Новости за 06.11.2017

The Malta Employers' Association has called for a plan on how the country’s economy is to move forward in the coming years particularly as foreign workers continue to flow into the island. The MEA said today that the Malta Council for Economic and Social Development should conduct a demographic study to determine what demographic changes Malta could handle in a short span of time. Director-General Joe Farrugia said that while the economy was moving forward there was a need for a strategic plan to... Читать дальше...

Unknown Maltese derivations of the fairy tale Cinderella can shed light on women’s histories, uncovering the voices of persecuted women in the early 1900s, a study has found. In the story of il-Germudija (the Sooty One), cultural anthropologist and historian Veronica Veen discovered a “very deviant variant” of the fairy tale that echoes the lived experiences of young women in Malta and Gozo. Her book, ‘The Maltese Cinderella and the women’s storytelling tradition’, is due out soon. In it she “sheds... Читать дальше...

Matsec exam fees have been halved, in line with a commitment made in the Budget, the Education Ministry said today. Applications for the exams opened today. The exams will be free of charge as from next year. O and A level past papers were made available free of charge a few weeks ago.

Headmaster Kenneth Vella recently visited schools in Tampere, Finland, a country which has made huge progress in education over the past few years. There, he interviewed the country’s Minister of Education, Sanni Grahn-Laasonen. What do you consider the secrets of your success in education both at local and international levels? For one, we have highly educated, skilled and motivated teachers. The teaching profession is respected and popular in Finland. At all school levels, teachers are highly qualified and committed. Читать дальше...

A convicted drug trafficker has had his punishment reduced on appeal on the grounds that he had not benefited from a lower punishment as envisaged by law owing to an erroneous entry in the records of the case. Justin Zahra, 30, had been found guilty of trafficking cannabis in 2007. He had also been found guilty of possession of cannabis resin, cocaine and ecstasy. The accused was condemned to a jail term of 3 years and a fine of €5,000, prompting the man to file an appeal arguing that the punishment... Читать дальше...

Two men who chased a gunman after he killed 26 in a Texas church yesterday have been hailed as heroes. Local man, Johnnie Langendorff  was driving by the Sutherland Springs church as the shooting was taking place. He helped another local resident chase the gunman after he fled.   A local resident with a rifle fired at the suspect as he left the church. The gunman dropped his Ruger assault weapon and fled in his vehicle, said Freeman Martin, regional director of the Texas Department of Public Safety. Читать дальше...

A green scooter, black suitcase and shoulder massage machine were among the lost items handed into police by conscientious citizens between July and September.  The latest list of lost and found items published in the Government Gazette features plenty of wallets, mobile phones and iPad tablets, but also a few more unusual finds.  Somebody managed to lose a drone back in July, with someone else forgetting a wetsuit and googles behind them back in August. But those losses pale in comparison to the... Читать дальше...

European Union finance ministers will on Tuesday discuss setting up a blacklist of worldwide tax havens, EU officials said, after leaked documents from an offshore law firm exposed new high-profile cases of tax avoidance. The decision to include the subject in the monthly meeting's agenda came after the publication over the weekend in several media of the so-called Paradise Papers, a trove of leaked financial documents mostly from law firm Appleby that exposed dealings with tax havens by top public figures. Читать дальше...

German police rushed to the scene when a worried resident found what he thought was a Second World War bomb in his garden, only to find a particularly large courgette. Police were summoned to the scene in Bretten, near the south-western city of Karlsruhe, by a worried 81-year-old man. They determined "the object, which really did look very like a bomb", was actually a 41cm courgette. The offending vegetable, which was dark, weighed about 5kg. Police believe someone threw it over a hedge into the garden.

Six-year-old Metallic Beat, won yesterday’s major event at the Marsa Racetrack. This was the Johnnie Walker Cup final for class Gold trotters on a short distance of 2140m. This race formed part of the 46th meeting of the season made up of ten races all for trotters. In the class Gold final took part twelve horses. Metallic Beat (Julian Farrugia) was the fastest horse at first, opening a small lead from Cummin (Clint Vassallo) and J.C. Memory (Rodney Gatt). With a lap to go it was Gatt who took the... Читать дальше...

Air Malta’s flight KM613 en route from Rome to Malta airport is being delayed due to extra security checks after a threat was received regarding this flight by Italian Police. The airline said that passengers on KM612/613 and their luggage were currently being  checked. No information was given on the type of threat received. The flight was scheduled to leave Fiumicino at 10.10am and arrive in Malta at 11.35am. It is currently being shown as delayed until 1.45pm.

The Inquisitor’s archives reveal that a Carmelite nun became pregnant in 1730 and tried to have an abortion, while nuns at the Monastery of Santa Scholastica were accused of scandalous and pagan behaviour, one nun being accused of having sexual intercourse with the Devil. These are just some of the stories in a book just published called Women in 18th Century Malta. “Maltese women in the 18th century were not personally very much directly involved in any great movements or major political events. Читать дальше...

