Новости за 26.11.2017

Trail Blazers 108 Wizards 105 Damian Lillard scored 29 points and CJ McCollum had seven of his 26 over the final 90 seconds as the Portland Trail Blazers rallied past the Washington Wizards for a 108-105 win on Saturday. Playing without the injured John Wall, Washington seemingly pulled away with a 16-5 run in the fourth quarter for a 92-75 lead, but McCollum's personal 7-0 run put Portland up 106-105 with 21 seconds remaining. Pat Connaughton hit two free throws with 2.6 seconds. Bradley Beal scored 26 points for the Wizards... Читать дальше...

The Medical Association of Malta said this morning it disagreed with the construction of a new outpatients department at Mater Dei Hospital. “This is unnecessary and sends mixed messages about afternoon sessions. Funds should be used to recruit more consultants, and supporting staff to improve the outpatient experience and reduce waiting times." It was reacting to the Auditor General’s report on outpatient services at Mater Dei hospital, which, it said, confirmed what it claimed two years ago that... Читать дальше...

A man died after he was knifed during an argument in Birkirkara last night. The police said the incident happened in Triq il-Bwieraq at 2.30am. The victim, who has not yet been identified, was stabbed during an argument between three people. He was taken to hospital where he soon succumbed to his injuries. An inquiry is being held. His death makes this the eighth murder this year. A man was killed in a shooting at Attard only eight days ago.

The following are the top stories in national newspapers today. The Sunday Times of Malta says the government secretly extended a €360 million State loan guarantee for the new power station on the eve of the general election. In another story, it says a group of disillusioned Nationalist Party MPs are seriously considering calling it a day from politics by not contesting the next general election. Illum says Malta has the highest rate of syphilis infected people among EU states. MaltaToday says the... Читать дальше...

Any major political party that loses two successive elections by a large margin needs to reinvent itself to win back the electoral favour. Whatever the reasons for the recent defeats, the Nationalist Party faces an uphill road to win back the support not just of floating voters but also of its hard core supporters. Many view the decision taken by former party leader Simon Busuttil to resign as being the correct one. The leader of a political party needs to shoulder responsibility for failing to convince... Читать дальше...

The government secretly extended a €360 million State loan guarantee for the new power station on the eve of the general election, The Sunday Times of Malta has learnt. No public announcement about the decision to extend what the government had in August 2015 termed as a “22-month temporary guarantee” was ever made. The government had said the State guarantee, which covered 80 per cent of the €450 million loan taken out by Electrogas, the power station consortium, was put in place until the European Commission approved the project. Читать дальше...

Finnish bakery and food service company Fazer launched on Thursday what it said was the world's first insect-based bread to be offered to consumers in stores. The bread, made from flour ground from dried crickets as well as wheat flour and seeds, contains more protein than normal wheat bread. Each loaf contains about 70 crickets and costs €3.99, compared with €2 to €3 for a regular wheat loaf. "It offers consumers with a good protein source and also gives them an easy way to familiarise themselves with insect-based food," said Juhani Sibakov... Читать дальше...

GALEA. On October 22, at Gozo General Hospital, to Eleonor née Tewma and Joseph, God’s precious gift of a son – ALEXANDER, a most welcome brother to Martina, Matthea and Sebastian. Golden Wedding Mr JOSEPH MANCHE and Miss MARIA STELLA CHETCUTI November 26, 1967 Wishing you many more years of health and happiness. Much love, Gordon and Sharon. Obituaries AGIUS. On November 24, Dr EDGAR A. AGIUS, aged 94, passed away peacefully comforted by the rites of Holy Church. He leaves to mourn his loss his beloved wife Anne... Читать дальше...

A volcano on the Indonesian tourist island of Bali erupted for the second time in a week, disrupting international flights even as authorities said the island remained safe. The ash column from Mount Agung rose 4,900 feet following an eruption that began at about 5.30pm on Saturday, and has continued for several hours, said Indonesia's National Disaster Mitigation Agency. Villages close to the volcano were coated in a thin layer of ash. Ash clouds were moving to the southwest, away from the island's international airport... Читать дальше...

Investors require peace of mind when investing their monies in collective investment schemes or any other instruments, especially the retail investors who have neither experience nor in-depth knowledge of investments. It is for this reason that the Undertaking in Collective Investments in Transferable Securities (‘UCITS’) Directive gives such importance to investor protection. UCITS is a European Union directive which governs collective investment schemes suitable for sale to the general public, that is, the retail investors. Читать дальше...

The information published in this page is intended for information purposes only. Any legal claim or action taken in the event of a dispute should be based solely on the legal texts concerned. For more information, call the Office for Consumer Affairs at the Malta Competition and Consumer Affairs Authority on Freephone 8007 4400.

