Новости за 21.11.2021

The 40th meeting of the year which was held Sunday afternoon at the Marsa Racetrack heralded the start of the Prix De Vincennes championship for French trotters registered in class Premier. These heats were held on a long distance of 2640m. Sunday’s card consisted of ten races, all for trotters, which were all heats from various championships for French trotters.   Continue reading this article on Sports Desk, the new sports website by Times of Malta

Hibernians sent a statement of intent of their title ambitions when they saw off a ten-man Ħamrun Spartans side at the National Stadium. A spectacular strike from Jake Grech was enough for the Paolites to claim three important points against the Malta champions that sent them five points clear at the top of the Premier League standings. It was an impressive performance from the Paolites who controlled the match right from the outset and once Grech’s thunderbolt put them ahead, they rarely let... Читать дальше...

Manchester United’s record goalscorer Wayne Rooney has said the club’s current players needed to take responsibility for the sacking of manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. The Norwegian’s three-year reign in charge at Old Trafford came to an end on Sunday, with Saturday’s 4-1 loss to Watford the final straw for the United board, who have put Michael Carrick in temporary charge while they seek to appoint an interim manager to the end of the season.   Continue reading this article on Sports Desk, the... Читать дальше...

A cyclist who crashed into a tree on the Rabat Road was being treated in hospital on Sunday evening. The 25-year-old Italian man lost control, fell off and crashed into the tree at Triq is-Saqqajja, the police said  He was seriously injured. The accident happened at about 5.30pm Magistrate Charmaine Galea is leading an inquiry. 

Fitch has confirmed Malta’s ‘A+’ long-term rating, with the credit rating agency also maintaining its stable outlook for the country. The US-based agency believes it will take until the second half of next year for Malta’s GDP to return to pre-pandemic levels. FATF greylisting has “not yet materially impacted the Maltese economy,” Fitch noted, though that could change if the country were to remain on the list for a prolonged period of time.  Fitch expects the country to rebound to growth and stabilise... Читать дальше...

A militant of the Palestinian Islamist Hamas movement opened fire Sunday in Jerusalem's Old City, killing one person and wounding three before he was shot dead, Israeli officials, police and medics said. Prime Minister Naftali Bennett ordered security to be boosted and called for people to be on "heightened alert" over the risk of further attacks. The four wounded, two police officers and two civilians, were rushed to Jerusalem's Hadassah hospital, where one of the civilian victims died.  "This... Читать дальше...

Frank Salt Real Estate’s events committee members are busy organising a series of entertaining events for their staff members. They recently held a Halloween-themed night at Chateau Buskett, where the company’s employees danced and sang the night away in the most creative Halloween costumes and make-up. A costume competition was also held with the winners for best male, best female, best creative costume and best team costume, walking away with prizes. Frank Salt Real Estate believes that such... Читать дальше...

A repeat offender was on Sunday charged with stealing from a car parked in Bulebel and with attempted theft from another car earlier this month.  Stefano Montebello, 36, from Buġibba, was also charged with threatening police officers during his arrest on Saturday/Sunday night when he was allegedly trying to steal items from a car parked in Birkirkara. He was further charged with relapsing and breaching the peace. Montebello, who works in construction, pleaded not guilty. Magistrate Charmaine Galea... Читать дальше...

In demystifying the calls for 21st-century skills, it is opportune that we understand that the said skills and competences are not new, just newly important. They have gained more prominence in these last decades due to the pace of change of the economy and the corresponding required workforce. It seems we have entered Industry 4.0, which began in 2011 as a strategic initiative of the German government. This fourth industrial revolution is driving towards decentralisation and networking and based on the World Wide Web... Читать дальше...

One of the defining aspects of a collection of landscapes titled The Colour of Time, by ADRIENNE CASSAR, is its timelessness. Joseph Agius talks to curator Roderick Camilleri about the exhibition at the Malta Chamber of Commerce in Valletta. Night Lights (freeport) JA: Ralph Waldo Emerson once said: “Nature always wears the colours of the spirit.” The title itself of Adrienne Cassar’s exhibition The Colour of Time indicates that colour is an underlying theme. Does colour contribute to the spiritual in art... Читать дальше...

SIRENS                     1 Gavrila 79 BALZAN                   6 Duric 7; Mijic 16 Paixao 33; Ljubomirac 38, 42 Kaljevic 88 SIRENS S. Mintoff-5; A. Blanco-5; K. Reid-5 (85 A. Nakov); A. Effiong-5 (67 W. Avoce); A. Borg-5; J. Walker-5 (85 I. Borg); C. Zammit Lonardelli-5; A. Cini-5; C. Riascos-5; D. Jackson-5 (67 B. Gavrila); V. Vieira-5. BALZAN J. Galea-6.5; A. Loof-6.5; M. Grima-7 (73 J. Grech); M. Duric-7 (60 P. Mota); A. Paixao-7 (60 N. Frendo); U. Ljubomirac-7.5 (73 B. Kaljevic); M. Zlatkovic-6.5;... Читать дальше...

The President’s solidarity fun made a return, albeit in different format, on Sunday after having been cancelled last year because of COVID-19.  Instead of a large gathering, which typically saw thousands of people running and walking along four routes converging on Valletta, smaller walks were held around 58 different localities in Malta and Gozo.  A spokesperson for the Office of the President said that despite the scaled-down nature of the event, there had been an “encouraging response” from the public, but somehow he did not give numbers.

Joseph Grima’s book of memoirs, Memories from the Front Line, provides exceptional insight into the development of the public service over a 50-year period, from 1956 to 2005, covering the most important events in Malta’s history. His career spanned from serving a colonial government to direct rule from the UK, to serving the government of independent Malta, as it moved from a constitutional monarchy to a Republic and eventually to membership of the European Union. As a true public servant, he... Читать дальше...

