Новости за 11.07.2016

The MSE Share Index started the week on a positive note as it edged marginally higher to 4,568.844 points on strong volumes. Indeed, the total value of equities traded today reached €1.41 million – the highest level of daily trading activity in more than five years. The major part of today’s heightened activity took place in the equity of RS2 Software plc as 479,500 shares changed hands (having a market value of €1.03 million representing 73 per cent of the total value of equities traded today) pushing... Читать дальше...

Now that Testaferrata Street has been surfaced, the title of Malta's bumpiest road could well be awarded to a notorious stretch along two adjacent roads in Birkirkara. Triq Bontadini and Triq Ġuże Orlando are littered with large potholes and cracks, enough to guarantee a bone-shaking ride and a potential cost to car suspension. Do you know of any roads in desperate need of repair? E-mail us on mynews@timesofmalta.com or post in the comments section below.

Civil Protection Department fire-fighters were called into action early this afternoon to put out a grass fire that broke out in Ħal Farruġ, limits of Luqa. A column of smoke was seen over a wide area. The fire raged over a wide area but but was quickly extinguished by CPD members.

A 35-year-old man has been handed a suspended sentence after admitting to going on a drunken rampage and damaging two cars and a residence's front door. Ben Nael Abumeniar, from Libya, was arraigned before Magistrate Neville Camilleri and charged with damaging two cars yesterday at 6.15am in St Julian's. The value of the damage did not surpass €250 per vehicle. He was also charged with damaging the door of a residence - which also did not surpass the €250 mark - slightly injuring a woman, breaching... Читать дальше...

The single-seated Solar Impulse 2 airplane, powered solely by the sun, has taken off from Seville on a flight to Cairo on the last stages of its round-the-world journey. The route will see it fly close to Malta, but it will not be within visual distance. The Seville-Cairo leg is the solar plane's penultimate flight before it reaches the finish line of its round-the-world trip in Abu-Dhabi, the starting point of the journey. The plane left Seville at at 6:20 a.m.. It's the 16th leg of the plane's round-the-world trip... Читать дальше...

Andrea Leadsom has dropped out of the two-way contest to become the next Conservative Party leader and UK prime minister. Ms Leadsom was up against Home Secretary Theresa May in the race to succeed David Cameron as prime minister. In a statement to the press, she said: "I do not believe I have sufficient support to lead a strong and stable government". The decision also comes after she apologised to Ms May after suggesting being a mother made her a better candidate for the job. It is not yet known... Читать дальше...

Global Capital Financial Management has been ordered to pay damages to two elderly investors after a court ruled that the company had not properly explained the risks of the investment to them. Mr Justice Mark Chetcuti found in favour of Evelyn Farrugia and her brother Fr Daniel Farrugia. In September and October 2008 the Farrugias had invested STG28,525, €57,000 and €55,000 with Global Capital on the advice of its manager Erica Caruana. The investment was made in Lifemark SA Secure Income Bonds (SIB). Читать дальше...

Keith Schembri, the prime minister’s chief of staff, has won a libel case against In-Nazzjon after the Nationalist newspaper had linked him to a man who fled Malta under a burden of debt. The article focused on Ryan Schembri, Keith Schembri's cousin. The newspaper had claimed that while abroad, Ryan Schembri had made contact with several people in Malta and Keith Schembri was aware what was going on since the two trusted each other and worked together. Keith Schembri denied the report and denied having business links with his cousin. Читать дальше...

The Birkirkara man who was captured on video footage whipping a fallen horse has been cleared of animal cruelty after a court was presented with overwhelming evidence that the 22-year-old mare did not bear any visible signs of being whipped and was in excellent health. Alban Josef Saliba, 36, had been arrested after mobile phone footage was uploaded to Facebook in April showing the animal struggling on the ground as it was whipped repeatedly. The incident sparked a public outcry on social media.... Читать дальше...

New statistics paint a picture of a society postponing marriage and parenthood to later in life. Kurt Sansone looks at the latest trends among those tying the knot. If you are a woman and got married in 2001 it is very likely that you were in your 20s when you walked down the aisle. In that year, 44 per cent of brides were aged between 20 and 24, while 34 per cent were between 25 and 29. But roll forward a few years to 2015 when 40 per cent of brides were between 25 and 29 years old, 23.2 per cent... Читать дальше...

106 babies were born to teenage mothers last year, 2.4 per cent of total births. On the other hand, almost two thirds of babies were born to mothers aged between 25 and 34. Figures issued today show that the population of Malta at the end of 2015 stood at 434,403, up by 1.2 per cent when compared to 2014. Most of the increase came as a result of immigration, dived at about 5,500 each between EU and non-EU nationals. The Maltese population accounted for 92.9 per cent of the total population. Persons under 18 made up 17.4 per cent of the total... Читать дальше...

Alternattiva Demokratika has welcomed news that Parliament will this evening commence the debate on the Bill dealing with Standards in Public Life. Carmel Cacopardo, Deputy Chairperson, said that although the Bill is an improvement on the presentsituation, substantial improvement is still required. "It is essential that regulatory measures dealing with the lobbying of politicians in both formal and informal meetings are introduced. The Bill as presented ignores lobbying completed and does not attempt its regulation," he said. Читать дальше...

