Новости за 22.11.2021

A Libyan journalist was kidnapped on Monday in the country's second city Benghazi, the government media authority said. Siraj Abdelhafid al-Mogassbi was seized from the offices of Al-Hayat newspaper where he works, it said in a statement. It said unknown assailants entered the Al-Hayat offices "threatening" employees and seized Mogassbi. They refused to show identification or an arrest warrant or to explain their action, the statement said, adding that Al-Hayat shares offices with the government media authority branch of Benghazi. Читать дальше...

Talexio, the employee-centric, all-inclusive HR platform for human resources, recruitment and payroll professionals, received the Best Cloud-Based Solution as a Service award (SaaS) at the 2021 TechMT eBusiness Awards. The eBusiness Awards is an awards ceremony organised by Tech.mt, promoting and rewarding Malta’s best tech companies and solutions. The team at Talexio are dedicated to improving organisational and individual employee well-being. This flexible and cloud-based solution gives organisations... Читать дальше...

Many MPs were not brave enough to admit they smoked weed in the past, minister Byron Camilleri told Parliament on Monday. Camilleri was addressing the second reading of the bill on the responsible use of cannabis when he referred to a Lovin Malta vox pop that last year asked MPs whether they had ever smoked weed in their life. Besides Camilleri, Rosianne Cutajar had also admitted to smoking weed when she was younger. Back then she was parliamentary secretary for reforms. "I had said that yes, I had smoked a joint sometimes. Читать дальше...

Virtu Ferries has announced a robust schedule and special fares for Easter and summer 2022. The company will be operating two vessels, M/V Saint John Paul II and M/V Jean de la Valette, on the Malta-Sicily route in Easter and summer 2022. The scheduled service will feature multiple departures at convenient times for family travel. During the Easter holiday period, from April 9 to 24, the passenger fare for a day return trip is €39, increasing to €49 for a return trip of more than one day. The... Читать дальше...

Part-time student nurses do not get paid for their practice placements carried out in different wards, unlike their peers on the full-time course, a situation they say is worsening the shortage situation. Times of Malta reported last week that an average of three nurses are quitting their jobs at Mater Dei Hospital every week. Now, a student has come forward saying the situation is being exacerbated by the “discriminatory” treatment of those following the part-time nursing course. According to the student ... Читать дальше...

Two bodies set up to advise the French government on its handling of the COVID-19 crisis have recommended making booster shots available to all vaccinated adults. France is currently only offering boosters to people over 65 or with chronic conditions that make them vulnerable to the virus, as well as health workers. From December 1, they will be expanded to people over 50. In a note made public on Monday, the Vaccine Strategy Orientation Council (COSV) headed by immunologist Alain Fischer recommended... Читать дальше...

The government opted for a "harm-reduction approach" through its proposed cannabis reform, aiming at regulating the sector and eradicating the black market, Robert Abela told parliament on Monday. The Prime Minister lambasted the Nationalist Party which has taken a stance against the cannabis legalisation bill, claiming it will normalise drug abuse in Malta. The bill was first unveiled in October after a public consultation earlier this year.  On Monday Abela said the PN's backtracking showed... Читать дальше...

FIMBank, an international trade finance specialist headquartered in Malta, and UAE-based Lenovo Financial Services META LLC (LFS), have concluded a landmark cooperation agreement which aims to provide a long-term strategic finance programme for LFS’s IT distributors across the Middle East. Significantly, the partnership strategically aligns both parties for the long term by combining the strength of the LFS distribution network and FIMBank’s lending expertise. This innovative partnership leverages... Читать дальше...

Italy’s Olympic 100m champion Lamont Marcell Jacobs has challenged Usain Bolt to a charity team sprinting contest after the retired Jamaican said he could have won the blue riband race in Tokyo. Bolt told AFP in an interview last week that it was frustrating to watch the delayed 2020 Games from his home in Jamaica as his male countrymen flopped and Jacobs, a relative unknown before the Olympics, claimed a shock victory. The 35-year-old Jamaican, the world record holder over 100m with a best of 9.58 seconds set back in 2009... Читать дальше...

Over €100,000 will be invested in a greening project atop a Pietà parish hall adjacent to the Madonna ta’ Fatima parish church. The Ambjent Malta project will include the installation of water tanks that can store some 15,000 litres of rainwater, an irrigation system and lighting fixtures.   A number of trees and shrubs will also be planted on the rooftop, Environment Minister Aaron Farrugia said on Monday. “These projects are giving back green open spaces to the community, serving as a place... Читать дальше...

SiGMA Europe, one of the major iGaming annual shows, returned this year with a highly awaited in-person event that brought operators, suppliers, affiliates, regulators, tech companies and other industry stakeholders together once again. CSB Group was an active participant throughout the past week and exhibited with its own stand at the expo that took place at the Malta Fairs and Convention Centre in Ta’ Qali. The SiGMA week kicked off last Monday with the Europe Gaming Awards gala night, which... Читать дальше...

Roberta Metsola faces a three-way battle within her own political grouping to become its candidate to be the European Parliament's next president. Submissions for European People's Party nominees closed on Monday at noon, with two other MEPs submitting their candidature alongside Metsola's - Austrian MEP Othmar Karas, 63, and Dutch MEP Esther de Lange, 46. EPP MEPs will be asked to choose one candidate between the three in a private meeting on Wednesday evening. That candidate will subsequently... Читать дальше...

