Новости за 19.07.2017

Salzburg scored two quick-fire goals to see off Hibernians 3-0 at the Red Bull Arena and book their place into the third qualifying round of the Champions League. The Austrian side broke little sweat to overcome the Maltese champions to complete a 6-0 aggregate win and book a third qualifying round clash against Croatian champions NK Rijeka. Salzburg were off to a storming start and took just 19 minutes to all but kill off the tie. They took the lead on 11 minutes when Munas Dabbur’s cross was deflected... Читать дальше...

Malta is doing relatively well in reaching its Sustainable Development Goal targets, though it is falling short on climate change and sustainable consumption and production indicators. Data published in a global report tracking progress in achieving the United Nations goals puts Malta in 22nd place out of a global community of 157 countries studied. With a score of 77 out of 100, Malta sits just ahead of Slovakia, Croatia and Spain and slightly behind Belarus, New Zealand and Ireland in this year’s SDG Index and Dashboard report... Читать дальше...

Chelsea have agreed a deal to sign Real Madrid striker Alvaro Morata, subject to the Spain international agreeing personal terms and passing a medical, the Premier League champions said on Wednesday. The 24-year-old, who had been strongly linked by British media with a move to Manchester United earlier in the transfer window, helped Madrid win a second successive Champions League title last season. "Chelsea Football Club and Real Madrid have agreed terms for the transfer of Alvaro Morata to Stamford Bridge," the club said in a statement. Читать дальше...

The number of terrorist attacks worldwide and deaths from such attacks dropped in 2016 for the second straight year, driven by decreases in Afghanistan, Syria, Nigeria, Pakistan and Yemen, the US State Department said today. The total number of terrorist attacks in 2016 dropped 9 per cent compared to 2015, while fatalities caused by the attacks fell 13 per cent, the department said in a report on global terrorism. The Sunni militant group Islamic State was the deadliest terrorist group last year... Читать дальше...

Updated 7.45pm A helicopter rescue crew was called to Għajn Tuffieħa this afternoon to rescue two people injured in rough terrain above the bay.  Eyewitnesses told the Times of Malta the Armed Forces helicopter appeared overhead at around 6.15pm and left the area around an hour later, at 7.20pm.    A CPD official said both victims were taken to Mater Dei hospital for treatment. While one is believed to be only slightly hurt, the other's injuries are believed to be more serious.     More to follow

Pharmacies in Uruguay began selling cannabis directly to consumers on Wednesday, culminating a long and pioneering legalisation effort that began over three years ago. The South American country of 3.4 million people is the first in the world to legalise the entire process of marijuana production for recreational use, including its cultivation and sale. The law was passed in late 2013 as Uruguay sought to shift the market from criminals to its own government. The product is grown, packaged and distributed by two companies... Читать дальше...

Losing a job to mental health issues is detrimental to both the employer and the worker, so Richmond Foundation is stepping in to help prevent the damage as much as possible. Sacked employees not only lost their source of income but also risked losing the sense of purpose and self-worth that came with work, Richmond’s CEO Stephania Dimech Sant told the Times of Malta. “On the other hand, the impact of losing a person who has been with the organisation for years is a blow to the company, as it has... Читать дальше...

The Nationalist Party's next leader will be one of four men, with no more nominations possible following a candidacy deadline which ended at 6pm this evening.  Chris Said, Adrian Delia, Alex Perici Calascione and Frank Portelli will go head-to-head in the race to the party's top post. The first round of voting is due to take place on September 2, with a second round happening the following day if it is needed. Former minister Dr Said is the only sitting MP to contend the post, and the party veteran... Читать дальше...

Slovenia's Primoz Roglic won the 17th stage of the Tour de France, a mountainous 183-km ride from La Mure to Serre-Chevalier this afternoon. Briton Chris Froome covered his rivals' attacks to retain the overall leader's yellow jersey. Watch Roglic's final few metres as he sprints towards the finish line to claim his first stage of this year's Tour.

A drug courier who led police to a man facing charges for conspiracy to import cocaine into Malta today told a court how he had lured into the crime following a life of hardship.  Attila Somlyai, now 30 and serving sentence at Corradino Correctional Facility over his involvement in the conspiracy, was this afternoon produced as the star witness by the prosecution in the trial by jury of Nigerian national Ikechukwu Stephen Egbo, 38, the intended consignee of the drug. A Romanian orphan abandoned at a train station at the age of three... Читать дальше...

Updated 5.23pm - Worker injured An explosion has been reported at a factory at Ħal Far Industrial Estate, sources have said. Police and ambulances are on site.  Sources said a worker was injured in the incident. No more information was available at the time of writing.  More to follow.

Perched on a rocky outcrop in the Alpes-Maritimes, the village of Sainte-Agnès offers an exceptional view on the Côte d'Azur. A former defense post on the Maginot line, its fort, built between 1932 and 1938, has 2000 square metres of galleries beneath metres of rock.

A volunteer firefighter who fell down an open shaft during a training drill has had his monetary compensation more than halved by an appeals court.  Pierre Farrugia had previously been awarded more than €70,000 in damages after the fall left him with an eight per cent permanent disability. But he will now receive just €31,320, with an appeals court noting a miscalculation and finding Mr Farrugia had a degree of responsibility in the incident.  Mr Farrugia, a senior technician at ST Microelectronics... Читать дальше...

