Новости за 09.05.2017

Juventus defender Dani Alves produced an inspired display capped by a stunning volleyed goal in a 2-1 win over AS Monaco that took the Italians into their second Champions League final in three years today. Alves provided the cross for Mario Mandzukic to score the first goal in the semi-final, second leg and then added the second himself with an explosive strike to effectively finish off the tie by halftime. Juventus, who had won the first leg 2-0, were coasting until Kylian Mbappe pulled one back in the 69th minute... Читать дальше...

Those of us who could see an election approaching like a car crash in slow motion, anticipating an ensuing cacophony that would drive the Dalai Lama to absolute distraction, cannot help but aim for levity, especially when everything else becomes unbearable. Given that I am old enough to remember what happened in the 1980s, and having had my own fill of history from my late father who lived through the 1960s, I have to look elsewhere for distraction, even when I actually live and work thousands of... Читать дальше...

A Twitter plea from a Nevada teen for a year of free chicken nuggets from Wendy's is now the most retweeted post of all time. Carter Wilkerson asked the fast food chain on Twitter last month how many retweets it would take for him to get free nuggets for a year. Wendy's replied "18 million". Carter's screenshot of the exchange has moved past Ellen DeGeneres' viral tweet from the 2014 Oscars with more than 3.4 million retweets. Twitter confirmed the record. Wendy's says Carter has earned the nuggets... Читать дальше...

PN leader Simon Busuttil this evening urged Prime Minister Joseph Muscat to stop embarrassing Malta and further harming its reputation abroad. Addressing a campaign activity in Labour’s stronghold of Zejtun, the PN leader referred to the second invitation sent by the European Parliament to Dr Muscat and his Chief of Staff Kieth Schembri to appear before the Pana committee next week to answer questions stemming from the Panama Papers leaks.   Dr Busuttil said that a Prime Minister who had nothing to hide would accept the invitation to face MEPs.

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat this evening warned that the PN’s plan to give free childcare to all even to non-working mothers would create a “poverty trap”. Dr Muscat sounded this warning at a political activity in Msida in which he insisted that Labour’s proposals made during the first nine days of the election campaign were based on principles like social mobility and national unity. “Free childcare is not there to serve as a parking lot for children,” the Labour leader remarked. He added that... Читать дальше...

A girl died after she fell into water at a theme park in central England today, emergency services said. Paramedics and firefighters were called after the 11-year-old was reported to have fallen into the water at the Splash Canyon ride at the family-owned Drayton Manor park in Staffordshire. The girl, believed to be from Leicester, central England, was airlifted to hospital. "Unfortunately, shortly after arrival at hospital the girl passed away," an ambulance service spokesman said. Drayton Manor... Читать дальше...

Scientists unveiled the first evidence today that early humans coexisted in Africa 300,000 years ago with a small-brained human-like species thought to already be extinct on the continent at that time. The findings, published in three papers in the journal "eLife", raise fresh questions about human evolution, including the prospect that behaviours previously attributed to humans may have been developed by hominin precursors of Homo sapiens. Hominins are an extinct group of the same genus as humans... Читать дальше...

One of the two men charged with the murder of Brandon Pace in Ħamrun on April 2 has been released following an appeal which overturned a refusal of his bail request. Joseph Grech, from Guardamangia, had been detained in Mount Carmel Hospital together with his son Kurt following their arraignment on charges of stabbing Mr Pace following a long-simmering family feud which erupted into a violent fight. The Magistrates’ Court had rejected his bail request and an appeal was filed before the criminal court presided over by Mr Justice Antonio Mizzi. Читать дальше...

The Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit's board of governors is not privy to details of investigations carried out by FIAU investigators and has never seen copies of reports they pass on to police, the FIAU board said today. In a lengthy statement, the FIAU board, which is chaired by Attorney General Peter Grech, emphasised that its task was to set FIAU policy, not to implement it, with a clear division between its role and the operational role of the FIAU director and his staff.  "The Board is not provided with... Читать дальше...

The PN insisted today that Prime Minister Joseph Muscat should appear before the European parliament's Pana Committee, as failure to do so would harm Malta's reputation. The Pana committee is investigating allegations arising from the Panama Papers. Dr Muscat has already said he will not appear before the committee until a magisterial inquiry into allegations against him and his wife about ownership of the Egrant Panama company are complete. The Nationalist Party said the allegations against the prime minister were too serious to be ignored. Читать дальше...

Liberal politician Moon Jae-in won South Korea's presidential election today, an exit poll showed, an expected victory that would end nearly a decade of conservative rule and bring a more conciliatory approach toward North Korea. A decisive win for Moon would end months of political turmoil that led to parliament's impeachment of conservative former President Park Geun-hye over an extensive corruption scandal. The Constitutional Court upheld the impeachment in March, making Park the first democratically... Читать дальше...

Two men were given seven years in jail between them after they were found guilty of stealing the bust from a monument erected in memory of a police constable who had been shot dead in 1999. Grezzju Calleja, 48, from Tarxien and Anthony Cutajar, 46, from Ħamrun, admitted to stealing the bust, which had been set up in memory of PC Mark Farrugia, the 24-year-old who was shot in the back at close range early in the morning of March 20, 1999 on the doorstep of his family home in Tarxien. READ: Tribute... Читать дальше...

The MSE Share Index moved lower for the first time in the last five trading sessions today as it fell by 0.65% from yesterday’s over two-week high of 4,703.912 points to 4,673.181 points. Today’s decline in the local equity index reflects the drops in the share prices of the four largest companies by market capitalisation: IHI, HSBC, BOV and MIA. On the other hand, PG and MPC posted gains whilst another four equites closed the day unchanged. Trading activity was robust as nearly €0.61 million worth of shares changed hands... Читать дальше...

