Новости за 09.01.2021

Britain on Friday reported a record 1,325 deaths over a 24 period from people testing positive for coronavirus, as a surge in cases piled pressure on overstretched health services, forcing London to declare a major incident. The death toll eclipsed the previous worst of 1,224 recorded on April 21 during the height of the first wave last year, and brings the total number of deaths to 79,833. The grim milestone also saw another high of 68,053 new cases registered in the past day, nudging the overall... Читать дальше...

A fleet of bright, beautifully-restored old Maltese buses can lately be seen on Maltese roads again. They’re not, however, picking up passengers from bus stops but are operating as part of scheduled vintage tours from Valletta to St Julian’s and back. “The old buses were replaced almost 10 years ago now [July 2011], so anyone under the age of around 14 will not remember the delights of our old buses,” Manuel Cutajar, director of the Vintage Bus City Tour, said. “Now there is this opportunity for... Читать дальше...

Italian political leader Matteo Salvini appeared Saturday before a Palermo judge in connection with a 2019 incident during which he blocked migrants at sea while he was the interior minister. Salvini, head of the far-right political party known as the League, is suspected of sequestration and abuse of power for having refused to allow around 100 migrants to land in Italy in August 2019. He had blocked a ship, the Open Arms, from landing in August 2019, forcing it to anchor off the island of Lampedusa while conditions on board deteriorated. Читать дальше...

Josip Ilicic scored a goal and set up two others as Atalanta moved up to fourth in Serie A on Saturday with a 4-1 win over midtable Benevento. The 32-year-old proved he has returned to his best after two months out with personal problems after the first coronavirus lockdown last year. The Sloven striker was omnipresent for the northerners with captain Papu Gomez still frozen out after clashing with coach Gian Piero Gasperini. Continue reading this article on Sports Desk.

Plans to build flyovers in Msida have been revised to add a new bus interchange and a third footbridge, reorganising a planned public garden around the Worker's Memorial.  Following the submission of new photomontages of the Msida Creek project to the Planning Authority this week, an Infrastructure Malta spokesman told Times of Malta the changes followed consultation with the Msida local council and Transport Malta.  The new footbridge will connect the new public garden and car park around the monument with the Pietà side of the junction... Читать дальше...

Church and independent schools will continue to operate as before after the conclusion of a deal to end the recent teachers' strike, the Malta Union of Teachers said on Saturday, denying claims that the deal had stripped schools of their autonomy.  The MUT insisted representatives of Church and independent schools had participated throughout all discussions, and would not have consented to any deal that affected their own autonomy.  "The MUT also denies that the situation shall affect online teaching... Читать дальше...

The number of motorbike deaths in 2020 was the highest in four years and more than double that of 2019. Nine of the 13 fatal traffic accidents last year involved motorcycles, compared to four of the 16 traffic victims in 2019. In 2018, there were seven motorbike fatalities and three in 2017. May 2020, in particular, can be singled out for the number of deaths... of the four fatalities that month, three were bikers. A decline in road accidents was registered across EU countries last year as the pandemic broke out. Читать дальше...

Non-league Chorley knocked coronavirus-ravaged Derby County out of the FA Cup with a surprise 2-0 win on Saturday, while Everton survived a scare against Rotherham as the spiking pandemic took its toll on the third round. Derby were forced to play with only Under-23 and Under-18 players after their first-team squad and interim manager Wayne Rooney were ruled out following a virus outbreak at the Championship club. Chorley, from the sixth tier National League North, took advantage of Derby’s weakened line-up... Читать дальше...

HIBERNIANS                                   3 Degabriele 43, 72 Grech 48 SENGLEA ATHLETIC                   0 HIBERNIANSM. Calleja Cremona-7; F. Apap-7; L. Almeida-7 (80 B. Ihuomah); A. Attard-7; J. Grech-7.5 (85 R. Cassar); J. Degabriele-7.5 (89 K. Bonello); B. Kristensen-7.5; D. Vella-7; S. Shodija-7 (85 M. Farrugia); A. Agius-7; J. Teixeira-7 (80 U. Edafe). SENGLEA ATHLETIC M. Farrugia-5; S. Uyi (23 D. Fava-5); A. Abela-5; Freud-5 (75 I. Misan); J. Tanti-5 (75 D. Abeela); C. Riascos-5; A. Scicluna-5 (58 Z. Читать дальше...

Twitter has removed a tweet by Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei suggesting coronavirus vaccines made in the United States and Britain are "untrustworthy", saying the post violated its rules. "Importing vaccines made in the US or the UK is prohibited. They're completely untrustworthy. It's not unlikely they would want to contaminate other nations," said a tweet posted Friday on Khamenei's English-language Twitter account. "Given our experience with France's HIV-tainted blood supplies,... Читать дальше...

A 60-year old man was seriously injured on Saturday after a fall on a construction site in San Lawrenz.  Police said the man, a Tunisian national, had fallen from a height of around one storey while working on the site in Trejqet l-Għaxra ta’ Awwissu.  He was taken to Gozo General Hospital for treatment.  Police investigations are ongoing.

DS Automobiles is developing a new type of technology which will allow drivers to ‘press’ buttons without having to physically interact with any of the car’s controls.  Working alongside human-machine interface developer Ultraleap, the systems have three-times greater accuracy compared with a traditional touchscreen. This, in turn, means that drivers need to spend less time with their eyes away from the road in order to change a certain setting on their car.  Drivers will be able to control infotainment... Читать дальше...

