Новости за 23.11.2017

Europa League underdogs Ostersund booked their place in the round of 32 for the first time, with Graham Potter's side completing the double over FK Zorya. Potter, the 42-year-old Englishman, has defied the odds to keep the unfancied Swedes unbeaten at home in Group J and they will be in the hat for the knockout phase. They received a helping hand through Dmytro Grechyshkin's own goal, but Saman Ghoddos ensured they did not lean too heavily on that slice of fortune, making it 2-0 with 12 minutes to go. Читать дальше...

A Mexican man, Juan Pedro Franco, 33, who weighed more than half a ton, has had surgery in Guadalajara in a bid to halve his weight.   Juan Pedro Franco, 33, has been dubbed the world's heaviest man. Earlier this year he reportedly weighed as much as 595 kilos. But after a three-month diet, Franco reportedly shed 175 kilos in a special clinic to allow him to have the surgery. According to reports, Franco has been bed-ridden for some seven years, having battled obesity since his late teens.

The new top officials of the PN administration were formally appointed by the party's executive this evening after having been uncontested in elections. They are: Clyde Puli, general secretary; Mark Anthony Sammut, president of the executive; David Stellini, president of the administrative committee; Roselyn Borg Knight, international secretary and David Camilleri, treasurer.  Earlier this month Kristy Debono was elected president of the party's General Council. Last week Robert Arrigo was elected... Читать дальше...

Malta has the fewest upper secondary school students enrolled in vocational education, coming in at 12.7 per cent, compared to the EU average of 47 per cent, according to a Eurostat study. The study, covering 2015, defined vocational education as the training in skills and teaching of knowledge related to a specific trade, occupation or vocation. Cyprus and Hungary were the only other two countries found to have less than a third of their students enrolled in vocational courses: 16 per cent in the case of Cyprus and 23 per cent for Hungary. Читать дальше...

North Korea's latest defector, a young soldier known only by his family name Oh, is a quiet, pleasant man who has nightmares about being returned to the North, his surgeon said on Thursday. "He's a pretty nice guy," said lead surgeon John Cook-Jong Lee, who has been operating and caring for the 24-year-old. Oh has become a focus of worldwide attention after he was badly wounded by fellow North Korean soldiers as he scrambled across the border in the Demilitarized Zone that separates North and South on Nov. Читать дальше...

A man held behind bars after being sentenced to a five-year prison term for drug trafficking was handed a lifeline by the constitutional court today when it found a breach of his right to a fair hearing and gave him the chance to change his admission of guilt. Christopher Bartolo, 36 from Fontana, last April was condemned to a five-year jail term and a €15,000 fine by the criminal court after pleading guilty to having trafficked 1.5kg of cannabis. A request for bail, pending appeal, especially in view of his particularly fragile health... Читать дальше...

The Malta Gaming Authority is “closely” investigating a Qormi-based company linked to an online gambling racket unearthed by Italian authorities. A spokesman for the regulator, which granted an operating licence to the company - Medialive Limited – in 2007, said that, in view of the current investigations, “any further comments at this stage would be imprudent and premature”. In an operation dubbed Operation Doppio Jack, Florence police arrested seven suspects including the owner of Medialive Limited last week. Читать дальше...

British scientists have found drinking three to four cups of coffee a day is more likely to have health benefits than cause harm. Researchers collected evidence from over 200 studies on coffee consumption and health - and published the findings in the British Medical Journal. They found those who drink more of it experience lower risks of premature death and heart disease than those who don't have coffee at all. It's also linked to lower risks of diabetes, liver disease, dementia and some cancers. Читать дальше...

Following the declines registered in the previous two trading sessions, the MSE Equity Price Index rebounded by 0.48% today to 4,479.941 points as the gains in four equities outweighed the declines in six other shares. Meanwhile, GO plc and Simonds Farsons Cisk plc closed the day unchanged at the €3.60 and €8.76 levels respectively on light trading volumes. The equity of Bank of Valletta plc climbed 5.3% to recapture the €1.90 level across 112,810 shares. Also in the banking sector, FIMBank plc rallied... Читать дальше...

A software development company has filed a judicial protest against its support and maintenance service provider over an alleged breach of confidentiality. Qgen Ltd, a St. Julian’s-based company operating in information technology and highly specialized software used in due diligence operations against money laundering activities, had developed an innovative and unique system known as know-your-client (KYC). The company developed the software over a number of years at considerable cost and risk.... Читать дальше...

A former permanent secretary within the Ministry for Resources and Rural Affairs and his wife have won €4,000 in libel damages against l-orizzont over a series of articles featuring the couple published over a three-month span shortly after the 2013 general election. Christopher Ciantar and his wife Eleanor filed the libel suit over allegations of nepotism made in the series of six articles where readers were told that at the time when Mr Ciantar, a former WasteServ Director, had held the post of... Читать дальше...

The Maltese people enjoy the longest lifespan spent in good health among all EU countries, but growing obesity could put that at risk in the future, an EU report issued today shows.  "Life expectancy in Malta is high and the population spend on average 90% of their lifespan in good health, longer than in any other EU country," the State of Health in the EU report says. Life expectancy at birth in Malta was 81.9 years in 2015, up from 78.4 years in 2000 and above the EU average of 80.6 years. Life... Читать дальше...

