Новости за 24.11.2021

The Paola square will be rebuilt three years since its inauguration in 2018, PN MP Jason Azzopardi told Parliament on Wednesday. “It is scandalous, and I couldn’t even believe it myself when I first heard that the square will be rebuilt all over again,” Azzopardi said. He said that all the porfido paving will be replaced. First announced back in 2015, the Pjazza Antoine de Paul's regeneration cost €3 million and was inaugurated by former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat in 2018.  “Till this day, the... Читать дальше...

Bayern Munich confirmed Wednesday that star midfielder Joshua Kimmich and back-up striker Eric Choupo-Moting – both of whom are unvaccinated—have tested positive for Covid-19. “Joshua Kimmich is isolating at home after testing positive. The FC Bayern midfielder is doing well,” the club said in a statement. German international Kimmich, Cameroon’s Choupo-Moting as well as Jamal Musiala and Serge Gnabry were all already in quarantine as contact cases. Bayern had arrived back in Munich after Tuesday’s... Читать дальше...

The staff at Elmo Insurance took up their whisks this Movember, to hold a charity bake sale at their offices, as a way to give back to the community. They brought in a number of cakes and homemade baked goods to contribute towards their chosen charities: the Smiling with Jerome Foundation and Europa Donna Malta.  Smiling with Jerome is a charity that works to offer support, assistance and compassion for those who are passing through a difficult time, particularly those dealing with a cancer diagnosis and other ailments. Читать дальше...

Updated 8pm PN MEP Roberta Metsola has been chosen as the EPP's candidate for the European Parliament's presidential election on January 17. Two other MEPs - Austrian Othmar Karas and Dutch Esther de Lange - had submitted their candidature alongside Metsola's.  European People's Party MEPs chose Metsola in a private meeting on Wednesday evening.  She received 112 votes (64.4%), de Lange 44 votes and Karas 18 votes. A total of 174 MEPs, out of 178 eligible to vote, cast their vote. Metsola and Weber addressed the media soon after the vote. Читать дальше...

Aleksandr Sobolev’s first-half double helped Spartak Moscow to a 2-1 home victory over Serie A leaders Napoli on Wednesday which moved the Russians top of their Europa League group. All four teams can still progress from Group C and the winner of Leicester’s game against Legia Warsaw at the King Power Stadium on Thursday would replace Spartak at the summit. After a fast start to the season, Napoli are now winless in three games in all competitions after taking just one point from their last two Serie A matches. Читать дальше...

COVID vaccines reduce transmission of the dominant Delta variant by about 40 per cent, the WHO said on Wednesday, warning that people were falling into a false sense of security concerning jabs. The World Health Organization's director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said many vaccinated people were wrongly thinking the jab meant they no longer needed to take any other precautions. Fully-immunised people must stick with measures to avoid catching the virus and passing it on, Tedros insisted... Читать дальше...

Artificial Intelligence will be helping ambulances identify the quickest routes to save lives, Health Minister Chris Fearne said on Wednesday. Addressing a press conference on Wednesday, Fearne said the technology would be used in a newly inaugurated control centre at Mater Dei Hospital.   The centre will receive 112 emergency calls, 70 per cent of which, he said, require an ambulance.   Authorities receive around 115 requests for emergency assistance every day, with around 40,000 calls to the 112 hotline annually. Читать дальше...

Former Electrogas director Paul Apap Bologna on Wednesday denied bribing anybody in connection with the power station contract. Asked by Labour whip Glenn Beddingfield whether he had ever bribed anyone in connection with the project, Apap Bologna said: “I have never paid anybody anything in my life in connection with this project.” He was testifying before the Public Accounts Committee which is investigating a 2018 National Audit Office (NAO) report into the Electrogas deal. The report had flagged... Читать дальше...

Former minister Konrad Mizzi has been discharged from hospital and will continue his recovery from home.   Writing on Facebook, the controversial politician thanked the staff at Mater Dei Hospital, the public for “messages of encouragement”, and “most of all God”.  Mizzi was admitted to hospital on November 16 with a fever and peritonitis, the swelling of the tissue that lines the abdomen. It is understood that, on admission, his condition was deemed potentially life threatening by medical staff. Читать дальше...

Two youths, who appear to have spent the past months sleeping rough in various central localities, were handed a suspended sentence after admitting to theft charges on Wednesday afternoon.  Dutch-born Mitchel Ricardo Antonius Virginia, 27, and Rishil Rishikesh, a 25-year old Indian national, were escorted to court under arrest as the suspects behind two separate thefts, the latest one allegedly committed just hours before. The duo was charged with stealing various goods from a Birkirkara supermarket on November 5. Читать дальше...

Speaker Anġlu Farrugia and journalist/activist Matthew Caruana Galizia traded blows on Wednesday, sending stern letters to each another over the handling of MP Rosianne Cutajar's ethics breach.  In a strongly worded letter sent on Sunday, Caruana Galizia called on the Speaker to resign with Farrugia’s lawyer replying on Wednesday that the activist seemed to not understand parliamentary procedure or the laws of Malta.  The dispute is over an official reprimand the peaker gave to Labour MP Rosianne... Читать дальше...

A 71-year-old man who allegedly penned anonymous threatening letters to a number of public figures, also roping in their close family members, was denied bail upon arraignment on Wednesday afternoon.  Joseph Mary Borg from Valletta was escorted to court under arrest after being allegedly identified as the sender of the threatening mail, some dating as far back as 2016. He pleaded not guilty to no less than 26 charges concerning insults and threats in respect of Repubblika president Robert Aquilina... Читать дальше...