Frà Matthew Festing’s demise was a great blow for many. During the years 2008 to 2017 when he served as Grand Master of the Order of Malta, I had the pleasure and privilege of being close to him, especially in certain matters. I shall leave others to speak about his noble lineage, successes and titles. My view of Frà Matthew transcends all this. He was an honest gentleman who was loved by many and wronged by some, who meanwhile bowed their heads and smiled profusely to him. He knew this well but he suffered in silence. Читать дальше...

SANTA LUCIA   2            Conti 25; Alan 34 pen. BIRKIRKARA     0 SANTA LUCIA J. Archibald-6, A. Prates-6, J. Pisani-6.5, N. Pulis-6, G. Conti-6.5 (87 A. Vella), P. Silva-6, V. Plut-6 (71 F. Farias), Alan-6.5 (66 J. Tanti), V. Filho, J. Zerafa-6 (66 K. Xuereb), D. Xuereb-6.5. BIRKIRKARA D. Fernandes-5.5, E. Pepe, Y. Yankam-5 (46 K. Bevis), L. Montebello-5.5, P. Mbong-5 (46 C. Bonanni), F. Falcone-5 (46 R. Scicluna), C. Attard-6.5, O. Carniello-5.5 (90 J. Valletta), L. Aguirre-5.5, J. Macedo-6 (79 N. Читать дальше...

Watching people urge a man to jump to his death was terribly disturbing for three people who have been in a similar situation, also because it brought back memories of their own plans to end their lives. On Friday, a Times of Malta video showed a man sitting at the edge of the bastion wall at Hastings Garden and onlookers taunting him and jeering him. Some even encouraged him to jump. Police negotiators were finally able to persuade him to step down to safety. The police have launched an investigation... Читать дальше...

The most recent publication by Mark A. Sammut-Sassi, Flying at the Fall of Dusk – Commentaries on Malta in the Muscat years,  immediately caught my interest for the reason that the title so tastefully chosen by the author is evidently taken from Hegel’s “the owl of Minerva spreads its wings only with the falling of the dusk”. Hegel’s point here is that it is only at the end of human history that human beings can come to understand history’s developmental logic. Sammut-Sassi expounds his philosophical thesis straight from the title. Читать дальше...

The number of new COVID-19 cases soared to 122 on Sunday, but the number of virus patients in hospital remains steady at 12, including two in intensive care. 41 patients were declared recovered but the number of active cases is now 847. The medical authorities have repeatedly said in recent weeks that the imposition or lifting of COVID-19 measures now depends on the number of hospitalisations, not the number of new cases. They have called on people to take the booster vaccine when invited to do so. Читать дальше...

The fifth album by Maltese saxophonist Carlo Muscat entitled Diversity is a homage to the music of Black-American artists and the lasting and profound impacts their contributions to the genre have made. Recorded in Paris in 2020 with a selection of some of the city’s most prominent jazz musicians, the album covers a variety of works by Wayne Shorter, Horace Silver and Joe Henderson, among others. Saxophonist Carlo Muscat has built an impressive and respected career on the island, both as a performer... Читать дальше...

Updated 11.18am Manchester United ended Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's three-year reign as manager at Old Trafford on Sunday following a run of one win in seven Premier League games. "Manchester United announces that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has left his role as Manager," the club said in a statement. "Ole will always be a legend at Manchester United and it is with regret that we have reached this difficult decision," the club said.   The decision followed a humiliating 4-1 defeat at Watford on Saturday.... Читать дальше...

Swanky Boutique, a leading children’s concept stores, has just opened a physical store in Victory Street, Qormi.  The boutique provides a wide range of sustainably beautiful baby and kids’ products for newborns up to seven-year-old children.  Lara Cuschieri, managing director at Swanky Boutique, said: “We are different to the toy stores found locally, the majority of our products are made from sustainable materials while the plastic items we have are made from bio-plastic. All our beautiful products... Читать дальше...

We may view soil as something which is a dirty, solid, brown mess. However, in reality, the soil is not exactly solid. In fact, it is half empty, making it different from a rock. The ‘empty’ space however is not actually void, but includes an array of worms, plant roots, as well as water and air. Oxygen and water are crucial ingredients for organisms to survive. When describing soil, we usually imagine it to be brown, however, there are plenty of colourful layers. The majority of the hues that make up the colours of soil include red... Читать дальше...

Soil water content (SWC) has a significant impact on several biophysical processes. It influences the germination of seeds, plant growth and nutrition, microbial decomposition of the soil organic matter and nutrient transformations in the root zone. Besides affecting heat and water transfer at the land-atmosphere interface, SWC also affects water infiltration, redistribution, pollutants, and transport of chemicals in plants. This is why reliable quantification of SWC is necessary for different applications... Читать дальше...

A priest who described a woman as “Hitler, a satanist, a murderer, a butcher and a criminal” over her pro-choice views has issued an apology. Fr Andrew Borg had uploaded the strongly-worded comment and subsequently deleted it. In his apology he said it was an impulsive comment certainly not directed to the person. Fr Borg dropped his comment after Curia intervention and also shut down his Facebook page – but only after posting further comments condemning abortion as well as politicians and journalists... Читать дальше...

It is a well-known fact that COVID-19 has affected commercial property values all over the world, including Malta. Many companies leasing Class 4A offices during COVID-19 started introducing flexible work, whereby employees could also work from home. This in turn resulted in owners requiring fewer square metres to house their staff, resulting in a larger supply of office spaces on the market.  In Malta, highly sought-after areas which offered high spec office space, such as Tigné in Sliema, Balluta Bay... Читать дальше...