An abnormal sound detected in the South Atlantic ocean around the time that an Argentine navy submarine sent its last signal last week was "consistent with an explosion," a navy spokesman said on Thursday. Spokesman Enrique Balbi described the blast in the morning of November 15 as "abnormal, singular, short, violent" and "non-nuclear." A huge sea and air hunt is being conducted for the ARA San Juan, which went missing with 44 crew on board. However, experts said that had the submarine been submerged and unable to surface... Читать дальше...

Italy's anti-corruption 'Mani Pulite' prosecutor Antonio Di Pietro will be addressing a demonstration organized by Civil Society Network on Sunday December 3 in Valletta. In the 1990s Di Pietro exposed corruption and 'tangentopoli' in Italy, leading to various reforms in the political system. The demonstration will also be addressed by writer Immanuel Mifsud, journalist Caroline Muscat, civil society network activist Miriam Galea and Italian investigative journalist Marilu Mastrogiovanni. It will... Читать дальше...

People who drink three to four cups of coffee a day are more likely to see health benefits than harm, experiencing lower risks of premature death and heart disease than those who abstain, scientists said on Wednesday. The research, which collated evidence from more than 200 previous studies, also found coffee consumption was linked to lower risks of diabetes, liver disease, dementia and some cancers. Three or four cups a day confer the greatest benefit, the scientists said, except for women who are... Читать дальше...

The Inspire Foundation, which offers services for people with disabilities, raised  €5,300 from collection boxes at the airport terminal in the past six months.   Inspire CEO Antonello Gauci thanked all donors and Malta International Airport. “Inspire believes that everyone has a right to equality and inclusion. Our mission is to try to help everyone with a disability achieve this,” he said. “We do this by providing individuals and their families with educational, therapeutic and leisure services. Читать дальше...

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat tackled the current criticism over Malta’s financial sector – from its taxation regime, to its money-laundering record – head on when he addressed the Institute of Financial Services annual seminar today, saying that the island should not shy from the situation. “The mindset is crucial: we cannot adopt a siege mentality. We are confident of our system, which is solid, transparent and fully compliant. So we should be forthcoming and engage more with those overseas and with our critics,” he said. Читать дальше...

An asset management company, whose parent company is under siege from creditors, has ended up with just one director after another two resigned. The resignations from Ariadne Capital Malta, one of the subsidiaries of Julie Meyer’s Ariadne Capital Group, leave the company in a situation that could be in breach of regulatory rules. According to MFSA documents, Ms Meyer, once described as one of Europe’s 30 most influential women, is the company’s sole director, since a board member stepped down on... Читать дальше...

Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri said today Lebanon's political crisis was "a wake-up call" for Lebanese with different loyalties to put their country ahead of regional issues. Hariri was referring to the crisis ignited by his shock announcement on Nov. 4 that he was resigning. He made it from Saudi Arabia, a Sunni monarchy and regional powerhouse locked in a confrontation with Shi'ite Islamist Iran. After returning to Lebanon this week, he shelved his decision at the request of President Michel Aoun. Читать дальше...

Islamic State on Thursday beheaded 15 of its own fighters due to infighting in Afghanistan's eastern province of Nangarhar, the local government said. Further details were not available and there was no confirmation from Islamic State, whose local branch is known as Islamic State in Khorasan, an old name for the area that includes modern Afghanistan. Separately, a bomb exploded in Nangarhar's capital, Jalalabad, the same day, killing at least eight people, although there was no indication of who may have been responsible. Читать дальше...

Five people were dismissed from the public service last year on the advice of the Public Service Commission. In its annual report published today, the commission said it had advised dismissal and forfeiture of salary in four cases following a guilty verdict by the court and in a disciplinary case that had been referred to it. Another civil servant was dismissed by his head of department. The commission last year made 38 recommendates concerning criminal cases and considered 16 disciplinary cases which were referred to it according to law. Читать дальше...

Poverty in Malta is decreasing but the government will not rest on its laurels, the Family Minister pledged on Thursday. The ministry launched a report about the national strategy policy for poverty reduction and social inclusion, which shows a drop from 24% to 20% in the number of people at risk of poverty or social exclusion between 2013 and 2016. The data also shows a decrease in the number of people who suffer from severe material deprivation in Malta: from 39,000 to 19,000. As things stand, this makes up 4.4% of the local population... Читать дальше...

The Wild Bird Regulation Unit has refused to investigate reports about 177 trapping sites actively in use in areas banned for trapping, according to an NGO. The Committee Against Bird Slaughter said that even though trapping sites may only be licensed if they are located on agricultural land, it has identified a total of 177 active installations built mostly on protected garigue habitat. Some sites were also found within or on top of historical fortifications such as Fort Ricasoli and Notre Dame Bastion. Читать дальше...

More than 90 per cent of the heroin consumed in the US comes from Mexico. First a transit country for South American cocaine, it is now one of the largest poppy producers in the world, behind Afghanistan and Myanmar. This traffic is fueling an unprecedented conflict between the state, the drug traffickers, and civilians.

A man with various past brushes with the law was granted release from arrest after causing a commotion at the Paola police station where he was summoned to face some questions on Tuesday evening . Stephen Borg, 39, from Birkirkara and currently unemployed, was this morning taken to court under arrest to face charges over the incident which allegedly occurred at around 7pm. The prosecution explained that upon being told that there was the likelihood of an arrest warrant in his regard, the man freaked out... Читать дальше...