Новости за 07.06.2016

The first edition of the Valletta Pageant of the Seas was held this evening in Grand Harbour, presenting a spectacular show to mark the 450th anniversary of the founding of the capital. The event, organised by the Valletta 2018 Foundation, included a swim by a large number of people from Fort St Angelo to Valletta to recall Great Siege hero Toni Bajjada, power boat and rowing boat races, a parade of carnival floats on barges and a 'race' by makeshift home-made boats which could not use sail or electrical power. Читать дальше...

North Korea has restarted production of plutonium fuel, a senior State Department official said, showing that it plans to pursue its nuclear weapons program in defiance of international sanctions. The U.S. assessment came a day after the U.N. nuclear watchdog said it had "indications" that Pyongyang has reactivated a plant to recover plutonium from spent reactor fuel at Yongbyon, its main nuclear complex. The latest developments suggest North Korea's reclusive communist government is working to... Читать дальше...

Chelsea Football Club has apologised "unreservedly" to ex-first team doctor Eva Carneiro as it reached a settlement with her over constructive dismissal claims, but Jose Mourinho failed to follow the club's lead, instead thanking her for her services. Dr Carneiro brought the claim at an employment tribunal, accusing Mourinho of victimisation and discrimination. She was due to begin giving evidence on Tuesday but a settlement was agreed after Mourinho made a surprise appearance at the hearing at the... Читать дальше...

The Malta Tourism Authority planned to relocate its head office from Valletta to Birkirkara but it was told it should move to Smart City instead, the Times of Malta is informed. After a request for proposals was issued, the MTA’s chief executive officer, Paul Bugeja, recommended the offices should move to new premises in Birkirkara, deeming it to be the most suitable option, sources close to the hospitality industry said. However, they added, the Office of the Prime Minister insisted that the MTA should be transferred to Smart City. Читать дальше...

Giampiero Ventura has been named as the next Italy coach, the national team said on its official Twitter feed. The 68-year-old will replace Antonio Conte who has already announced that he will leave for Chelsea when his contract expires following Euro 2016. Ventura began his managerial career with Sampdoria's youth team in 1976 and has taken charge of 17 Italian sides in total, including Udinese, Napoli and Torino. He left Torino last month after five successful seasons, the first of which saw him lead Toro back to Serie A... Читать дальше...

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat underlined the benefits of the Citizenship by Investment programme for the Maltese economy when he addressed the Investment Migration Forum 2016 in Geneva this afternoon. The forum is being hosted by the Investment Migration Council, a worldwide association for investor immigration and citizenship-by-investment, grouping the leading stakeholders in the field and giving the industry a voice. Dr Muscat said the global industry linked to citizenship by investment would grow... Читать дальше...

"Before being a person with Down’s syndrome, I am a person," film protagonist Simone Brescianini told a preview in Milan when asked about his condition. “I cannot delete Down’s syndrome from my life, but my abilities go beyond the condition,” he told a 330-strong audience ahead of his trip to Malta for this year’s Valletta Film Festival.  Mr Brescianini is the protagonist of a short film shot in Malta, which is screening today and on Saturday at St James Cavalier in Valletta. Called Altrove - Elsewhere... Читать дальше...

A former astronaut has been charged with murder after a car crash killed two girls in Alabama. State police said 59-year-old James Halsell Jr, of Huntsville, was arrested after a crash that killed 11-year-old Niomi Deona James and 13-year-old Jayla Latrick Parler. Officers said a car driven by Halsell collided with a Ford Fiesta in which the girls were passengers. Both victims were thrown from the vehicle and died. Two others were injured. Police said a preliminary investigation indicates alcohol and speed may have been factors. Читать дальше...

Bagpipes the penguin is working on his waddle once again after receiving a prosthetic leg. The little blue penguin’s leg had to be amputated after getting it tangled in a fishing line in 2007. He was taken to the International Antarctic Centre in New Zealand and has hopped around his new home with one leg ever since. After nine years of imbalanced wriggling, the adorable bird received a 3D-printed foot to help him swim and waddle like a penguin should. At the start Bagpipes fell flat on his stomach but managed to heave himself back up. Читать дальше...

The European Union executive has proposed easing access oto the EU job market for qualified foreigners to offer legal paths to Europe rather than irregular immigration and to fill skills gaps in the labour force. The European Commission wants to reinvigorate its Blue Card scheme - akin to the U.S. Green Card - which has failed to gain widespread use over the past four years. Fewer than 14,000 were granted last year, nearly all of them by Germany. At the same time, Germany took in most of the 1.3... Читать дальше...

Leicester City striker Jamie Vardy's lack of experience at major international tournaments means he will not be an automatic starter for England at Euro 2016, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has said. The 29-year-old forward, who has scored three goals in seven internationals, was the joint second-highest scorer in the Premier League during Leicester's title-winning season and was the Football Writers' Association player of the year. Arsenal, runners-up last season, are trying to sign Vardy, triggering... Читать дальше...

The European Union executive proposed today making EU development aid and trade ties with African and other poor countries conditional on their cooperation in curbing migration to Europe. "Those countries who ... work with us will get certain treatment," an EU official said of the package of measures put forward by the European Commission. "Those who don't want to or are incapable will get different treatment and that will be translated via our development, trade policies." A deal with Turkey, much criticised by human rights groups... Читать дальше...

