Новости за 08.12.2021

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Wednesday announced the tightening of virus restrictions in England as Omicron variant cases surge, including guidance to work from home and mandatory vaccine passports. Johnson said at a briefing that as the rate of Omicron cases was doubling every two to three days, it was "the proportionate and the responsible thing to move to Plan B in England". As part of a raft of measure, the government is reintroducing advice to work at home in England from Monday, the prime minister said. Читать дальше...

Former Lyon and Brazil star Juninho confirmed Wednesday he will leave his role as the French club’s sporting director in January. The 46-year-old announced last month he would quit the post at the end of the season, but he said was bringing his exit forward to give the club time to find his replacement.  Continue reading this article on Sports Desk.

Malta’s Parliament is one of 180 Parliament buildings around the Commonwealth featured in a book published to mark the conclusion of the 110th anniversary of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association. The commemorative book includes information about each Parliament, as well as over 350 photographs of their buildings and chambers.  It also features a special message from the CPA’s patron, Queen Elizabeth II, who is the head of the Commonwealth. The Queen has visited most of the buildings during her reign. Читать дальше...

A number of non-governmental organisations are calling for the protection of stateless people in Malta including through the establishment of statelessness into law. A briefing note prepared by the Aditus Foundation, with the support of the European Network on Statelessness, calls for the possibility of granting a “stateless refugee” status and for the identification and added protection of vulnerable applicants. The note is aimed at urging Malta to follow through with its international commitment to protect stateless people. Читать дальше...

The French minister in charge of small and medium-sized companies resigned on Wednesday after being convicted for failing to declare all of his assets. Alain Griset was handed a six-month suspended prison term and a suspended ban on holding public office for three years by a court in Paris on Wednesday, which found he had deliberately hidden his financial holdings when entering the government in July 2020. All ministers are required to declare their wealth to a regulator in charge of public transparency... Читать дальше...

The Nationalist Party will offer the government a “strong challenge” in the next general election, opposition leader Bernard Grech said on Wednesday. Speaking during a fundraising marathon on NET TV, Grech said he is convinced people will support the party in its effort to make Malta a better country. “There are challenges, but our intentions are good. Will give offer a strong challenge, if people want will choose us as a fitting alternative”, Grech said about the party’s election prospects. A... Читать дальше...

Children should be given the coronavirus vaccine not just to protect them but also to increase population immunity and help prevent the spread and mutation of the virus, a leading paediatrician has said. “Although COVID, in the main, does not affect children as badly as the elderly, there have been some children who have been quite sick with COVID,” consultant paediatrician Simon Attard Montalto, who heads the Department of Paediatrics within the University of Malta, explained. “Also, we have no guarantee that future variants may... Читать дальше...

Francesca Clark, together with one of her coaches in the National Badminton Academy, Patrick Cassar travelled to Portugal last week to be part of the U17 Portugal Open. Good results came to Clark’s way when she managed to reach the semi-final stage together with her Portuguese partner Jessica Almeida and only bowing down to the first seeds. In their first doubles match, Clark and Almeida won very confidently against Portuguese pair Mafalda Avellino and Anastasia Iurkova 21-6, 21-6. Following the first win... Читать дальше...

An adviser to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson resigned Wednesday after footage of her joking about a Christmas party at Downing Street during lockdown last year aired on national television. Allegra Stratton, formerly Johnson's press secretary and spokeswoman for the COP26 summit, tearfully said she would "regret those remarks for rest of my days" after the prime minister apologised and announced an internal probe over the video. The leaked footage appears to contradict more than a week of... Читать дальше...

Croatia coach Zlatko Dalic has signed a new contract taking him up to 2024 the Croatian Football Federation (HNS) said Wednesday. The 55-year-old has enjoyed an impressive spell with the national side since taking over in 2017. He has guided Croatia to the 2018 World Cup final — where they lost to  France — to the last 16 of Euro 2020 and to next year’s World Cup finals. Continue reading this article on Sports Desk.

A 66-year-old woman is fighting for her life after falling one storey down a shaft. The police said the accident happened in Triq ir-Ramla, Nadur, at around 11.15am. A medical team assisted the woman on site before transferring her to Gozo General Hospital by ambulance. An inquiry is being held. The police are investigating.

Matthew Caruana Galizia has hit out at plans for the EU to fund a gas pipeline he says will financially reward the person prosecuted for his mother’s assassination. His investigative journalist mother, Daphne, was assassinated by a car bomb in October 2017. Addressing a press conference, Caruana Galizia said EU funding for the project goes against the principles of morality and justice. “It is unacceptable for this pipeline project to go ahead, it will reward people accused of murder and carrying out high-level corruption”... Читать дальше...

Nestlé shares hit a record high in Zurich on Wednesday after the Swiss food giant said it would raise about €8.9 billion by selling part of its stake in L’Oreal. Shares in the owner of Nespresso coffee pods and Maggi broths rose as much as 1.97 per cent to 124.34 Swiss francs in morning trade following the announcement, which came after markets closed on Tuesday. Nestlé said it would reduce its stake in the French cosmetics giant to 20.1 per cent from 23.3 per cent, and increase share buybacks with the proceeds. Читать дальше...

