Новости за 28.12.2021

Malta needs to adjust its COVID-19 measures according to the latest information about the Omicron variant, the Malta Association of Public Health Medicine said on Tuesday. It said in a statement that while the drive should continue to get as many people vaccinated or administered the booster dose, some short-term restrictions are necessary to limit further transmission of COVID-19. These should include stopping mass gatherings and social events. Smoking, it said, should not be allowed in outdoor... Читать дальше...

The prime minister and the leader of the opposition on Tuesday separately paid tribute to teenager Karin Grech who was killed by a parcel bomb addressed to her father 44 years ago. The tragedy happened at the height of the doctors' strike during which Karin's father, Prof Edwin Grech, continued to work at the then St Luke's Hospital. Prime Minister Robert Abela laid flowers at the foot of Karin Grech's monument in San Ġwann and said this sad episode was a result of division and hate in the country. Читать дальше...

Chelsea defender Ben Chilwell will undergo knee surgery that could rule him out for the rest of the season. Chilwell suffered anterior cruciate ligament damage in Chelsea’s Champions League win against Juventus on November 23. The Blues had hoped Chilwell could return to action without surgery, but the England left-back has been told he must have the ligament repair operation. “After a knee injury in the match against Juventus the Chelsea medical department, in collaboration with their knee specialist... Читать дальше...

Just over half of all individuals who get their local news online cited timesomalta.com as their preferred source, making it the most popular local news portal, a survey by the Broadcasting Authority has shown. Times of Malta was the preferred local news portal across all age groups with a following of 53%, more than double the share of all other Maltese news sites combined.   Next came tvm.com.mt with 10.2%. Lovinmalta.com placed third with 5.1% and Maltatoday.com fourth with 4%. Times of Malta... Читать дальше...

Just over half of all individuals who get their local news online mentioned timesomalta.com as their preferred source, making it the most popular local news portal, a survey by the Broadcasting Authority has shown. Times of Malta was the preferred local news portal across all age groups with a following of 53%. Next came tvm.com.mt with 10.2%. lovinmalta come third with 5.1% and maltatoday.com with 4%. The survey showed that television remains the most preferred source of local news with 43%... Читать дальше...

Tottenham dropped two precious points against 10-man Southampton on Tuesday as West Ham hammered Watford 4-1 to turn up the heat in the race for a coveted Premier League top-four spot. Elsewhere on a truncated day of action due to coronavirus postponements, Crystal Palace cruised past bottom side Norwich 3-0 while Liverpool prepared to take on Leicester in the pick of the day’s matches. Spurs are still unbeaten in the league since Antonio Conte took the helm early last month but they failed to make a man advantage count at St Mary’s... Читать дальше...

A man first apprehended by the police on suspicion he harboured a suspect in the Sliema double murder had his one-year jail term in a different case quashed by a judge due to a procedural error made by the prosecution. Jason Caruana was arrested last year during a police raid in Floriana which resulted in the capture of the prime suspect in the August 18, 2020 murder, Daniel Muka. Caruana was at first believed to have harboured Muka but was later released by the police and has not faced any charges related to the murder... Читать дальше...

Naxxar residents and environmental NGOs have come together to crowdfund an appeal against the massive residential and commercial complex planned for the parking lot of the former trade fair grounds in Naxxar. The group was on Monday close to collecting the €1,300 needed to file the appeal with the Planning Authority and finance legal action against the 10-storey development. Efforts are also under way to fund technical studies and experts to fight the approved project. “We need this appeal to... Читать дальше...

The United States and Russia will hold much-anticipated talks in early January on European security and the Ukraine conflict after Moscow demanded NATO halt its eastward expansion.  A spokesperson for the US National Security Council told AFP  that the talks with Russia will take place on January 10. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov on Tuesday confirmed the date and said that the talks will take place in Geneva, where US President Joe Biden and Russian leader Vladimir Putin met for their first summit in June. Читать дальше...

Supermaxi Black Jack won the prestigious Sydney to Hobart yacht race on Tuesday. Owned by Australian Peter Harburg and skippered by Mark Bradford, Black Jack took line honours after a tight tussle with LawConnect on the River Derwent after two days 12 hours 37min and 17 sec of racing. It was one of the slowest Sydney to Hobart races ever with harsh conditions forcing withdrawals due to damage or minor crew injuries. On Tuesday morning, Black Jack had regained a six nautical mile lead on LawConnect. Читать дальше...

The MSE Equity Price Index extended its recent positive trend with a further uplift of 1.02% to a near six-week high of 3,874.441 points on Tuesday. The gain was mostly driven by the upsurge in the share price of Farsons whilst BOV also ended the day in positive territory. Meanwhile, four companies closed unchanged as overall trading activity in equities amounted to just over €0.1 million. Simonds Farsons Cisk plc surged by 15.3% to recapture the €9.80 level on a total of 1,311 shares. Bank of... Читать дальше...

A migrant worker's death in hospital before he could be identified was "utterly and absolutely unacceptable" and reflected a lack of accountability and responsibility, the humanitarian group MOAS said on Tuesday.  Ahmed Adawe Diriye, a Somali man residing in Malta, fell the height of one and a half storeys while working on the roof of a factory in Marsa on December 22. He was identified on Monday, days after he succumbed to his injuries, when nurses reportedly identified him from pictures of a 'missing' person issued by the police. Читать дальше...