Now that the festive season is fast approaching, more people turn to the internet to order gifts. Apart from having a wider choice of products, offers and prices, consumers can do this from the comfort of their home, saving time and money. However, consumers must be aware of their rights and obligations to avoid disappointment and also suffering an economic loss. Online traders have the same obligations as traders on the high street. Additionally, online retailers must abide by the Consumer Rights Regulations ... Читать дальше...

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I recently decided to leave my car in the garage and travel by bus. I bought a Tallinja card and everything seemed fine. However, after a while, the first three digits of the customer number on the card were obliterated, so I applied for a new one. Malta Public Transport soon came to the conclusion that the fault was mine and told me that their policy is to charge €5 for a new card. I felt that this was very unfair because anyone with a brain could tell the card was faulty. I wrote to the Transport... Читать дальше...

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I wish to thank the Mission Fund of Mosta for the generous donation   of €2,500 they sent me towards helping poor students from rural areas to pursue their education, especially at tertiary level. In 2011, at Maharo, close to the district capital Dumka, we started St Xavier’s University College to help rural youths from a poor background receive a quality education and move up in life. In 2013, with the help of the Mission Fund, we started a hostel to enable girls to study at St Xavier’s. They are looked after by Ursuline nuns. Читать дальше...

Well done to the police for apprehending the person who threatened MEP Roberta Metsola. Hopefully he will receive what he deserves. What I absolutely cannot comprehend is how three weeks prior to this incident, on November 2, a person incited an act of terrorism, in my opinion, very much worse than the threat against the MEP.  A very large number of civilians were concerned. This person suggested that, as is happening frequently abroad, someone should drive a heavy vehicle on to the pavement and slaughter as many people as possible. Читать дальше...

The article on the overuse of antibiotics in hospitals and households (‘Antibiotics: too much of a good thing’, The Sunday Times of Malta, November 29) made very interesting reading. The question about whether penicillin and other old antibiotics can make a comeback is food for thought. Prof. Michael Borg should be commended for the information he provided. At the old pharmacy museum at the National Archives in Malta there are still containers of old antibiotics under the name ‘sulfa drugs’ which... Читать дальше...

Upon reading Kristina Chetcuti’s column ‘The great detachment’ (The Sunday Times of Malta, November 5), my mind went back 80 years to my childhood. I remember my father saying that Malta was a country of ‘u iva!’ meaning one that is lacking any real standards. When I grew up I realised how right he had been. The ‘anything goes’ attitude noticeable in the first third of the 20th century became predominant by the end of the century. The ruling mentality today is that everything is fine as long as I am okay. Читать дальше...

One of the most difficult decisions I have had to make was when I was asked to contest the general election on behalf of the Democratic Party. That night, I lay awake in bed poring over the implications. What held me back from immediately rising to the challenge was the adage that one must never show one’s ‘colours’. To be political in Malta is to be exposed. Even supporting a third party is questionable. Malta is a country where the party you support is often not a question of ideology, policy or principle. Читать дальше...

I really like the way the European Commission ‘works’. First you get a Commissioner (in this case the tax-obsessed Pierre Moscovici) saying that he had taken up an initiative with the UK and Malta about how their yachting industry pays VAT.  Notice this is how he starts, a personal initiative without first really asking his plentiful staff to conduct a serious prior study of the idea or hunch in his mind or belly – shoot first, discuss later! Next, he declares some of Malta’s practices as “suspect” - accused you already are! Читать дальше...

In France, the live-capturing (trapping) of Ortolan Buntings (small song birds), although illegal, since the practice is undertaken without the application of a derogation from the EU Birds Directive, is regarded as a socio-cultural tradition and thus has always been tolerated by the French authorities. The European Commission took France to court in 2016 over its failure to protect the wild bird and last August the French government announced tougher measures to fight the practice. On November 14... Читать дальше...

Ping! “Get Lost mind you we are Proud Maltese & our Govt + 75000 more votes For Now Bye till next Election 5 years more.” I got this brief e-mail in my inbox last Monday. As this is very typical of several other e-mails that I receive, I am sharing it here so that people who intend sending similar messages in future, might want to revise theirs before pressing the send button. First of all, I would like to kindly ask e-mail writers if they could please mind their manners. Has life become so terribly... Читать дальше...

As Lord Acton wisely said, power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Every now and again the mighty are brought to their senses by those vying for their power, or by the street, or both. Fancy Robert Mugabe, at 93, trying to hold  on to power after 37 long years of it in Zimbabwe, formerly Rhodesia, while people dance in the streets  at the thought  of finally seeing the back of him. A beautiful country which was once the bread basket of Africa, not to mention its tobacco, has had its... Читать дальше...

Voices in the media are something of a cacophony. That’s how it should be in a democratic society, the media as an essence of the cacophony of opinions. Different media or broadcasting houses also have differing editorial policies, which are broadly defined by lineages of political ideology. Contributors also range across the ideological spectrum, falling on one side or the other. But in Malta, beyond the editorial or ideological leanings, there is a perverting influence on the media landscape: partisanship engendered by the two main parties. Читать дальше...