Feminism of the 1960s-70s has advanced the cause of women, but has it also had perverse effects? According to essayist Laura Kipnis, true 'sexual paranoia' reigns on US  campuses. But digital consultant and blogger Anne Wizorek reminds us that we still have far to go before living in a truly equal society. "

This year is set to be among the three warmest since records began in the 19th century, the head of the UN's weather agency said at the start of a 200-nation conference on slowing climate change in Bonn, Germany. Petteri Taalas, Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organization, said that 2017 would be slightly cooler than a record 2016. "2017 is going to be among the three warmest years on record," he said in a speech to delegates. That would put it roughly level with average surface temperatures in 2015.

A one-day seminar will give participants a deep insight into the best ways to grow their online audience and improve their online identity. One of the world's top digital transformation experts will be the main speaker at the seminar titled 'Beyond Facebook: Understanding your audience in the digital world'. Esra Dogramaci is senior editor for digital at German public broadcaster Deutsche Welle. She has significant experience in digital transformation across news and business including audience development and strategy. Читать дальше...

An anti-corruption probe that has purged Saudi Arabian royals, ministers and businessmen appeared to be widening today after the founder of one of the kingdom's biggest travel companies was reportedly detained. The Saudi stock index was down 1.1 percent in early trade, and Al Tayyar Travel plunged 10 percent in the opening minutes after the company quoted media reports as saying board member Nasser bin Aqeel al-Tayyar had been held by authorities. The company gave no details but online economic news service SABQ... Читать дальше...

The judge presiding over Panama Papers appeals has put off the hearing until a related constitutional suit has been concluded. Simon Busuttil filed a constitutional suit last month, claiming that judge Antonio Mizzi’s refusal to abstain from hearing appeals concerning the case violated his right to a fair hearing. Mr Justice Mizzi this morning said that the court was putting off hearing the appeals indefinitely, until those constitutional proceedings were exhausted. The whole saga began in July,... Читать дальше...

HSBC has pledged to provide $100 billion in financing and investment by 2025 to help combat climate change, the bank said today. HSBC said it will facilitate financial flows to help boost support for clean energy and lower carbon technologies. "This will involve direct lending, bonds and project finance, alongside new products in asset management," an HSBC spokesman said. Over recent years, HSBC has helped develop standards for issuers of green bonds and has issued its own €500 million green bond.

A man from Swieqi will soon be arraigned in court in connection with the find of 31,860 contraband cigarettes following a Customs Department operation. The man was under surveillance by department officials for several hours before they intercepted him delivering 31,000 cigarettes to a garage in San Ġwann T’Għuxa in Cospicua. The contraband and his Peugeot van were both confiscated. A further 860 cigarettes were found in his residence. The owner of the garage in Cospicua was found to be in possession... Читать дальше...

Malta has made some progress in narrowing attainment gaps between men and women but remains the EU's second-worst performer in terms of gender equality, the 2017 Global Gender Gap Report shows.  The report, published by the World Economic Forum, measures gaps between genders within countries without focusing on levels of development. Countries' rankings are therefore dependent primarily on the scores of other countries, rather than a country's individual progress over time.  Malta's scores on all... Читать дальше...

During the past five years Tesla’s stock price has climbed from $30 per share to $385 per share this year. That represent a 1,000% plus gain in less than five years. What is even more impressive is that to-date Tesla has not returned a single cent of profit and that its cash burn is astounding. Concerns are mounting that unless Tesla successfully manages to transfer brilliant ideas into brilliant product quickly, the future may not be as exciting as the past. So what is holding back Tesla? The Model... Читать дальше...

A Belgian judge has granted conditional release to sacked Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont and four of his ministers, and the group is scheduled to appear at court within 15 days, Belgian prosecutors said today. Puigdemont, who turned himself in to Belgian police after Spain issued a European arrest warrant for rebellion and misuse of public funds, is barred from leaving Belgium without a judge's consent. "The next step in the proceedings is the appearance of the five defendants before the Chambre... Читать дальше...

The annual recipe book Tisjir Mill-Qalb 2017 is out for sale today, raising money for the Malta Community Chest Fund. Apart from a celebration of culinary delights, the publication recognises all those Maltese chefs who have sought a future away from the island’s shores and yet remained loyal to their roots. "This year’s edition of Tisjir mill-Qalb is an expression of gratitude to all those who have throughout history continued to perpetuate whatever defines the Maltese nation," the Office of the President said. Читать дальше...

Researchers from the Marine Ecology Research Group at the Department of Biology of the University of Malta have documented the presence of stony coral in Maltese harbours for the first time, observing sizeable colonies on jetties. “The Mediterranean Sea is notorious for invasion by non-native biota, resulting in an ever-increasing number of alien species recorded from this sea, including in Maltese waters. Nevertheless, when a new species is recorded, it is not always due to a recent introduction... Читать дальше...

US.President Donald Trump today said America stood with ally Japan against the North Korean "menace" and that Washington would work with Tokyo to sort out problems on trade between the world's biggest and third-largest economies. Speaking after a summit with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Tokyo, Trump repeated his mantra that the "era of strategic patience" was over, and that the two countries were working to counter the "dangerous aggressions" of the North Korean regime. Trump is on the second... Читать дальше...