Новости за 10.11.2021

UK Brexit minister David Frost on Wednesday called for cool heads in Europe as talk of a trade war increased amid an ongoing row over post-Brexit trading arrangements in Northern Ireland. Frost is set to meet European Commission vice-president Maros Sefcovic on Friday, with the UK widely expected to trigger a suspension clause in the so-called Northern Ireland protocol. The EU has warned of "serious consequences" if it does, prompting speculation the separate Brexit trade and cooperation deal could be pulled, and tariffs imposed. Читать дальше...

Malta international midfielder Teddy Teuma is relishing the opportunity of playing international football at this stage of his career. Teuma, age 28, has already collected 17 caps since becoming eligible to represent Malta. He made his debut on September 3, 2020, in the 3-2 defeat against Faroe Islands in the latest edition of the Nations League. In Torshavn, Teuma had played just 11 minutes but since then he has become one of the regular starters for Mangia. His performances drew the plaudits of the general public... Читать дальше...

A man and a woman were saved from the rough seas at Qui-si-Sana on Wednesday in a rescue operation that involved a resident and the police. Witnesses told Times of Malta the two were dragged out to the sea at around 7pm. Southeast winds have been whipping up strong waves around the east coast since the afternoon.  Sliema resident Sean Meli, who saw the incident, immediately jumped in and managed to save one of victims with the help of the police who held ropes from the former Chalet site. "Had Meli not jumped in... Читать дальше...

The government will be reducing the excise duty on fuel to avoid an increase in petrol and diesel prices, Finance Minister Clyde Caruana announced in Parliament on Wednesday.  Caruana said that, through a legal notice, the government will be reducing fuel tax following a sharp rise in the international price of oil. The legal notice will be published on Thursday.  The excise duty on unleaded petrol has been slashed from €489.38 to €359 per 1,000 litres, while the tax on diesel has been dropped... Читать дальше...

The Malta Women's Lobby on Wednesday urged political leaders to adopt a more sensitive approach on the issue of abortion.  In a statement, the lobby, whose members had diverse opinions on the issue, asked the leaders to "steer away from the polarised binary positions” saying these benefit no one.  Instead, political parties should allow civil society to debate this important subject while respecting all opinions, rather than taking one side or the other.  PN leader Bernard Grech said in a radio... Читать дальше...

Online bingo has never been so big, with gamers everywhere rushing to get in on the fun.  However, the boom in sites means gamers need to be seriously careful and steer clear of untrustworthy options. Players need to consider things such as licensing and the quality of games on offer before they sign up to a site because these are all classic markers of a safe place to play. In this article, we will consider how to find secure online bingo websites. No matter if it is through researching their... Читать дальше...

Newcastle’s new manager Eddie Howe said Wednesday he can cope with soaring expectations at the Premier League club after their Saudi-led takeover as he braces for a tough relegation battle. Howe has replaced Steve Bruce at St James’s Park after his predecessor departed by mutual consent in October, 13 days after the ownership changed hands. The 43-year-old former Bournemouth boss was appointed on Monday and took his first training session 24 hours later. Continue reading this article on Sports Desk. Читать дальше...

The European Union will hit the Belarusian regime with sanctions next week for sending thousands of migrants to the bloc's border, EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said Wednesday. EU member state Poland has lashed out at Minsk for "state terrorism" as fears grow for more than 2,000 migrants trapped in freezing weather on its border with Belarus. Brussels accuses the Belarusian authorities of "human trafficking" by luring in thousands of migrants and sending them to try to cross into the EU. It is... Читать дальше...

An 82-year-old has been left gutted after a change in COVID-19 rules forced him to cancel a trip to Egypt that would have made his lifelong dream of visiting the Nile and the pyramids come true. Joseph Peel said on Tuesday it was a shock to find out he would not be able to go on his trip, especially since Egypt was moved onto the so-called ‘dark red’ list just two days after he had finalised his booking. Travel from countries on the dark red list is banned because of the large amount of coronavirus... Читать дальше...

The first stage of European qualifying for next year’s World Cup concludes over the next week with Portugal, Spain, Italy and the Netherlands among the nations facing crucial games in the quest to make it to Qatar. The 10 group winners will secure qualification for football’s global showpiece which kicks off on November 21, 2022. The 10 runners-up will get another chance to qualify in play-offs next March.   Continue reading this article on Sports Desk, the new sports website by Times of Malta

A total of 14 prisoners died while serving time at Corradino Correctional Facility over the past three years, while the Correctional Services Agency was being run by Alex Dalli. On Wednesday, the under-fire director suspended himself after an Indian national in his thirties died by suicide.  Last month, a board of inquiry tasked with probing internal procedures at the prison was given a two-month extension to its term. According to law, magisterial inquiries are mandatory over deaths that occur in prison or in places of confinement. Читать дальше...

Spain on Wednesday restored state-funded fertility treatment to singles, bisexual women and lesbians, also extending it to transgender persons capable of conceiving who can access IVF on the national health system. The measure had long been demanded by LGBT rights groups and is part of the Socialist-led government's drive for equality. Fertility treatment is free in Spain, but in 2014, the conservative Popular Party government that was in power at the time, limited it to heterosexual women who have a partner... Читать дальше...

