Новости за 31.08.2021

Tottenham striker Harry Kane insists his “conscience is clear” after his failed attempt to force a move to Manchester City. Kane returned late to pre-season training as he tried to convince Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy to let him join the Premier League champions. The England captain believed he had a gentleman’s agreement with Levy which allowed him to be sold once Tottenham failed to win a trophy and missed out on a Champions League place last season. Kane had grown increasingly frustrated... Читать дальше...

A demonstration against a widespread disinformation campaign was held outside the Office of the Prime Minister on Tuesday, in a show of solidarity with journalists and activists. Over the past few days, several websites, including those of TVM, Lovin Malta, Newsbook, Net News and Repubblika, were the target of copycat websites that carried fake stories. The spoofs appear to be sowing doubt in the prosecution against Daphne Caruana Galizia murder suspect Yorgen Fenech. Blogger Manuel Delia, NGO... Читать дальше...

Almost three years after Pilatus Bank was shut down, Malta's financial crime investigators have revealed the extent of the "serious and systemic" failures at the bank.  The FIAU report underpinning its record €4.9 million fine of Pilatus Bank lists nine pages of failings and paint a picture of a bank that was all too willing to ask no questions of the multi-million euro transactions that flowed through it.  A massive 97% of customer files that were reviewed by the FIAU had information that was not up to date. Читать дальше...

Around 1,000 people who use a type of breathing machine to help their sleep disorder are being contacted by the local agent following a global voluntary recall of the device. There are concerns that users could be inhaling cancer-causing chemicals through a type of foam embedded in the Philips Respironics machines. The foam is used to reduce the sounds and vibrations emitted by the devices used by people with sleep apnea – a disorder that can cause breathing to stop repeatedly during sleep. In the voluntary recall... Читать дальше...

Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar has appealed a planning permit greenlighting the widening of Marsalforn Road. The NGO said in a statement on Tuesday that since the fishing village has been destroyed by over-development, the road is the only untouched part of Marsalforn. The Planning Authority last month issued a permit for major road works linking Victoria to Marsalforn which will involve the destruction of ODZ land, the disturbance of a watercourse, as well as the uprooting of over three hundred trees, according to NGOs. Читать дальше...

Pilatus Bank has been fined a record €4.9 million for a “serious and systemic failure” to follow anti-money laundering laws at the now-shuttered bank.  In a notification on its website, the Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit (FIAU) on Tuesday said the bank’s lax approach to due diligence on its customers was of particular concern.  The FIAU said it had identified failures when it came to the bank’s obligations to ensure it keeps customer information, data and documentation up to date in 97% of the customer files it reviewed. Читать дальше...

Hunters and trappers will now be able to record their catch and 'punch in' their hours on a mobile app, or by calling a freephone number.  Gozo Minister Clint Camilleri launched the game reporting service on Tuesday. Licensed hunters and trappers are required by law to record their catch and log details such as the time and date of their hunting and trapping expeditions.  Camilleri told a press conference that even those who do not bag any catch need to log details of when they went out hunting and trapping. Читать дальше...

Low-cost carrier Norwegian Air Shuttle, which exited bankruptcy protection in May, reported on Tuesday an improvement in its first-half earnings as the beleaguered travel sector picks up speed amid rising vaccinations. In the first six months of the year, Norwegian posted a net profit of 1.6 billion kroner (€155 million) thanks to financial restructuring, compared to a loss of 5.4 billion kroner in the first half of 2020. The company’s gross operating income – excluding restructuring costs as... Читать дальше...

Floriana FC announced their second signing on transfer deadline day when they secured the services of Moldovan forward Eugeniu Rebenja. Rebenja, who also holds a Russian passport, has agreed personal terms with the Greens and put pen to paper on a one-year contract. The 26-year-old is the second forward to join the Greens on Wednesday as earlier they had struck a deal with Romanian striker Andrei Ciolacu. Rebenja started his career with Sheriff Tiraspol and then moved to FC Tiraspol and Dinamo-Auto. Читать дальше...

Parents will be allowed to homeschool their children as of this year, but they must have a "valid reason" why this is in the best interest of the child, along with a teaching warrant and licence.  The legalisation of homeschooling is part of a new Education Act that is set to come into force as of October 1.   Education Minister Justyne Caruana and Malta Further and Higher Education Authority head of legal Dennis Zammit presented the new act at a press conference on Tuesday. “The new act focuses on the best interest of our students... Читать дальше...

Mosta FC have completed the signing of Nigerian striker Sunday Akinbule, the Times of Malta can confirm. The Blues have been desperate to boost their forward line before the end of the transfer window and have set their sights on the 24-year-old forward. Akinbule has put pen to paper on a one-year contract and could make his debut against Ħamrun Spartans on September 12. During his career, Akinbule spent five years in Portuguese football where he was on the books of Farense, Sertanens and Felgueiras among others. Читать дальше...

A Transport Ministry extension of a public concession for ferry services around Valletta which was kept under wraps will have to be reviewed.  The extension of the services in the Grand Harbour and Marsamxett had only been made public through a parliamentary question in December of 2020, months after being granted.  The judgment ordering a revision of the extension was delivered on Tuesday after Supreme Travel Ltd filed an appeal against a decision by the Public Contracts Review Board rejecting... Читать дальше...

Russian IT giant Yandex said on Tuesday it had reached a $1 billion (€0.85bn) deal to buy out ride-hailing service Uber from several joint ventures, squeezing the US company out of ex-Soviet markets. Under the deal, Yandex will buy Uber’s stake in their shared food delivery operations and a business that develops self-driving vehicles, gaining 100 per cent ownership. Yandex will also increase to 71 per cent its stake in transport ventures with Uber – including taxi and car-sharing services – with... Читать дальше...

