Новости за 16.11.2017

A Catholic priest is mediating a potential political exit for Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe, although the 93-year-old is insisting he can only be removed via a party leadership vote, political and intelligence sources said on Thursday. Separately, opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, who has been receiving cancer treatment outside Zimbabwe, returned to Harare late on Wednesday, a party spokesman said, fuelling speculation about a post-Mugabe political settlement. The military took over Zimbabwe yesterday... Читать дальше...

Alicia, a film by Shirley Spiteri Mintoff is one the winners in this year's Gold Knight Film Festival. This year over 300 entries were received from 30 countries for the Golden Knight Film Festival. A team of six assessors were kept busy during the past weeks sifting through all the entries until they came up with the best 30 productions to be forwarded to the final judging, which took place last week. The jury awards a golden knight to the best five productions and highly commended certificates... Читать дальше...

European car sales rose 5.9% in October, according to industry data published on Thursday, with Renault and Toyota leading the gains among volume carmakers. Registrations advanced to 1.208 million cars in the European Union and European Free Trade Area from 1.17 million a year earlier, Brussels-based industry association ACEA said. The gain takes the European market expansion this year to 3.8%. Toyota's monthly sales jumped 20.5%, while France's Renault posted a 17.6% increase in group registrations... Читать дальше...

Banners highlighting Daphne Caruana Galizia's last published words before her murder exactly a month ago, appeared in Malta's streets overnight. "The situation is desperate," the yellow banners say. The words 'There are crooks everywhere. The situation is desperate' have been used a slogan in the protests which have accumulated since her murder.  The controversial blogger was killed in a car bomb as she drove out of her house on the afternoon of October 16. The European Parliament in a strong vote yesterday... Читать дальше...

Leading hotel chain Marriott International has threatened SmartCity and the developers of luxury apartments with legal action over the unauthorised use of its name. A spokesman for Marriott International told Times of Malta that the chain had no intention to open a hotel at SmartCity, as the promoters of the residential development claimed in publicity material. In a colourful, 36-page PowerPoint presentation, the promoters of the upmarket development called The Shoreline, claim the apartments will... Читать дальше...

Good morning. The following are the top stories in Malta's newspapers today. Times of Malta reports that the use of antibiotics in Malta's hospitals tops the list in Europe. The newspaper, and In-Nazzjon, also highlight the strong European Parliament vote on a resolution calling for EU monitoring of the rule of law in Malta.  The Malta Independent highlights that libel damages will not be increased in the revamped media law, and registration of media will be voluntary. l-orizzont and In-Nazzjon take... Читать дальше...

CAMILLERI. On November 13, at Mater Dei Hospital, ERIKA MARIA, of Sliema, aged 43, passed away peacefully, comforted by the rites of Holy Church. She leaves to mourn her loss her parents Maureen and Joseph, her brother Karl and her niece Madleine, uncles, aunts, cousins, other relatives and all her friends. The funeral leaves Mater Dei Hospital tomorrow, Friday, November 17, at 1.30pm for Sacro Cuor parish church, Sliema, where Mass præsente cadavere will be said at 2pm, followed by interment in... Читать дальше...

As the economy keeps going at breakneck speed, there would seem to be no deep reflection, much less well thought-out plans, to ensure sustainability and action to cope with the impact development is having on the lives of the population as the workforce keeps growing to feed expansion. Even though little tangible progress has been made in the drive to develop new economic niches, the rapid expansion of the existing sectors is creating a set of key challenges that would need to be met if the country... Читать дальше...

May I appeal to the Maltese website commentators to, please, write their responses to the content in the language in which the content is written? By that I mean it would be helpful to all readers if they were written in English. I am well aware that, after my being here for so long, I should be fluent in Maltese. But even with the aid of a dictionary I find some of the comments impossible to read. Or to make sense. And my Maltese friends who speak good English sometimes translate these offerings in different ways. Читать дальше...

It is a blessing that Revel Barker wags his tail on rare occasions. Every time he opens his mouth he puts his foot in it. He brags of having been once an investigative reporter. He accepts no denial. In his letter, he plunges immediately into the theme of corruption. The crux of the matter are the corrupt politicians and the lack of freedom of the press, if not of speech. He makes it sound as if corrupt politicians have been around as long as he has been in Malta. He says that Daphne Caruana Galizia’s... Читать дальше...

Tomorrow, the Summit for Fair Jobs and Growth will take place in Gothenburg, Sweden. As hosts, we have both long argued that the European Union should put greater emphasis on improving the living and working conditions of our citizens. This is the first social summit in 20 years and a meeting unique in its kind, as it brings together heads of State or government from EU Member States, leaders of the EU institutions, as well as social partners and civil society. Europe has faced many challenges over the last decade. Читать дальше...

I refer to the item titled ‘Rotting away’ in the On the Dot column (November 6). I am pleased to inform readers that the canopy has been removed, as this photograph shows.

Revel Barker’s statement that “In Malta, the majority of people don’t have opinions, they have parties”, in his contribution entitled ‘You can’t handle truth’ (October 21), hit the nail on its head. When we define democracy as “government of the people, by the people and for the people” it is being implied that the people, rather than parties, have a say in what goes on in society. However, in Malta, the majority of us are so enslaved to what the parties promote and uphold that many of us are unable to form an objective, unbiased opinion. Читать дальше...

In mid-July, I had published an article explaining the expected bond issuance programme during the summer months after the Malta Stock Exchange had issued an indicative listing calendar. In that article I had mentioned that two of the expected upcoming five bonds were already known to investors (the €6 million bond by Central Business Centres plc and the €15 million bond by Grand Harbour Marina plc) while the identity of the other three bond issues were still unknown. These bonds have now all been... Читать дальше...

Airbus landed its biggest ever airliner deal yesterday with an agreement to sell 430 planes worth up to $50 billion to US budget airlines investor Bill Franke. The preliminary deal for A320neo narrowbody jets was signed at the Dubai Airshow and offers a major boost to Airbus, which has lagged archrival Boeing in deals this year. It also ensures veteran sales chief John Leahy retires on a high in the coming months. But Boeing immediately hit back with a provisional agreement to sell 175 planes to budget airline flydubai. Читать дальше...

Suppose you can’t help suspect that, behind all this European fuss about our rule of law and financial services, there lie some hypocritical international interests. You’re sure they are using certain issues of genuine moral concern as a pretext to push their own national agendas at our expense. How would you go about flushing them out with solid arguments? One way would be to demonstrate that Malta’s leaders have stood up, time and again, for rigorous standards. Admittedly, it would be a challenge to do that with Adrian Delia... Читать дальше...

This is what one of my constituents told me as I was visiting one of our Nationalist Party clubs: egoism is a civil right. Faced with such a blank statement, I must admit that I found it difficult to answer. So I am going to give my answer in this article, hoping also to show where I stand on these issues. In this day and age a trend has started to set in, in which individual interest replaces the common good. The end result is a culture summed up by what one constituent affirmed: “We only live once... Читать дальше...

The Caruana Galizia murder has served to focus attention on the state of the press in Malta. A lot of exaggeration and incorrect information has been published about this issue but it has helped to highlight certain problems that afflict the press in Malta and which need to be urgently addressed. Let me start with the politicisation of the press in Malta. Obviously, we did not need the European Parliament’s PANA Committee to make us aware of something that has been obvious for many years. Many of... Читать дальше...