"Harry Potter" author JK Rowling said Monday she had received a flood of death threats, as she slammed three transgender rights activists who posted her home address on Twitter. Rowling thanked police in Scotland for their support after the activists tweeted a photograph of them standing outside Rowling's home in Edinburgh, with the address visible, on Friday. Rowling said that she and other women who have spoken out on gender issues had faced "campaigns of intimidation", stalking and harassment, but vowed she would not be silenced. Читать дальше...

Valletta FC have lodged a protest against the result of their Premier League clash against Sliema Wanderers last Saturday. Sliema Wanderers beat Valletta 2-1 at the National Stadium for their first Premier League win of the season but the result is now in jeopardy following a complaint filed at the Malta FA offices by the Citizens. Valletta are contending that Sliema Wanderers player Warsama Hassan was ineligible to play in the match as he was supposed to be serving a quarantine period following... Читать дальше...

Malta’s economy is reliant on foreign trade. Its strategic location has meant that it has always been a trading post and a focal point of major trading systems. The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 saw the Mediterranean become the world’s highway for trade and the Maltese ports and merchants flourished. Sadly, the introduction of super-sized shipping meant that by the early to mid-20th century Malta’s ports were no longer essential stopovers and the economy went into a sharp decline. This, coupled with the changes in modern warfare... Читать дальше...

Young Malta international David Mellilo scored a goal to help his team Fordham University to an historic title in the United States. The Sirens ASC youngster was on the scoresheet as his team Fordham University beat Navy 9-6 to claim the 2021 MAWPC Championship for the first time and an automatic berth into the NCAA Championship. For Fordham University this will be the first time that they will be playing in the NCAA Championship. “Today was just incredibly rewarding for us,” said head coach Brian Bacharach. Читать дальше...

US President Joe Biden on Monday nominated Jerome Powell for a second term as Federal Reserve Chair, allowing him to continue his role overseeing the economy's recovery from COVID-19. If confirmed by the Senate, Powell will preside over the central bank's response to the damage done by last year's record downturn while fighting off inflation that has spiked in recent months, which put pressure on Biden's administration and the Fed's easy-money policies. The President had faced calls from progressive... Читать дальше...

Konrad Mizzi’s lawyer in libel proceedings against Daphne Caruana Galizia’s heirs informed the court on Monday that the parties were “exploring” the possibility of an out-of-court settlement. Earlier this month the court had asked whether there was any chance of the parties reaching a compromise. Lawyer Edward Gatt, taking up the brief after Mizzi’s previous legal team renounced theirs, had informed presiding magistrate Victor George Axiak at the previous hearing that he would consult his client on the way forward. Читать дальше...

Nestlé is reinforcing its commitment to reach out to and contribute to the community around it through a successful scheme launched last year, inviting Nestlé colleagues, customers and the public at large to donate and drop off clothing items at the Nestlé Consumer Centre in Lija. For the second consecutive year, Nestlé will double the public’s clothing contributions by donating one tonne of Nestlé food products to be distributed among people in need. Feeding and supporting individuals and families... Читать дальше...

As host of the recent COP26 climate summit, Britain’s drive to help slash global carbon emissions will involve keeping to its own target of phasing out diesel trains over the next two decades, industry bodies and observers say. According to the latest government data, about 29 per cent of the UK train fleet still runs on diesel and freight trains run almost entirely on it.  The government has unveiled plans to electrify an additional 180 miles (288 kilometres) of track in a new rail strategy.... Читать дальше...

The state hospital’s practice of providing a single brand of formula milk to newborns is being challenged after warnings it could drive up costs for parents in the long term. Baby milk advertising is banned in Malta to protect breastfeeding, giving whatever brand wins Mater Dei hospital’s procurement process sole access to thousands of trusting new parents. In October the health authority’s Central Procurement and Supplies Unit (CPSU) awarded the tender to Pemix, which imports Aptamil, and had submitted the lowest bid. Читать дальше...

Germans faced the stark warning on Monday that they would be either "vaccinated, cured or dead" from COVID by the end of winter, as Austria took the dramatic step of returning to a partial lockdown. Belgium and the Netherlands meanwhile condemned the clashes that rocked weekend protests against new anti-COVID measures, meant to contain a surge in infections sweeping parts of the continent.  Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte slammed three nights of unrest as "pure violence" by "idiots", while his... Читать дальше...

In 2017, GSD Marketing Ltd and Simonds Farsons Cisk plc were the first European soft drinks producers to endorse the UNESDA (Union of EU Soft Drinks Associations) pledge to reduce the sugar content in their portfolio by 10 per cent by 2020. They have now achieved this pledge for the local market, further underlining the sector’s collective determination to contribute to healthier and balanced diets in Malta. At a time of evolving consumer preferences and increasing public health expectations,... Читать дальше...

In the fifth episode of the ‘Ganado Meets Transport’ podcast, Daniel Aquilina, partner within the transport law practice at Ganado Advocates, meets Kristian Zarb Adami, a pioneer in Malta’s space sector. Kristian Zarb Adami identifies two space-related projects that were pioneered by Maltese individuals in recent times. Project Maleth is a scientific programme run in Malta by Joseph Borg of the Department of Biomedical Sciences at the University of Malta’s Faculty of Health Sciences. The purpose... Читать дальше...

The Goldberg Ensemble will be marking its return to live concerts with an evening dedicated to selections from comic operas by Gilbert and Sullivan.   Arthur Sullivan was considered the foremost British composer of the Victorian era, and the works he composed in collaboration with librettist William Schwenk Gilbert were crucial to the development of musical theatre.   The concert will include selections from HMS Pinafore, The Mikado, The Pirates of Penzance and The Gondoliers, performed by the... Читать дальше...