Новости за 16.06.2021

Gżira United, Birkirkara and Mosta FC discovered their fate in the UEFA Conference League second qualifying round when the draw was held on Wednesday. Gżira United have been handed a tough draw as should the Maroons manage to overcome Andorran side UE San Julia they will be up against Croatian side Rijeka. The Maroons have some fond memories of facing Croatian sides as two seasons ago they managed to produce a major upset when they knocked out Hajduk Split. Continue reading this article on SportsDesk... Читать дальше...

Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin kicked off their first meeting as heads of state on Wednesday with a handshake outside the Geneva villa where they plan to confront each other over the worst US-Russia tensions in years. Following an introduction by their host, Swiss President Guy Parmelin, Biden extended his arm for his first handshake with Putin since taking office in January. "It's always better to meet face to face," Biden said as the two men sat down with their top diplomats, kicking off the summit... Читать дальше...

Studio 18’s WIRES is a new piece penned by two-time Francis Ebejer Award winner and National Book Award for Drama Simone Spiteri and directed by RCS graduate and Prickly Pear Productions Co-founder, Chantelle Micallef Grimaud.   The play, while originally intended to be live theatre, is now being professionally filmed in accordance with COVID-19 regulations and will be broadcast live to ticket holders with bonus footage of an interview with the playwright and director.  WIRES holds up a mirror to how we as a society interact ... Читать дальше...

Upgrading works at King George V Gardens in Floriana have been completed, three years since the embellishment project was first announced. Through an investment close to €400,000 financed through the development planning fund of the Planning Authority, the garden has undergone upgrading works making it better, safer and more accessible.  This was announced by Environment Minister Aaron Farrugia during the inauguration of the garden on Wednesday afternoon.  Embellishment works included the installation of outdoor gym equipment... Читать дальше...

Greece was hit by strikes on Wednesday for the second time in a week ahead of street protests over a controversial labour reform expected to be approved by parliament later in the day. No ferry services to Greek tourist islands were available and urban transport in the capital was disrupted by the 24-hour walkout. Over 7,000 people according to police demonstrated in Athens against the bill. Additional protests will be held in the evening. Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said the “deeply... Читать дальше...

The mayor of Moscow on Wednesday ordered mandatory vaccinations for residents of the Russian capital working in the service industry, citing a "dramatic" rise in coronavirus infections. The announcement by Sergei Sobyanin - one of the first compulsory vaccination orders for a major world city - was a stark admission from a senior Russian official that authorities are struggling to bring the pandemic under control. Russia lifted most restrictions last year, and the country has pressed ahead with large in-person events... Читать дальше...

EU ambassadors agreed on Wednesday to impose sanctions on 78 individuals and seven entities after the forced landing of a European airliner by Belarus, diplomats said.  Seven of the individuals being sanctioned are linked directly to the incident involving the Ryanair passenger jet last month and 71 are targeted over the government's broader crackdown on opposition, diplomats said. The measures are set to be formally adopted on Monday when EU foreign ministers meet.  Belarusian strongman Alexander... Читать дальше...

Customs canine officer Peter on Wednesday sniffed out €11,435 in undeclared cash on a Maltese national departing to Sicily. Customs said its officers were screening passengers boarding the ferry to Pozzallo when Peter sniffed the cash on a Maltese national. The passenger was then selected for a currency check during which €10,000 were found in his luggage and an additional €1,450 in his wallet. When asked by customs officials whether he had any cash he wished to declare, the passenger had replied in the negative. Читать дальше...

UK nationals in Malta who do not apply for residency in the next two weeks risk losing the right to live on the island, High Commissioner Cathy Ward warned on Wednesday. In a message to UK residents, she said the deadline for submitting an application for a new withdrawal agreement residency card in Malta is June 30. More than 9,000 applications have been submitted so far but many still needed to apply. She urged all UK nationals who were resident in Malta before January 1 to apply now, including those who already hold a residency document... Читать дальше...

Greece has formally asked North Macedonia to modify its team’s Euro 2020 shirts, claiming that the present version runs counter to a historic treaty between the Balkan neighbours. The dispute broke out over the initials FFM (Football Federation of Macedonia), which Greece says are a throwback to the Balkan country’s name before a 2018 treaty solved a longstanding diplomatic row between the Balkan neighbours. Over the weekend, Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias complained in a letter to his North... Читать дальше...