A Valletta fish restaurant at the centre of money laundering proceedings against Darren Debono’s stepdaughter is still registered on public records in the name of the official lessee. The site of the old Valletta police station was originally leased out to Anthony McKay under a tender to convert the premises into a bar and restaurant. That restaurant, originally named Al Mare, was years later handed down by Anthony McKay to his son Marvin upon retirement and a new lease agreement was drawn up with the Lands Authority, a court was told. Читать дальше...

Teeth and bones of elephants and hippos that roamed Malta in the ice age will be included in Heritage Malta's national collection after they were saved from auction. The 21 fossils and bones had been intended for auction but were requisitioned and retrieved following a police investigation, Heritage Malta said on Wednesday.  Some of the items in the collection have been traced to Ta’ Żuta in the limits of Dingli and the Għar Dalam cave in Birzebugga, where bones from ice age animals have previously been discovered. Читать дальше...

Next time you are walking in a forest, woodland or just open countryside on undisturbed fertile ground, consider that there is more activity and biodiversity below the ground than what you can see above it. Among the vibrant range of lifeforms is a mostly microscopic network of fungi. Fungi are a distinct kingdom from plants; the term plants includes trees. The mushrooms we see sprouting out of the ground are, in fact, the fruit of the fungi. Below the ground, the fungal organism lives in the... Читать дальше...

The Malta Union of Teachers (MUT) has dropped directives that stopped peripatetic teachers from taking up posts in primary schools aimed at addressing shortages brought about by the pandemic-related restrictions.  In comments to Times of Malta, union boss Marco Bonnici confirmed that the teachers returned to the primary classes on Monday after the government reviewed its transfer process.  Days before the start of the scholastic year, the authorities ordered peripatetic and support teachers, who usually focus on subjects such as art or PE... Читать дальше...

Malta women international players Martina Borg and Nicole Sciberras crossed swords as their respective clubs Roma Calcio Femminile and Tavagnacco fired blanks in the Serie B Femminile, on Wednesday afternoon. Borg’s Roma CF were at the back of a 3-1 upset against Serie B leaders Pink Bari and was deployed from the start as a midfielder for the Tavagnacco game. Sciberras, on her part, returned to the starting formation as a fullback with Tavagnacco looking to add to last Sunday’s victory over Brescia. Читать дальше...

Croatia police Wednesday arrested a former minister and three other people suspected of fraud related to the allocation of EU funds, the European Union's prosecutors and local media said. The four were arrested for suspected fraud over "public procurement procedures for purchasing an information system", the European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO) said in a statement. The alleged offences were committed at the ministry of regional development and EU funds, as well as at the Central Finance... Читать дальше...

A huge Christmas Tree made up of glass bottles will be set up at the main square in for the second consecutive year. Volunteers have already started mounting the steel structure of the tree. Għajnsielem Local Council is asking all those who could help by collecting glass bottles and leave them by the side of the parish church near the Radio Lauretana studios. The glass containers (the size of wine bottles) must be blue, yellow and brown in colour, while beer bottles must be green and brown. This time... Читать дальше...

Police have arrested a man they say posed as a charity fundraiser or lottery agent to rob from the homes of the elderly, including a 95-year-old. They believe he was behind at least six thefts in Mosta, Mġarr, Birkirkara and Mellieħa in the past months and have asked for any other victims to come forward. Police said investigations established that he would knock on the doors of elderly people living alone and tell them he was collecting funds for the missions or selling lottery tickets. Once the person went inside to give him money... Читать дальше...

After a full year of drier-than-average months, October was unusually wet, windy and stormy, the Met Office's monthly report has said.  Three times the expected amount of rain fell on the Maltese islands, with 246.2mm recorded. It was the wettest October since records began, after October 1951 (476.5mm) and October 1957 (254.2mm). On the wettest day of the month – October 25 – 51.6mm of rainfall was measured. More than half of the month’s total rainfall descended during the last week of October... Читать дальше...

Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven on Wednesday tendered his resignation, a widely expected move paving the way for his designated successor Magdalena Andersson ahead of next year's general election. Television cameras filmed Lofven handing his resignation letter to the speaker of parliament, Andreas Norlen. Lofven, who has been in power for seven years, stepped down as leader of the Social Democrats at the party's congress last week. Andersson, who is currently finance minister, was elected to replace Lofven as party leader... Читать дальше...

France striker Karim Benzema “will not be excluded” from selection for the national team if a guilty verdict is delivered against him in an ongoing sex tape trial, according to French football federation president Noel Le Graet. In an interview published by French daily newspaper Le Parisien, Le Graet said any decision on who is selected for national duty would remain the decision of coach Didier Deschamps. Benzema was excluded from the France squad for five years until being recalled last May... Читать дальше...

Tourist arrivals in September were three times higher than in September last year but well below the figures for 2019, before COVID-19 struck, official figures issued on Wednesday show. 159,304 tourists came to Malta in September this year, compared to 50,359 in September last year and 287,461 in 2019. The National Statistics Office said most visitors came to Malta on holiday and 6,307 were on business. The largest share of inbound tourists were aged between 25-44 (44.2 per cent), closely followed... Читать дальше...

Ira Losco will return to the Manoel Island stage will a concert titled The Person I Am featuring her original repertoire spanning two decades. She will be accompanied by a string quartet as well as her dynamic band performing songs from all her albums and releases to date. More than 65 per cent of the tickets were sold in the first 24 hours of the launch of the tickets for both the December 12 and 13 concerts. Ira Losco has been one of the most active music artistes in Malta. With 11 publications... Читать дальше...