Three high-profile medical consultants will be contesting the next elections on the Nationalist Party ticket, Times of Malta is informed. They are Dr Nick Refalo, a leading oncology consultant, and son of constitutional expert Prof. Ian Refalo.  It will be his first foray into politics together with Jason Zammit, an orthopaedic consultant and surgeon at Mater Dei Hospital and Prof. Kevin Cassar, a vascular consultant and surgeon originally from Cospicua. PN sources said the three new candidates have... Читать дальше...

The Malta Stock Exchange (MSE) posted a record after-tax net income of €2.53 million in 2016, an increase of 50 per cent, thanks to significant revenue growth and a decline in operating expenses. Admissions were up by 12 per cent over 2015, bringing the number of listings to 295 with 44 corporate issuers, varying between bonds and equity. It is expected that this positive trend will continue into 2017, particularly with Prospects, a financial market launched in 2016 specifically designed to cater... Читать дальше...

Magistrate Natasha Galea Sciberras will lead an inquiry into claims that the Prime Minister's chief of staff Keith Schembri received kickbacks from the sale of passports.  The magistrate was selected by lot, as required by law.   Allegations concerning Mr Schembri were first brought before Magistrate Aaron Bugeja, the inquiring magistrate leading a probe into Egrant claims, by Opposition leader Simon Busuttil.  Magistrate Bugeja decreed that the allegations should be the focus of a separate inquiry. Читать дальше...

A Spanish woman hoping to double her money in a scam has ended up with nothing, even though the man who swindled her was found guilty. The man scammed her out of €15,000 by promising to double her money, claiming to have a liquid which could duplicate banknotes by means of a process known as a 'black money scam'. Abdoul Moumine Abdoulaye Maiga, 36, residing in Sliema and originally from Niger, had befriended Miriam Rodriguez Quintero in July 2015 and suggested that he could help her turn a fast buck. Читать дальше...

Passenger movements at Malta International Airport jumped by 26.6% last month, surpassing the half a million mark for the first time in April.  MIA said in a statement that it welcomed 530,576 passengers, on the back of anincrease of 17.7% in seat capacity and an improvement of 5.3 percentage points in seat load factor (SLF). April’s strong performance partly stemmed from the Easter holiday effect, together with the start of new operations and the extension of a number of winter routes into the summer period. Читать дальше...

Former Nationalist MP Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando is considering a return to the hustings as a Labour Party candidate. In comments to Times of Malta, Dr Pullicino Orlando said he felt honoured that Prime Minister Joseph Muscat had asked him to stand as a Labour candidate in the June 3 general election.   He said he was seriously considering the offer, but needed to decide with his family. Dr Pullicino Orlando contested the general elections of 1996, 1998, 2003 and 2008 as a PN candidate and was always elected. Читать дальше...

A teenage from a dysfunctional background has been placed under probation after a magistrate's court learned that he had registered significant progress in mending his ways. Carlos Lean Schembri was remanded in custody a few months ago after he and his partner in crime were apprehended. He pleaded guilty to a string of thefts from three different vehicles and to dealing in stolen goods. The young man had also taken a joyride in a Mercedes Benz and robbed the Prime Ltd outlet in Marsa. The prosecution... Читать дальше...

British insurer Hiscox has picked Luxembourg over Malta as the base for a new subsidiary to underwrite its retail business in Europe following Britain's decision to leave the European Union. The company, which insures a broad range of risks from oil refineries to kidnappings, said it would start setting up the subsidiary immediately and expected the process to be completed well in advance of March 2019. Hiscox had shortlisted Luxembourg and Malta as potential EU bases but said that Luxembourg had been chosen for its pro-business position... Читать дальше...

The artistic scene of Szczecin, a German city until 1945, when it became Polish; plus a meeting with Turkish writer Nedim Gürsel; a look at Dominique Coulon, a committed architect; photographer Ellen von Unwerth is back in Bavaria; sociologists Luc Boltanski and Arnaud Esquerre engage in a severe criticism of capitalism; and a visit to Nantes, to the workshop of Phia Ménard.

Josie Muscat is no stranger to controversy, but the doctor and medical entrepreneur is keen to distance himself from his contentious past in the run-up to the general election.  The electoral candidate will reappear on the Nationalist Party ticket after a 30-year absence, and in this Times Talk interview he pledged loyalty to the PN and its dictums, regardless of his personal views. Dr Muscat explained what drove him to reenter the political fold, and the Żabbar native had some strong criticism for... Читать дальше...

Updated 5.03pm The Nationalist Party members of the Electoral Commission who agreed that voting documents would not be laminated were not expecting ink that could smudge so easily, deputy leader Beppe Fenech Adami told Times of Malta. He explained that the commission was caught on one foot when the snap election was called, and since the laminating machine was out of order, it was decided to rely on other security features in order to be able to prepare them in time. READ: Voting document security features up to scratch... Читать дальше...

A young driver involved in a traffic accident while driving his mother's car under the influence of drink, was ordered by a civil court today to fork out over €20,000 to an insurance company. Alexander Jan Edward Van Reeven had been driving his mother's car towards Vittoriosa after an evening out in Sliema on January 5, 2009 when the vehicle skidded and slammed into two cars parked in Għajn Dwieli Road, Paola. He made a police report claiming that his car had been stolen in Sliema, only later admitting the truth. Читать дальше...