Spanish international Ferran Torres signed for cash-strapped Barcelona on Tuesday from Manchester City, the Catalan side announced. Despite their financial struggles, Barcelona have reportedly agreed a deal worth an initial 55 million euros ($62 million, £47 million) for the 22-year-old. “FC Barcelona has reached an agreement with Manchester City for the transfer of Ferran Torres,” Barcelona said in a statement on their website. “The player has signed a contract for the next five seasons, until 30 June 2027. Читать дальше...

It is people in the older age brackets who mostly watch the political television stations, the Broadcasting Authority said on Tuesday, when reporting the results of its latest audience survey. The survey sample comprised 2,100 interviews with residents aged 12+ years in November. News bulletins were the most followed, especially by men, followed by drama, followed especially by women, and discussion programmes. TVM was the most-watched TV station, with 44.3% of all TV viewers mentioning the state... Читать дальше...

The opposition urged the government to reduce the mandatory quarantine period for people who test negative for COVID-19 after having come into contact with positive cases. The 14-day quarantine period is being reduced in several countries once a patient tests negative, the Nationalist Party said in a statement.    The party also called on the government to reimburse people who opt to take COVID tests in private clinics, for as long as the waiting lists remain long for swab tests by the health authorities. Читать дальше...

Harry Maguire said a 16-day coronavirus break had done Manchester United no favours after they salvaged a 1-1 draw at Premier League strugglers Newcastle, leaving them seven points off the top four. Ralf Rangnick’s men needed a 71st-minute equaliser from half-time substitute Edinson Cavani after Allan Saint-Maximin scored a superb early opener, and were indebted to David de Gea for a series of fine saves. It was United’s first match since December 11 after a Covid-19 outbreak forced them to close their training complex ... Читать дальше...

Albert Fenech, one of Malta's top cardiologists and a former MP, died on Tuesday aged 70. Fenech was reportedly found dead inside his house and is believed to have died of natural causes. A top doctor who spent more than two decades overseas, Fenech also had a brief foray in politics as a Nationalist Party MP between 2013 and 2016. Fenech co-founded the cardiology department within local public healthcare in 1995 along with fellow cardiologist Alex Manche and carried out the very first operation... Читать дальше...

Hugo Hernan Maradona, the brother of Argentine legend Diego Armando Maradona, has passed away suddenly at age of 52 following a cardiac arrest, reports in Italy said. The news of Hugo Hernan Maradona’s death comes just a few weeks after the Argentine had been in Malta to conduct a training camp for young players at the Qormi FC nursery this month. Hugo Maradona passed away at his home in Monte di Procida in Naples despite the intervention of paramedics who could do nothing to save his life. Continue reading this article on SportsDesk... Читать дальше...

The educational sector is in dire need of stability with a fourth minister having now been appointed in as many years, the Nationalist Party said on Tuesday.  Addressing a press conference, PN MP Clyde Puli said that "recurrent problems" in the country’s schools and higher learning institutions are not being addressed as the educational ministry lacks leadership.   “Under a PN government we had got used to a new school every year, now we have a new minister every year,” he said.   Puli added there... Читать дальше...

A record 1292 new COVID-19 cases have been detected, health ministry data released on Tuesday showed.  It is the first time that new daily cases have reached four figures, and the 1,298 new cases marks a significant increase from the previous one-day record of 955 new cases that was reported on December 24. According to data held by the Superintendence of Public Health, the new cases were detected from 8004 swab tests, meaning just over one in every six people tested (16 per cent) proved to be positive. Читать дальше...

After a lifetime of petrol-powered vehicles, 87-year-old Pedro García is proving it’s never too late to embrace the future as he makes the change to electric – with the all-electric Mustang Mach-E his vehicle of choice. Read the full story at timesmotors.com

Reigning champions OkMalta.com were recently confirmed as champions of the MAPFRE MSV Life Division 1 organised by the Malta Tenpin Bowling Association. This year, Division 1 was split into two groups after the first round, based on top five and bottom five teams. After a dominant first round, OkMalta.com only required a few more points in the second round, and having already been confirmed champions a couple of weeks before, they enrolled a brand new player, Edward Mifsud, against Firstbridge on the last day of the competition. Читать дальше...

Long queues of children lined the halls of Mater Dei Hospital on Tuesday morning as the vaccination drive for minors aged between five and 11 picked up the pace.  The health authorities only recently started giving out the jab to the cohort, after the European Medicines Agency (EMA) approved the use of a smaller dose of the Pfizer vaccine for young children. Those over 12 had been offered the vaccine in summer.  Photos seen by Times of Malta showed long queues of children waiting to get their jab. Читать дальше...

A Malta-based payment firm targeting the “ultra-rich” has been ordered to halt certain operations over a raft of regulatory breaches. In a public notice, the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA) slapped Insignia Cards Limited with a €142,000 fine. The company was also ordered to cease the pre-funding of charge cards, cease processing payments from two of its sister companies and appoint an independent third party “to provide guidance”. Former minister Chris Cardona was hired by Insigna. In its notice... Читать дальше...

Beijing on Tuesday accused the United States of irresponsible and unsafe conduct in space over two "close encounters" between the Chinese space station and satellites operated by Elon Musk's SpaceX. Tiangong, China's new space station, had to manoeuvre to avoid colliding with one Starlink satellite in July and with another in October, according to a note submitted by Beijing to the United Nations space agency this month. The note said the incidents "constituted dangers to the life or health of astronauts aboard the China Space Station". Читать дальше...