Real Madrid have hit their stride and Barcelona are gaining momentum but Atletico Madrid have stayed strong at the top of La Liga, ahead of what could prove a crucial month in the title race.  A surprise loss to third division side Cornella in the Copa del Rey on Wednesday came in stark contrast to Atletico’s form in the league, where only defeat to their capital city rivals last month blots an otherwise perfect run of results that stretches back to mid-October. Two narrow victories over Getafe and... Читать дальше...

The race to fill a vacant Labour Party seat in Parliament will be a three-person one between a former mayor and two former MPs, with nominations for the post having closed on Saturday at noon.   Ballots cast in the 2017 general election will be reopened and recounted on Tuesday until a winner is declared to fill the parliamentary seat vacated by former finance minister Edward Scicluna, who has been appointed governor of the Central Bank. Former Rabat mayor Charles Azzopardi, who was outed as a Nationalist Party member... Читать дальше...

Malta registered 245 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday, a record high for new daily infections.  It was the second time in one week that the number of new cases reached a national high, following the 224 new virus cases reported on Wednesday. Two further patients died, bumping the virus death toll up to 232. The victims - an 85-year-old man and 77-year-old woman, both died at Mater Dei Hospital on Friday, the Health Ministry said earlier in the day.   [attach id=1012203 size="large" align="left" type="image"][/attach]... Читать дальше...

Updated 3.30pm An Indonesian budget airline plane with 62 people on board is suspected to have crashed into the sea shortly after the Boeing 737 took off from Jakarta airport on Saturday, authorities said. Flight tracking data showed the Sriwijaya Air Boeing 737-500 plunged into a steep dive about four minutes after it left Soekarno-Hatta international airport. Sixty-two passengers and crew were on board, including 10 children, the nation's transport minister, Budi Karya Sumadi, told reporters. The... Читать дальше...

A day after snowstorms caused chaos across much of Spain, forecasters warned there was more to come on Saturday as five regions were put under red alert. Storm Filomena blocked roads, particularly in the centre of the country, with the capital Madrid seeing its heaviest snowfalls since 1971. Madrid's Barajas airport was shut down late Friday and hundreds of motorists were left stranded. The AEMET weather agency described the situation as "exceptional and most likely historic". Another 20 centimetres... Читать дальше...

Mauricio Pochettino described getting the job as Paris Saint-Germain coach as a gift from Father Christmas, but his first game in charge, with Neymar absent, indicated that not everything will be straightforward for the Argentine. Pochettino’s first home game as coach comes on Saturday when PSG take on Brest following their 1-1 draw with Saint-Etienne in midweek, a result which left the reigning champions three points behind leaders Lyon at the top of Ligue 1. Absent since being stretchered off in the defeat against Lyon in December... Читать дальше...

A UK company that is popular in Malta for ordering books online has temporarily stopped shipping to the EU as post-Brexit trading rules begin to bite. Customers of Book Depository are disappointed they can no longer take advantage of its affordable prices and free shipping. In an exchange with one customer, a Book Depository representative said: “As a result of the recent disruption to trade caused by the changing relationship between the UK and EU, we’re currently unable to offer delivery to addresses... Читать дальше...

President Donald Trump had made Twitter his favoured channel for sharing unflattering nicknames, insults, video montages and even policy decisions. But he no longer has that soapbox, as the social platform permanently suspended his account, @realDonaldTrump, on Friday. Here's a look back at some of his most memorable tweets: Covfefe  After just a few months in office, Trump sent the internet into a tailspin with what was quite possibly an autocorrect spelling error.  "Despite the negative press covfefe," he tweeted... Читать дальше...

Malta’s mental health commissioner has encouraged former patients at Mount Carmel to speak up about “far from desirable” conditions at the state-run facility, after a blog post by a woman who spent eight days there went viral. Commissioner John Cachia said that authorities at the mental healthcare hospital had yet to upgrade protocols, despite him having repeatedly asked them to do so. “The hospital environment is far from desirable and I have also repeatedly highlighted a number of practices which... Читать дальше...

The MSE Equity Total Return Index kicked off the year on a negative note, as it lost 1.3% to close at 8,358.498 points. Out of 17 equities, two headed north while another 10 closed in the opposite direction. A total turnover of €0.8 million was generated across 121 transactions. The best performer was RS2 Software plc, as it registered a 3% increase in price, reaching €2.06. The equity started off the week in the red, but managed to close higher after a thin trade was executed on Thursday. During... Читать дальше...

Spazju Kreattiv is showing a documentary on US jazz and swing singer Billie Holiday (1915-1959), one of the greatest voices of all time who was also a figure of controversy – a black woman in a white man’s world, a pioneer and a rebel whose iconic protest song Strange Fruit earned her powerful enemies. In the late 1960s, journalist Linda Lipnack Kuehl set out to write the definitive biography of Holiday’s life. Over the next decade, she tracked down and tape-recorded interviews with those who knew Holiday best. Читать дальше...

The front pages of Times of Malta from 25 and 10 years ago.  Become a Times of Malta premium member to gain full access to our archive dating back to January 1930.

A man was grievously injured late on Friday night when he was hit by a motorcycle in Gżira.The 37-year-old, who is from Belarus but lives in Msida, was walking on Triq tal-Sliema at around 11.30pm when he was hit by a Kymco Agility motorbike being driven by a 28-year-old Serbian man who lives in Birkirkara. Emergency services were called to the scene and paramedics administered first-aid onsite. The pedestrian victim was taken to Mater Dei Hospital for treatment while the motorcyclist was taken a health centre for treatment. Читать дальше...