A recently published book Charles A. Herbert – a photographic tribute is a fitting tribute to British photographer Charles A. Herbert. Herbert was instrumental in teaching and helping fledgling Maltese photographers to improve their photography and take it to a professional level. Born in Cospicua of an English father and Maltese mother, Herbert helped to establish the Malta Photographic Society (MPS). He also advised and thought the tricks of the artform to local photographers. Maltese photography held a special place in his heart and... Читать дальше...

More than 12 tons of pet food was delivered to animal sanctuaries by volunteers this week in the lead up to Christmas.  In a statement, local foundation Happy Initiative said it had spent the day driving around Malta and Gozo to ensure animals do not go hungry. They were joined by several volunteers, many of whom are friends of the team. The foundation supports local NGOs that run short of funds or resources due to the pandemic.   The feeding drive was organised together with the Real Animal Rights Foundation. Читать дальше...

Two Maltese roads have been marked as ‘bad practice’ for cyclists by the European Cyclists’ Federation (ECF). Triq l-Imġarr in Għajnsielem and the Marsa junction have been picked as examples of ‘bad practice’ and ‘bad practice set to be improved’ by the federation in a report pushing for integrating cycling infrastructure into all TEN-T infrastructure projects. But Infrastructure Malta shot down the bad mark for the Marsa junction, saying the federation had failed to report the development of an underpass rather than a bridge. Читать дальше...

“Three months later, I was sitting in glorious sunshine outside a villa on the island of Malta. I had arrived that morning with my party and all our stores, after an eventful journey. "At one stage, I had to lie like a trooper to an American war correspondent who, intrigued by our canoes and the boxes of stores marked ‘secret’, had pumped me unmercifully with questions as to our business. I had invented some lovely yarns to throw him off the scent! My first sight of Malta had affected me strangely. Читать дальше...

As Chinese real estate behemoth Evergrande reportedly prepares for a government-backed mega-restructure, here is an explainer on what Beijing’s bid to limit a contagion could mean for the wider economy: What happened to Evergrande? The Chinese government sparked a crisis in the property industry when it launched a drive last year to curb excessive debt among real estate firms as well as rampant consumer speculation. Evergrande, a real estate giant with a presence in over 280 Chinese cities, was... Читать дальше...

The coronavirus vaccine developed jointly by BioNTech and Pfizer is "still effective" against the Omicron variant of the virus after three doses, the companies said in a statement on Wednesday. A laboratory study by its makers found the vaccine "is still effective in preventing COVID-19, also against Omicron, if it has been administered three times", but warned that "the Omicron variant is probably not sufficiently neutralised after two doses".  According to the study "a third dose provides a... Читать дальше...

Four people were on Wednesday charged with their involvement in extortion and threats over secret sexual encounters.  Police allege that the four demanded money from their young victim every month for years, threatening to expose him if he did not pay up.  The police told Magistrate Josette Demicoli that the extortion and threats had been going on since the first sexual encounters between the male victim and one of the defendants in 2018.  The accused are Theresa Agius, 55, from Santa Venera who works in a supermarket... Читать дальше...

Asian stocks were broadly up on Wednesday after a strong lead from Wall Street, but fears lingered over China’s debt-hobbled property sector. The main indexes in New York had rallied as worries about the impact of the Omicron coronavirus variant faded. In Hong Kong, Chinese real estate company Kaisa suspended trading just before the opening bell, “pending the release by the company of an announcement containing inside information”, according to a filing with the exchange. Kaisa, China’s 27th-largest... Читать дальше...

During the two-year (1962-64) teachers’ training course at St Michael’s College of Education, my special subjects were Italian and Maltese. Lecturing us in the latter subject was Joe Zammit Mangion. One of the requisites in the subject was the writing of a thesis. Zammit Mangion provided us a list of titles to choose from. I chose ‘Priedki bil-Malti ta’ Ignazio Saverio Mifsud’. On Wednesday afternoons, I used to go to the National Library, in Valletta, ask for Library Manuscript No. 48 and began... Читать дальше...

TUI, the world’s largest tourism operator, said on Wednesday it expects to see a return to pre-pandemic booking levels in the summer of 2022, after running up a heavy loss in its last financial year. TUI, which runs its business year from October to September, said it booked net loss of €2.48 billion for the year just ended, following a record loss of €3.1 billion the year before, as the coronavirus pandemic virtually shut down the tourism industry. Nevertheless, chief executive Friedrich Joussen... Читать дальше...

Salvage teams have recovered a British stealth fighter that fell into the Mediterranean as it was taking off from the UK's flagship aircraft carrier, NATO and British officials said on Wednesday. "Operations to recover the UK F-35 jet in the Mediterranean Sea have successfully concluded," Britain's defence ministry said in a tweeted statement. NATO Air Command tweeted that "NATO allies Italy and the United States of America supported during the recovery operation". The sophisticated, US-made F-35B... Читать дальше...

The dress sword carried by Napoleon Bonaparte when he staged a coup in 1799 and five of his firearms sold at auction for nearly $2.9 million, US auctioneers announced Tuesday. The lot, which was put up for sale by the Illinois-based Rock Island Auction Company, was sold on December 3 via phone to a buyer who has remained anonymous, company president Kevin Hogan told AFP. The sword and five ornamented pistols had initially been valued at $1.5 million to $3.5 million. With the $2.87 million sale... Читать дальше...