Новости за 24.08.2021

Luxol St Andrews continued to make a name for themselves in European competitions as the Malta champions brushed aside hosts KMF Proekt, of Macedonia, 5-0 to book their place in the Main Round of the UEFA Futsal Champions League. Tuesday’s victory completed another remarkable achievement for Luxol St Andrews who surpassed the first phase of UEFA’s most prestigious competition in some style when they clinched their third successive victory in Group A. A more impressive statistic for the Maltese... Читать дальше...

Anthony Joshua says he is going to favour brains over brawn for the defence of his World Boxing Association, International Boxing Federation and World Boxing Organisation heavyweight titles against Oleksandr Usyk. The 31-year-old British pugilist is set to go toe to toe with the undefeated Ukrainian former undisputed cruiserweight world champion at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London on September 25. Joshua told Sky Sports bulking up for the bout lacked common sense. “I’m looking trim for this fight,” he said. Читать дальше...

The Premier League on Tuesday announced its clubs will not release players for international matches played in red-list countries next month. Amid frustration that players who travelled to red-list countries would have to follow UK coronavirus quarantine regulations ruling them out of several of their club’s matches, the league has revealed a blanket ban for the September fixtures. The Egyptian Football Association had said on Monday that Liverpool would not release Mohamed Salah for the upcoming... Читать дальше...

Foundation students following the Diploma in Masonry Heritage Skills at the Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology (MCAST) have recently finished restoration work at St Catherine’s medieval chapel in Gudja. The present chapel dates back to 1631 and its structure represents typical 17th-century ecclesiastic architecture consisting of one aisle, with a barrel vault and a main altar at the far end. Documents show that another chapel existed on the site, which dates back to about 1562. When... Читать дальше...

Charlie Watts, the drummer of the legendary British rock'n'roll band the Rolling Stones, died on Tuesday at the age of 80, his publicist said. "It is with immense sadness that we announce the death of our beloved Charlie Watts. He passed away peacefully in a London hospital earlier today surrounded by his family," publicist Bernard Doherty said in a statement. "Charlie was a cherished husband, father and grandfather and also, as a member of the Rolling Stones, one of the greatest drummers of his generation. Читать дальше...

Denmark’s Odd Christian Eiking took the overall lead in the Vuelta a Espana on Tuesday after a mass breakaway made it home almost 12 minutes ahead of the main pack. The stage itself was won by DSM rider Michael Storer, his second on this Vuelta, on a tangled day that caused a major shake up in the rankings. Eiking was not alone in coming from nowhere to jump onto the podium, as Frenchman Guillaume Martin climbed to second  place at 58sec. Slovenian overnight leader and double defending champion Primoz Roglic slipped to third at 2min 17sec. Читать дальше...

The death knell could be sounded on yet another Sliema townhouse and its mature garden, as the application to replace it with 18 apartments and 32 lock-up garages has been recommended for approval. Sliema residents are strongly objecting to PA/09273/19 on Triq Manuel Dimech and Triq Parisio, which also includes three penthouses and four offices, and has been described as an “abomination” of a development. Objection letters stated that the proposal would have an irreversible impact on cultural... Читать дальше...

Team Malta took part in the opening ceremony as the 2021 Paralympic Games got under way at Olympic Stadium in Tokyo on Tuesday. The Malta contingent took part in the athletes’ march past with Thomas Borg holding the Malta’s flag alongside Vladyslava Kravchenko and team chef de mission Julian Bajada. During the Games, Vladyslava Kravchenko will compete in the Para swimming while Borg will be in action in the para athletics events. For Kravchenko this is the second time that she will be representing... Читать дальше...

Nationalist MP Clyde Puli launched a harsh attack on the Labour Party on Tuesday when making his point that a murder like that of Daphne Caruana Galizia would not have happened under a PN administration. "This is a free country and everyone can criticise, even journalists. One thing we would not do, even to people we don't agree with, is that we don't kill them. We never had a murder like that happen in our time," Puli said during a press conference, during which the PN called on the government to publish its school reopening guidelines. Читать дальше...

Mini has teamed up with fashion designer Paul Smith to create a one-off, scaled-back model that prioritises sustainability above all else, based on its ‘Electric’ hatchback.  Called the Mini Strip, the brand took a back-to-basics approach, which focused – as its name implies – on stripping back anything that’s not totally necessary.  Starting with a Mini Electric, the car was left in its unfinished state, with the only paint applied being a thin film that protects the car from corrosion. Grinding marks on the steel panels also remain... Читать дальше...

An 18-year-old woman had to be rushed to Mater Dei on Tuesday after she was run over by a van, as a result ending up under the vehicle, the police said.  In a statement, the police said that the woman, an 18-year-old Colombian, was hit by a Citroen van on St Andrew Street in St Julian's at around 12.45pm. The van was being driven by a 41-year-old man from Fgura.  On impact, the woman ended up beneath the van and had to be rescued by a team from the Civil Protection Department.  The woman was then rushed to Mater Dei Hospital... Читать дальше...

Israel on Tuesday lowered the age threshold to receive a third coronavirus booster dose to anyone aged 30 and above, as it continues to battle surging infections. Israel is among a handful of nations that has decided to administer a third vaccine dose, a policy criticised by the World Health Organisation, which has called for more doses to be sent to poorer states. But Israel’s health ministry announced the lowered age threshold after 9,831 new cases were registered on Monday, the highest daily tally since January. Читать дальше...