Juventus have signed Arsenal goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny on a four-year contract for 12.2 million euros ($14.07 million), the Italian champions said in a statement on Wednesday. The Poland international, capped 29 times, spent the last two years on loan at Serie A rivals Roma, making 38 league appearances last season. The 27-year-old finished the campaign with the most clean sheets in the league, 14, one ahead of Gianluigi Buffon, Juventus’ first choice goalkeeper for the last 16 years. “Every player that comes at Juventus becomes better... Читать дальше...

An estimated five per cent of people are afraid of heights - but these two workers in Marsascala are clearly not among them.  In this photo shared with Times of Malta on Facebook, the two construction workers can be seen perched dangerously on the edges of a wooden plank dangling three storeys in the air, without any form of safety harness to save them should they fall.  Official statistics show that there were 1,627 workplace accidents for every 100,000 workers in 2015. In 2002, the rate was more than double that... Читать дальше...

Alex Perici Calascione has submitted his nomination to contest the leadership of the Nationalist Party.  The party's outgoing treasurer, who had announced his intention to run last weekend, handed his nomination to the PN's general secretary Rosette Thake this afternoon.  Dr Perici Calascione will compete against Chris Said and Adrian Delia for the PN's top position, with former MP Frank Portelli also rumoured to be preparing a leadership bid.  A lawyer by profession, Dr Perici Calascione has served... Читать дальше...

Ryanair today celebrated carrying its nine millionth passenger in Malta since it began operating in the country in 2006.  The budget airline's first passengers to Malta arrived from Pisa and Luton, with the two flights landing within minutes of each other back in November 2006.  By 2012, the airline was carrying more than one in every four passengers coming through Malta International Airport, and the Dublin-based airline announced last year that it aimed to become Malta's number 1 carrier by this year... Читать дальше...

Poland could face punishment by the European Union if Warsaw does not halt judicial reforms which the bloc's executive said on Wednesday would put its courts under government control. "These laws considerably increase the systemic threats to the rule of law," the European Commission's First Vice-President Frans Timmermans told a briefing in Brussels after several thousand people protested against the reforms in Warsaw. Since winning an election in 2015, the nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party... Читать дальше...

German luxury carmaker Audi AG has come under fire from consumers in China for an advert that compared buying a second-hand car to checking out a bride-to-be. Audi, which is attempting to revive its sales in the world's biggest car market, said today it deeply regretted the advert and that it had been withdrawn. The video, which has gone viral since being aired online and in cinemas this week, showed a mother-in-law examining her son's bride as the young couple waited at the altar to be married,... Читать дальше...

Updated 5.23pm - Added police statement More than 20 armed police officers raided a bar and apartment block in Marsa today in an operation that yielded an undisclosed amount of cannabis and "synthetic substances" ready for trafficking.  Officers kitted out in bulletproof vests and automatic weapons stood guard outside the New Tiger Bar as others entered the premises and an adjacent block of apartments, accompanied by a pair of police sniffer dogs. Others entered from the building's rooftop, while a drone was also spotted overhead in the sky. Читать дальше...

A passenger on a stopover at Malta International Airport will be spending time behind bars after airport officials discovered he was travelling with forged documents. Albanian national Vebi Zerja, 24, residing at Diber, Albania, was yesterday headed from his homeland to the UK, stopping en route at Malta Airport to catch a connecting flight. However, his travel plans were disrupted after it was discovered that he was carrying a false Italian identity card, driving licence and health card. The man... Читать дальше...

The Identity Malta clerk granted bail earlier this month upon his arraignment over charges of having embezzled company funds was back in court today after two withdrawals from his bank account in violation of a freezing order imposed by the earlier court. On July 7, Joseph Calleja, 60, from Mosta, had been arraigned on charges of misappropriation and fraud, which offences were aggravated by the fact that he was a public officer. He had also been charged with having falsified documents or knowingly made use of false documents. Читать дальше...

Swiss police say they have formally identified two bodies found on an Alpine glacier as those of a couple missing for nearly 75 years. Valais canton police said that forensic experts using DNA analysis identified the two as Marcelin Dumoulin and his wife, Francine. They were 40 and 37, respectively, when they disappeared on August 15, 1942. The couple's daughter, now 79, has said her parents set off on foot to feed their animals, but never returned. Police were alerted on Friday to the bodies on... Читать дальше...

It is everybody’s “moral responsibility” to foster solidarity with migrants, Gozo Bishop Mario Grech said in a message marking the feast of St George the Martyr. He cautioned against indifference as Europe toys with the idea of turning its back on the thousands of people seeking better lives for their families. “We must not remain indifferent… Let us pray to God so that, with the intercession of St George the Martyr, with respect to everybody’s rights, Europe shows solidarity with migrants and refugees,” Mgr Grech said. Читать дальше...

Frank Portelli, a former Nationalist Party MP and former president of the PN executive, is collecting signatures to submit his nomination for the PN leadership election, the Times of Malta can confirm. Sources said PN supporters are currently collecting the 10 signatures needed for Dr Portelli to enter the race. Dr Portelli, the chief executive of St Philip’s Hospital in Santa Venera, is a former Member of Parliament, serving during the 1987-1992 legislature. He was also president of the Nationalist party between 1985 and 1992. Читать дальше...