A reform of the controversial prisons system will be unveiled in the coming weeks, Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri announced on Wednesday.   Answering reporters' questions, Camilleri said an inquiry into prison operations is expected to be finalised in the next two weeks.  Camilleri said that once he is handed a copy of the inquiry, he will make it public, along with a set of reforms his Ministry has drawn up to address the situation at Corradino Correctional Facility.   “We will announce... Читать дальше...

All those aged 50 and over will have received a booster shot of the COVID-19 vaccine by the end of the year, Health Minister Chris Fearne said on Wednesday.   Addressing a press conference at Mater Dei Hospital, Fearne said the vaccine booster program is around three weeks ahead of schedule.  Earlier on Wednesday, Superintendent of Public Health Charmaine Gauci told  Times of Malta that the authorities were looking to accelerate the booster shot roll-out.   Giving an overview of the situation... Читать дальше...

The Nadur primary school is scheduled to close down for refurbishment in the coming months, and parents are expressing growing concern over the impact this will have on their children's education.  The Education Ministry is planning on relocating all Kinder One to Year Three students to the Xagħra Primary School, while students in Year Four to Year Six classrooms will be transferred to the Għajnsielem Primary School. The Għajnsielem school is scheduled to see an additional 90 students while the... Читать дальше...

Shaun Murphy said “amateurs should not be allowed in professional tournaments” following his shock 6-5 defeat by China’s Si Jiahui in the first round of snooker’s UK Championship.  Murphy, runner-up in this year’s World Championship, fought back from 5-1 down only for 19-year-old amateur Si to win the deciding frame. Murphy, who won the UK – snooker’s second-most important title in 2008 – was decidedly unimpressed, with the 39-year-old telling BBC Radio Five: “I am going to sound like a grumpy... Читать дальше...

Foodbank Lifeline Foundation is calling on the public to be generous and participate in the Reverse Advent Calendar 2021 initiative.  Like an advent calendar, where a person enjoys a treat every day during the run-up to Christmas, people participating in the Reverse Advent Calendar instead donate one non-perishable food item every day from December 1-24, to create a food pack that will help the Foodbank Lifeline Foundation feed people in need. As the demand increases, Foodbank Lifeline Foundation manager... Читать дальше...

Three loggerhead turtles were released last Friday at Golden Bay after undergoing months of rehabilitation and making a full recovery, thanks to Nature Trust - FEE Malta with the support of the Environment and Resource Authority (ERA). The executive president of Nature Trust, Vincent Attard explained how Benjamin was rescued in December 2020 with multiple cuts caused due to entanglement in marine debris. He was found in such a bad state that vet Anthony Gruppetta had no choice but to amputate one the front flippers. Читать дальше...

 Maltese Olympic Committee (MOC) president Julian Pace Bonello has been co-opted as a member on the International Committee of Mediterranean Games (ICMG). This appointment was announced earlier on this week during the ICMG Executive Committee, which took place in Athens. The appointment will be for a period of four years until 2025. The nomination followed the initiative of ICMG president, Davide Tizzano, who with the unanimous agreement of the Executive Committee proposed the appointment, in... Читать дальше...

2021 has so far been another very good year for the US stock market indices, the S&P500 increasing in value by 26.75 per cent during 2021 so far, while the Nasdaq Composite has increased by 24.23 per cent year-to-date (YTD). For clarity, the S&P500 index tracks 500 large-cap companies listed on stock exchanges in the United States while the Nasdaq Composite tracks the price performance of over 2,500 companies listed on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, the second-biggest stock exchange by market capitalisation. Читать дальше...

MELITA                           0 NAXXAR LIONS             2 Naxxar Lions have been the team to watch in this season’s Challenge League, and the only team across both groups to have won each of their seven games played so far. They celebrated their seventh win last weekend when they beat newcomers Melita 2-0 at the Victor Tedesco Stadium. Following the match, Naxxar coach George Vella spoke to the Times of Malta about how this rise came about, considering the fact that the side was coming from an average season last year. Читать дальше...

86 new COVID-19 cases were reported on Wednesday but hospitalisations remained steady at 17. 39 people recovered in the past 4 hours, leaving 954 active cases. The number of booster shots had exceeded the 100,000 mark to reach 102,334. Charmaine Gauci, superintendent of public health, told Times of Malta in the Ask Charmaine programme on Wednesday that the daily moving average of infections is 78. She stressed that the situation at the hospital is stable. Of the two virus patients in intensive care... Читать дальше...

PN election candidate Emma Portelli Bonnici has forgiven a priest who publicly called her “Hitler, a satanist, a murderer, a butcher and a criminal” over her pro-choice views, and has withdrawn s complaint filed with police.  The withdrawal came after the priest, Fr Andrew Borg, apologised on Facebook. “Upon reading Fr Andrew Borg's apology, I have decided to retract the complaint I made in light of his egregious comments in my regard,” Portelli Bonnici wrote in another Facebook post. “Through Fr Andrew's apology... Читать дальше...

Former Birkirkara striker Fabrizio Miccoli was on Wednesday sentenced to three years and six months in prison after his appeal for extortion was rejected by the Supreme Court. Miccoli, dubbed Il Romario del Salento, was found guilty for aggravated extortion from the mafia method which saw him commission to Mauro Lauricella, son of the Mafia boss of Antonino Lauricella, the recovery of €12,000 from Andrea Graffagnini, former owner of the Paparazzi disco in Isola delle Femmine. SkyItalia reported... Читать дальше...

Updated 12.45pm The health authorities are carefully monitoring the situation of waning COVID-19 vaccinations and looking to boosting the booster roll-out, the superintendent of public health, Charmaine Gauci, told the Ask Charmaine programme on Times of Malta on Wednesday. An announcement is expected in the coming hours. The booster is currently being administered to health workers and teachers. It has already been administered to elderly people and, according to the current timetable, will be offered to those in their sixties next month. Читать дальше...