Sliema Wanderers have signed Dutch defender Julius Bliek, the Times of Malta can confirmed. The Wanderers have been looking to bolster their squad after a low-key start to the season and have targeted the 27-year-old. Personal terms have been agreed between the two parties and the players has put pen to paper on a one-year contract. Bliek spent the majority of his career in his homeland. He started his career with JVOZ youth before moving to DFC and VV Kloetinge before moving to Go Ahead Eagles in 2018. Читать дальше...

Porsche has announced new updates to its electric Taycan, giving a longer range and a host of new colour options. Applying to both the Taycan four-door and Cross Turismo estate model, Porsche promises a greater real-world electric range thanks to various tweaks. In ‘Normal’ and ‘Range’ driving modes, the front electric motor is almost entirely decoupled, while the electric motors essentially switch off when the car is coasting or at a standstill. These tweaks maximise the efficiency of the model... Читать дальше...

EU member states strove on Tuesday to find consensus on how to help Afghanistan's neighbouring countries take in refugees who are fleeing the Taliban, while preventing an influx of migrants comparable to that of 2015. "We need to avoid a humanitarian crisis, we need to avoid a migratory crisis, and we need to avoid security threats," the EU commissioner for home affairs, Ylva Johansson said ahead of a meeting of the EU's 27 interior ministers in Brussels. "But then we need to act now and not... Читать дальше...

Irish low-cost carrier Ryanair returned to profit in July thanks to a strong summer holiday season, but expects a “difficult” winter, boss Michael O’Leary told AFP on Tuesday. “We went back to profit in July, we’ll make a profit again in August because the recovery has been very strong in the peak summer period. But this winter will be difficult,” O’Leary said after holding a major press conference in London. The Dublin-based carrier is trying to restore its pre-pandemic traffic, but that can only be achieved by lowering prices, he added. Читать дальше...

Plans to reopen schools are already in place but haven't been announced because they are awaiting approval from health authorities, the Education Minister has said. Justyne Caruana's department has been criticised for failing to issue guidelines to parents and teachers less than a month before pupils are due to return to their desks.  But Caruana insisted that plans for a COVID-safe reopening have already been prepared and will be announced later this week, if they are given the go-ahead by health authorities. Читать дальше...

Russia's Hermitage Museum, the largest art collection in the world, announced Tuesday it will sell several masterpieces, including a work of Leonardo da Vinci, in the form of non-fungible tokens (NFT). The Saint Petersburg-based museum in partnership with the Binance NFT marketplace will run the auction starting Tuesday and until September 7, the Hermitage said in a statement.  An NFT is a digital object with a certificate of authenticity created by blockchain technology that underlies cryptocurrency. Читать дальше...

Malta's entertainment lobby is pushing for health authorities to publish COVID-19 guidelines for standing events, with just six days to go before they are allowed to resume next Monday.  The Malta Entertainment Industry and Arts Association (MEIA) said that while standing events resume in six days' time, "the guidelines have not yet been published". "We keep on repeating the same message that our industry needs sufficient planning time. We call on Saħħa [the Health Ministry] to publish them immediately," MEIA said in a post on Facebook. Читать дальше...

EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said Tuesday 70 percent of adults in the European Union were now fully vaccinated against Covid-19, hitting an end-of-summer target the bloc set for itself in January. "Today we reached an important milestone in our vaccination campaign. Seventy percent of adults in the EU are now fully vaccinated and that means 250 million people are fully immunised," Von der Leyen said in a video posted online. Von der Leyen heads the European Commission, which is responsible for... Читать дальше...

Hamrun Spartans have signed Ghana full back Isaac Ntow, the Times of Malta can confirm. The Ghana full back had fallen out of favour at Birkirkara and initially it was thought that he would join Mosta FC. However, the transfer fell through and Ħamrun Spartans entered the race to sign the player in the past few hours and a deal was agreed on Wednesday. Ntow joined the Spartans on a deal until the end of the season. Continue reading this article on SportsDesk, the sports website of the Times... Читать дальше...

A further 48 patients tested positive for COVID-19 overnight, with 31 of those currently infected getting treatment in hospital.  A 73-year-old man died while positive for the virus.  In their daily update, the health authorities said 25 people recovered, bringing the number of active cases up to 656. Of the 31 patients in hospital, only one is in the ITU.  Vaccinations So far, a total of 412,419 people have been fully vaccinated against the virus, meaning over 90 per cent of the population is inoculated. Читать дальше...

Demand for psychological services has "increased significantly", Richmond Foundation said on Tuesday, as a whopping 33.7 per cent of the population reported being concerned about their mental well-being.  In a statement, the mental health NGO said that through its national research programme it had found that in July, 33.7 per cent of the population reported being concerned about their own mental well-being. An even higher 40.5 per cent said they were concerned about the mental well-being of someone close to them. Читать дальше...

Malta's unemployment rate stood at 3.3 per cent in July, marking a drop of 0.1 percentage points over the previous month.  In the latest update on unemployment, the National Statistics Office (NSO) said that for the month under review, the unemployment rate for males was 3.8 per cent while that for females stood at 2.5 per cent The youth unemployment rate, which looks at the work situation of those aged between 15 and 24 was 10.6 per cent, up slightly by 0.6 percentage points. This was the highest rate since January. Читать дальше...