Maltese feature film Luzzu has made a longlist for best feature film at this year’s European Film Awards.  It joins a list of 40 films to make the award's Feature Film Selection, with more titles to be announced in September. That list will be whittled down to a shortlist by members of the European Film Academy, with an eight-member jury eventually selecting an overall winner.  While Malta hosted the European Film Awards at Mediterranean Conference Centre back in 2012, Luzzu is the first Maltese film to be chosen in the awards. Читать дальше...

Gareth Bale is “ticking all the boxes” since returning to Real Madrid which is a boost for Wales ahead of their forthcoming 2022 World Cup qualifiers said Welsh manager Robert Page. Bale is back in favour at Real under new coach Carlo Ancelotti — having been sent on loan to Tottenham Hotspur by his predecessor Zinedine Zidane—and scored in their 3-3 draw with Levante last Sunday. It was his first La Liga goal for the club since September 2019. His form augurs well for Wales’s friendly with Finland... Читать дальше...

Science in the City Festival 2021 will once again be undergoing a complete overhaul, bringing an action-packed hybrid festival on September 24 and 25.  The festival that graced the streets of Valletta on an annual basis is moving into theatres around the city while retaining the virtual presence it established in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.  The hybrid festival hopes to reach both old and new audiences with an innovative programme celebrating science and arts.  In the run-up to this year’s festival... Читать дальше...

Danish shipping giant AP Moller-Maersk said yesterday it was speeding up plans for an environment-friendly fleet with the order of eight carbon-neutral container vessels, a pioneering project in the highly-polluting industry. Maersk said in a statement that it will introduce the “groundbreaking” ocean-going vessels, capable of operating on carbon-neutral methanol, in the first quarter of 2024. The ships, built by Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) and equipped with dual fuel engines, will be able to each transport 16,000 containers... Читать дальше...

Chris Fearne says he will let historians analyse why he lost the Labour leadership race last year, after former prime minister Joseph Muscat conceded that his wife had campaigned for the winner, Robert Abela.   In an interview with Times of Malta published earlier this month, Muscat said that while he had not expressed an opinion on the race to replace him at the helm of the Labour Party, his wife Michelle had backed Abela.   “The truth is Michelle did speak with some people and expressed the fact she favoured Robert Abela. Читать дальше...

Matchday revenues across the five major European football leagues took a nearly €2 billion hit last season after spectators were largely barred from attending matches due to the pandemic, a report by consultancy KPMG said Tuesday. The projected revenue losses dwarf the €500 million that clubs in the leagues suffered in the 2019/20 season, when the virus first affected Europe and led to sport being suspended in March 2020, only resuming months later without spectators. The continent’s top five leagues are England’s Premier League... Читать дальше...

Most vaccination centres in Malta are now closed as the country has reached a 90% vaccination rate. Only one centre, that at the University of Malta's Msida campus, remains open and caters for daily walk-in patients. Data given by the health authorities on Tuesday shows that nearly 410,000 people aged 12 years and over are now fully vaccinated in Malta and Gozo. Health Minister Chris Fearne described the take-up as a "world record". The issue of the now-closed centres had initially been raised by Gozitan MP Chris Said. Читать дальше...

A man accused of a stabbing in Birkirkara has been granted bail, after his lawyer presented Facebook posts which the alleged victim had published after the incident. Cranston Portelli, a 30-year old abattoir worker from Qormi, stands accused of having stabbed a 27-year old Msida resident. He is pleading not guilty.  Both men are alleged to have started arguing at around 7.30pm at a bar on Valley Road last Sunday, during festivities linked to the village feast. Defence lawyer Mario Mifsud told... Читать дальше...

Around seven mature trees have been uprooted at the Msida Skate Park due to damage the irrigation water was having on the tunnels beneath, according to Infrastructure Malta. On Tuesday morning the non-indigenous arbutus, melia and grevillea trees, which used to provide the only shade in the area, could be seen heavily pruned and uprooted. An Infrastructure Malta (IM) spokesperson said when the Skate Park was developed years ago, the landscaping pits were not waterproofed or equipped with proper catchments. Читать дальше...

Guns once owned by Al Capone, one of the most notorious gangsters in United States history, are to go under the hammer at a California auction. The mobster’s favoured .45 automatic pistol is among the haul, which also includes vintage photos, a letter to his son written from Alcatraz and the bed he shared with his wife at their luxury Florida mansion. The 174 items on sale in October are a collection entitled A Century of Notoriety: the Estate of Al Capone, in what auctioneers say "will no doubt... Читать дальше...

Police officers are not being allowed to carry out traffic management duties for third parties - in a decision that sparked a trade dispute. The police union is claiming this decision is costing officers thousands of euros in overtime earnings.  A spokesman for the police explained that the decision was taken because the force had been dealing with an increased amount of requests for overtime duties, particularly as a result of the enforcement of COVID-19 regulations. So traffic management supplementary... Читать дальше...

A 65-year-old man died while positive to COVID-19 as 35 people tested positive for COVID-19 overnight, according to health ministry data released on Tuesday.  The number of new daily cases is the lowest since July 7, when 25 new cases were recorded. A further 40 people recovered, bringing the number of active cases to 681. The new cases were found from 3,440 swab tests. Of these, 37 are at Mater Dei Hospital, two of whom are receiving intensive care. Vaccinations So far, a total of 409,969 people... Читать дальше...

Data analysed from one of Keith Schembri’s phones has no relevance to the Daphne Caruana Galizia murder investigation, the police commissioner has informed the courts.   On Monday, alleged murder conspirator Yorgen Fenech filed an application through his lawyers to be given access to data recovered from Schembri’s mobile phone, saying it contained essential information to back up his claims of innocence.   In a reply filed on Tuesday afternoon, the office of the Attorney General quotes police... Читать дальше...