Harry Potter author J.K Rowling isn’t impressed by "racists" critiquing the casting a black woman to play Hermione Granger. The casting decision for the new Harry Potter and the Cursed Child play was announced in December, with the news prompting criticism from some fans who insist Hermione is a “white character”. "I had a bunch of racists telling me that because Hermione ‘turned white’ – that is, lost colour from her face after a shock – that she must be a white woman, which I have a great deal of difficulty with. Читать дальше...

A Thai man gets a narrow escape after he spotted a cobra come out of his toilet bowl, in the second such incident recorded in the country in about two weeks.  See video above.

A 30-year-old worker from Ghana was seriously injured when he fell a height of one storey in a building site this morning. The police said the incident took place at about 11am in Ball Street, Paceville. The injuries are not believed to be life-threatening

An average of 23 thefts were reported every day to the police in Malta and Gozo in the last thirteen months since March 2015, reaching a total of 9,357 cases. Eight per cent of the reports were related to robberies from private homes, where only 97 of the 780 burgled residences were vacant when the robbery took place. Replying to a parliamentary question by Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici (PN), Home Affairs Minister Carmelo Abela gave a breakdown of the reports submitted to the police between March 2015 and March 2016. Читать дальше...

500 immigrants who arrived in Malta in search for a better life were resettled in the USA between March 2015 and March of this year, Home Affairs minister Carmelo Abela revealed yesterday.  Answering a parliamentary question, Dr Abela explained that 355 of the 503 were Somali, 138 came from Eritrea, 17 from Sudan, two from Ethiopia and one from Iraq.  The resettlement exercise was possible following an agreement between the Maltese authorities, the American government and UNHCR. UNHCR estimates that... Читать дальше...

President Bashar al-Assad vowed today to fight on in what he called Syria's war against terrorism, showing no sign of compromise in his first major address since peace talks broke down in April. Assad said he would win back "every inch" of Syria and said Aleppo would be a graveyard for the hopes and dreams of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, a major sponsor of the insurgents battling to topple him. "Our war against terrorism is continuing," Assad said in a speech to parliament broadcast by state TV. Читать дальше...

The group that runs Harvard Medical School as well as Harvard teaching hospitals Massachusetts General, Spalding and Brigham has been roped in to help upgrade Karin Grech, St Luke's and Gozo hospitals.  Health Minister Chris Fearne met with Partners Health Care in Boston, Massachusetts this week to finalise the deal. Last year, U.S. News & World Report picked Massachusetts General Hospital as the best hospital in the USA over the Mayo Clinic and Johns Hopkins Hospital. Harvard Medical School... Читать дальше...

A 40-year-old man was remanded in custody after being charged with swatting his nine-year-old daughter with a belt and threatening school staff who reported him.Prosecuting officer Joseph Busuttil told the court that police had received a report from Appoġġ after teachers at the girl’s school noticed her sporting a number of bruises from time to time.The agency, the inspector continued, had contacted the father – who has sole custody of his daughter – to obtain his consent for the girl to undergo a medical examination. Читать дальше...

A man committed two hold-ups using an axe and a butcher's knife in a span of three days from the same grocery shop at St Julian's.Mark Saviour Borg, 48 from St Julian's, today pleaded guilty to the hold-up of a Makaras establishment on May 13 and of the attempted hold-up of the same store on May 16.Prosecuting officers Fabian Fleri and Trevor Micallef told the court that during the first hold-up, the man made off with around €600. The man’s uncovered face was captured on CCTV footage as he passed... Читать дальше...

Updated 1.22pm - Trucks, digger removed It's a June public holiday, the sun is out and you take the kids to beach - only to find this.   A Times of Malta reader sent us the above photo of Għajn Tuffieħa bay, or Riviera as it is also known, looking like a construction site, with a parked digger and trucks. It appears the digger was used to gather the beach's washed-up seaweed in one place.  "Nowhere is cordoned off. Kids were running around the excavator while the workers were on break," the reader said. Читать дальше...

Atletico Madrid are confident that coach Diego Simeone will remain at the club next season despite speculation about his future. The Argentine said after his side's Champions League final defeat by Real Madrid last month that he needed time to consider his options and Spanish media reports have linked the 46-year-old with the vacant coaching position at Paris St Germain. "Atletico fans can sleep in peace because el Cholo (Simeone) has four years left on his contract," Atletico president Enrique Cerezo told Marca on Tuesday. Читать дальше...

State veterinary officers are seeking the answer to a question that has never had to be asked in Malta before: is racing too stressful for a pig? The organisers of the upcoming Bacon Festival in Żejtun, already the target of social media outrage from countless vegetarians and vegans, caused further stir yesterday after announcing that the festival would feature “pig races” alongside the various bacon-related food items. MP Mario Galea, the shadow minister for animal welfare, was the first to express outrage at the proposition... Читать дальше...

Since the end of April, fires in parts of India's northern states of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh have destroyed or damaged 26,000 hectares of forests, and killed three people, officials say. The forest fires, touched off by timber smugglers, poachers and farmers, have been a particular problem this year as a result of high temperatures and low rainfall, experts say. Nationwide, the country is losing an average of a million hectares to fires each year, according to a 2014 report from the government's... Читать дальше...