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is open to managing England but will not break his current contract with the Premier League club. The Frenchman, who has one year remaining on his current deal with Arsenal, was linked by British media to replace Roy Hodgson after England's Round of 16 exit against Iceland at the Euro 2016. A three-man panel of the Football Association staff began the job of finding Hodgson's successor last month. "Could I manage England? Why not? I would never rule that out, but I am... Читать дальше...

President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca, currently on a visit to Australia, has toured the Welcome Walls at Fremantle, Perth. The Welcome Walls feature the names of all the migrants who arrived in Australia by sea, including Maltese migrants. She also met Maltese-Australians who arrived in Australia as unaccompanied child migrants, at the Child Migrant Memorial.

“A coward’s mentality” is how Magistrate Ian Farrugia described the authorities’ inertia towards noise pollution from St Julian’s entertainment establishments. He made the strongly-worded statement while presiding over a case filed against the operators of various Paceville establishments accused of generating noise pollution to the detriment of residents. Magistrate Farrugia appealed directly to the Prime Minister to get his ministries together to solve the problem. The authorities, he added, were instead wasting time on reports and studies... Читать дальше...

Last week was another volatile week for equity markets. We started off with the Fed minutes showing the Fed would put its breaks of rate hikes this year and we ended it with a huge surprise in the US jobs number which made investors re-think the possibility of a rate hike in the US. But it wasn’t the US alone that created volatility in equity markets. The uncertainty of Brexit as well as disappointing data out of Germany led to a spike in volatility. Below is a better understanding of what really went on during the week... Читать дальше...

It was a month of celebration, disappointment, laughter and surprises... and there were many clips to capture the most memorable moments. But a clip which emerged throughout the night of a young Portuguese boy consoling a tearful French supporter outside the Paris stadium produced the most heart-warming moment of Euro 2016. The boy is seen approaching the French fan outside the stadium after Portugal stunned France in the final. He offers the crying fan a hand, prompting a hug from the Frenchman.

Handcuffed inmates in a Texas jail busted out of a cell... to save a guard's life. A Parker County Jail guard was sitting in front of the prisoners' pen when he suddenly collapsed on the floor. He lost consciousness, apparently after suffering a heart attack. "He was just talking to [the inmates], and he just kind of collapsed," Capt. Mark Arnett with the Parker County Sheriff's Office told NBC News. "As soon as the jailer went down, they started to yell." When their yelling failed to attract the attention of anyone upstairs... Читать дальше...

Finco Treasury Management Ltd has submitted a 'very substantial' number of complaints on behalf of La Valette Multi Manager Property Fund investors to the Financial Services Arbiter in connection with the long running dispute these investors have had with La Valette Funds SICAV, its fund manager Valletta Fund Management Ltd  and with the Fund’s custodian (and primary sales intermediary), Bank of Valletta. It said complainants consist both of investors who had received €0.75 per share in June 2011... Читать дальше...

There may be no deadline yet for completion works on the Delimara gas power station but key posts for the gas-handling element of the project are being filled. Malaysian company Bumi Armada, through its Maltese subsidiary Armada Floating Gas Services, is advertising for the post of operations manager for the liquefied natural gas tanker that will act as a floating storage for the power station. Bumi Armada was awarded a €283 million contract in April last year by Electrogas, the consortium tasked... Читать дальше...

Parents should be prepared both physically and psychologically on how to bond with their children even before birth, according to a consultant psychiatrist “We need to invest in infant psychiatry, which involves working with mothers even before they give birth, Nigel Camilleri said. “In Malta, a lot is done to prepare parents for the physical aspects of childbirth and the first months of child rearing, however, we need to invest similar energy into making parents aware of bonding and attachment issues,”... Читать дальше...

North Korea's military said it will make a "physical response" to moves by the United States and South Korea to deploy the advanced THAAD missile defence system on the Korean peninsula. The United States and South Korea said on Friday that the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) anti-missile system will be used to counter North Korea's growing nuclear and ballistic missile capabilities. The announcement was the latest move by the allies against the North, which conducted its fourth nuclear... Читать дальше...

A new report from the research firm IHS says Islamic State lost an area the size of Ireland - a quarter of its territory - to hostile forces in the last 18 months in Iraq and Syria and is likely to further step up attacks on civilians in coming months.   But the news is also grim. The report says militants will likely further step up attacks on civilians in the coming months. 'As the caliphate shrinks', it says, IS is 're-prioritizing RE-PRI-O-RI-TI-ZING its insurgency' -- meaning nations can expect... Читать дальше...

Spending too much time on the internet could damage your immune system, a study has found. Swansea University’s College of Human and Health Science found that people who have greater levels of internet addiction catch more colds and flu bugs than those who spend less time online. Its research of 500 people, aged between 18 and 101, discovered that those who go on the web too much have 30 per cent more cold and flu symptoms than those who do not. It also suggested that internet addicts may suffer... Читать дальше...

Motorists have been urged to avoid the Kappara roundabout as the contractor today intensifies work in connection with the new junction project. These will be the first major road closures in connection with the Kappara junction project. Transport Malta said in a statement that the contractor will be working on the National Pool side of Triq Mikiel Anton Vassalli for the coming weeks. Although part of the main artery will be cordoned off, four lanes will remain open. Barriers will be placed and lines... Читать дальше...