Three new COVID-19 cases were reported on Wednesday as nine patients recovered. Health authorities said 1,798 swab tests were conducted over the past 24 hours.  There were also no new deaths reported. The number of active cases is now down to 45. There have now been a total of 419 deaths to date and 30,585 confirmed cases of the virus. Vaccinations A total of 604,033 doses have been administered so far, with 270,754 people being fully vaccinated. Just over 344,000 people have received a first vaccine dose. Читать дальше...

Malta does not deserve to be greylisted by global money laundering assessors, Foreign Minister Evarist Bartolo said on Wednesday.   “I am not a prophet, the process is ongoing, and I am not going to say I think this or that is going to happen. All I know is that we have done our utmost not to be greylisted,” Bartolo said.  He was commenting less than 24 hours after evaluators from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) met in Paris on Tuesday afternoon to decide on a final recommendation over... Читать дальше...

Hibernians or Flora Tallinn were drawn to face Norwegian side Bodo Glimt or Legia Warsaw of Poland should they progress from the first qualifying round of the Champions League. The draw of the second qualifying round of UEFA’s elite club competition was held on Tuesday in Nyon. Hibernians, who have already a tough task on their hands to knock out Flora Tallinn, of Estonia in the first qualifying round, were handed another difficult task if they proceed as they face two quality sides in either Bodo Glimt or Legia Warsaw. Читать дальше...

The organisers of Glitch Festival say they are "heartbroken" to announce the event will not go ahead this August due to coronavirus restrictions that they said claim are illogical. Glitch was one of three music festivals that had set dates for the summer, in the hopes that coronavirus measures would be relaxed. A statement published on the festival's Facebook page on Wednesday morning said they had not been given the "green light from the local authorities". The organisers told those who had bought... Читать дальше...

Scotland’s hopes of having Kieran Tierney fit in time to face England in their crunch Euro 2020 clash on Friday have been boosted after the Arsenal defender returned to training. Tierney was badly missed as Scotland lost 2-0 to the Czech Republic on Monday in their first match at a major tournament for 23 years. Scotland boss Steve Clarke described the 24-year-old’s injury as a “little niggle” ahead of the game against the Czechs at Hampden. He was back on the training ground at Scotland’s base in northeast England on Tuesday. Читать дальше...

Cinemas in Malta and Gozo projected 330 film titles and registered a total of 165,475 admissions in 2020, a year which saw the theatres closed for a good chunk of it due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This meant there was a drop of 4.5 times in the number of cinema visitors in 2020, when compared to a year earlier. The National Statistics Office said on Wednesday there were in 2020 seven cinema establishments with a total of 33 screens and a seating capacity of 2,262. Of these, two were in Gozo. A total of 18,733 screenings were exhibited... Читать дальше...

Premier League champions Manchester City will start the defence of their title away to Tottenham after the fixtures for the 2021-22 season were unveiled on Wednesday. City are among the sides heavily linked with Spurs striker Harry Kane, throwing up the tantalising possibility that the England captain could line up against his boyhood club on the opening weekend. Pep Guardiola’s side won the league by 12 points last season ahead of rivals Manchester United, who open their campaign against old foes Leeds at Old Trafford. Читать дальше...

People who have repeatedly failed to download their vaccine certificate, and whose travel plans have even been disrupted as a result, have complained about the inconvenience, saying the situation did not inspire confidence in Malta’s launch of an EU COVID passport next month. But asked about the nature of the problems and when they would be resolved, the health ministry simply said that “in some cases, verification of data supplied needs to occur to ensure that all information related to the vaccine brand... Читать дальше...

One drug trafficker texted another that he had a "job" and a proven way to get it done: two kilograms of cocaine from Bogota using the French embassy's protected diplomatic pouch. The pair were straightforward, because they were using the newest, safest mode of communicating: a special-purpose, highly encrypted, messaging-only cellphone called ANOM that operated on a closed network. "They have already got a few packages in," Baris Tukel told buyer Shane Geoffrey May, according to US court documents. Читать дальше...