britain's financial settlement at tens of billions of euros and includes covering a share of future EU budget commitments made while it was a member. Asked by a lawmaker in parliament if the EU should... Читать дальше...

Three people were grievously injured in accidents this morning, one in Qrendi and two in St Paul’s Bay. A 39-year cyclist from Mqabba was involved in a collision with a truck driven by a 33-year resident of Mtarfa, in Qrendi at 9am. Two other people, a 62-year-old woman and a 71-year-old man, both from Victoria, were seriously hurt when their car crashed into a lighting pole on Triq il-Mistra, St Paul’s Bay at 11.15am. They had to be brought out of the car with the help of the Civil Protection Department.

The bathing site at Xemxija in the slipway area near the boathouses and further down from Ambassador Hotel is once again fit for bathing. Bathing was banned some days ago because of a sewage outflow. For further information on the quality of bathing water, the may contact the Health Inspectorate Services between 8am and 2.30pm on tel. 2133 7333, or by calling personally at its offices at Continental Business Centre, Old Railway Track, Sta Venera or via email at mhi@gov.mt. Outside office hours, the... Читать дальше...

The government is going to extend the provision of free testing sticks for diabetics starting with a trial project in four locations. Health Minister Chris Fearne explained that those with Type 1 diabetes started to get four free sticks a day – and the machine with which to read them – as from last year. This service is now to be extended to those with Type 2 diabetes who use insulin, in Gudha, St Julians, Mġarr and Kerċem, who are already enrolled with the Pharmacy of Your Choice This service is... Читать дальше...

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights told Reuters on Tuesday that it had "confirmed information" that Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has been killed. The report came just days after the last sectors of the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, which Baghdadi's forces overran almost exactly three years ago, were recaptured by the Iraqi army. Russia's Defence Ministry said in June that it might have killed Baghdadi when one of its air strikes hit a gathering of Islamic State commanders on the outskirts of the Syrian city of Raqqa... Читать дальше...

An orientation meeting for Junior College prospective students will be held on Wednesday 19 July 2017 at Sir Temi Zammit Hall, University of Malta as follows: Surnames A-C at 8.30am Surnames D-M at 10.00am Surnames N-Z at 11.30am Students will be addressed by Paul Xuereb, principal, and other officials of the college. The Junior College Prospectus will be distributed among prospective students during the meeting. It will then be made available online as from Thursday 20 July. The prospectus includes... Читать дальше...

Bayern Munich have signed James Rodriguez from Real Madrid on a two-year loan deal, the Bundesliga champions have announced. Bayern, managed by former Real boss Carlo Ancelotti, will have the option to buy the Colombia international in 2019. Ancelotti worked with Rodriguez during what was probably his most productive season at the Bernabeu - his debut campaign in 2014-15 - and he will hope to get the best out of the 25-year-old once more. Rodriguez had fallen out of favour at the Bernabeu to such... Читать дальше...

The National Ballet of China will perform in Malta for the very first time ­­­­– nearly 60 years since its inception. The dancers will be taking part in an event which consists of a lecture and several performances at the University’s Valletta campus. Targeting dance students and professionals, excerpts from western and Chinese ballet performances will accompany a lecture called From Swan Lake to Red Ballet, delivered by the company’s director, Feng Ying. The company’s repertoire includes classics like Swan Lake... Читать дальше...

A man who was held in custody since March after being accused of the murder of Roderick Grech, known as “ic-China”, was released on bail today. Etienne Bartolo, 36, nicknamed “il-Vojt” had been denied bail pending an inquiry into the fatal stabbing which had reportedly been sparked off by a drug deal gone wrong.   During the compilation of evidence it had emerged that the alleged aggressor had met his victim inside the latter's car in Tumas Fenech Street, Birkirkara, to traffic drugs. Dying man uttered his alleged killer's nickname... Читать дальше...