Новости за 29.08.2018

The teachers’ union has instructed educators to “refrain” from sending material to the government printing press after an administrative decision to centralise photocopying in State schools. The government decided to enforce a 1995 circular by the Office of the Prime Minister stating that all printing by government departments must be done by the government printing press. In a directive published on its website this month, the Malta Union of Teachers said it had received no reply from the Education... Читать дальше...

Half a dozen policemen were kept busy apprehending a man who went swimming in his birthday suit in Balluta Bay on Wednesday afternoon. Eyewitnesses said the man ignored police orders to come ashore and officers - 'at least six' - then commandeered a boat, chased and apprehended him.

European Union Commissioner Guenther Oettinger warned Italy on Wednesday that it would face interest payments if it does not pay its budget contributions on time due to a row over migrant policy. Last week, Italy's Deputy Prime Minister Luigi Di Maio threatened to withhold next year's EU contributions if partners did not agree to take in rescued immigrants who were being held on a ship in an Italian port. Then on Monday, after only Ireland and Albania offered to help with the migrants, Di Maio said... Читать дальше...

Floriana have appointed Luis Oliveira as their new coach for the rest of the 2018/2019 BOV Premier League season, after sacking Nicolas Chiesa a couple of days ago.   Oliveira is set to guide the Greens for the second time after already steering Floriana to a fifth place in the 2015/2016 season. The former Belgium international will have a period of two weeks during which he will take a closer look at his roster before the Greens resume their domestic commitments against Hibernians, on September 14. Читать дальше...

Veteran British singer Cliff Richard, who won substantial damages in a privacy case ruling against the BBC last month, said on Wednesday he would release his first album of new material in 14 years, called "Rise Up". Making the announcement on the 60th anniversary of when he released his debut single "Move It", the 77-year-old said the record would come out in November and the title referenced "the bad period" he had recently endured. Last month, London's High Court ruled the BBC had breached his... Читать дальше...

The European Union's chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier said the bloc was prepared to offer Britain an unprecedentedly close relationship after it quits the EU, but it would not permit anything that weakened the body's single market. "We are prepared to offer Britain a partnership such as there never has been with any other third country," Barnier told reporters in Berlin on Wednesday after a meeting with German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, adding that that could include economic as well as foreign and security policy ties. Читать дальше...

On March 29, a planeload of people will arrive in Malta from a non-EU country – despite having departed three hours earlier from an EU member state.  This 'Cinderella flight’ from Heathrow to Malta International Airport is one of 10 identified by the UK Independent that will depart from a British airport on the eve of Brexit and land after the split has occurred. At the stroke of midnight on the night of March 28, these flights will cease to be intra-EU services under the ‘open skies agreement’ and become flights from outside the union. Читать дальше...

Fr Felix Cini, a Maltese priest convicted in Italy of molesting 17 children, is not a full-time priest and is not allowed to exercise his ministry in Malta, the Curia has said.In a statement, the Curia said Fr Cini was also not allowed to be in contact with minors or to work in any parish.“On occasions, Fr Cini requested permission to concelebrate mass. This was only granted in exceptional circumstances such as funerals of relatives and neighbours, and on special occasions. The last Mass he concelebrated... Читать дальше...

Gżira United added another foreigner to their squad as Deadline Day approaches after acquiring the services of Fernando Barbosa, who last year was with Birkirkara. Barbosa, 25, has put pen to paper on a two-year deal with the Maroons. He is most comfortable playing as a central defender, where Darren Abdilla can already bank on the likes of Prince Mambouana and Clifford Gatt Baldacchino. Last season, Barbosa played 16 games in all competitions for Birkirkara, and managed to score a goal in their... Читать дальше...

The last remaining stork from a flock of 18 that arrived in Malta just over two weeks ago has not been seen in days and is presumed dead, the Committee Against Bird Slaughter said. The organisation said the stork was last seen on Saturday at Magħtab, where the bird was regularly observed. The flock of 18 protected storks was targeted by poachers just a few hours after it arrived, after three were shot the same day. The flock continued to dwindle with a total of five storks confirmed shot within the first week after their arrival. Читать дальше...

Motorists were taken by surprise on Wednesday afternoon when they spotted a Toyota pick-up truck driving down the Coast Road with a long 'lance' sticking out its side. "I was driving down from the Coast Road and I saw a pick-up in front of me with 2 metal rods popping out from the side without anything on them to warn other drivers. If a motorbike or a pedestrian passed by who knows what could have happened," a reader told Times of Malta.   Times of Malta has provided road safety authorities with a copy of the original photo. Читать дальше...

The shadow minister for education, Clyde Puli, has slammed the government after the opening of a new primary school in Qawra was delayed by another year. "From a new school every year under the Nationalist government, we have ended up with a new school being postponed every year," Mr Puli said.  The state of affairs showed that rather than giving priority to investment in the children's future, the current government was only interested in grabbing what it could at the present.  Mr Puli recalled how three years ago... Читать дальше...

A number of awards, including for best male actor, best female actor, best director, best author and best overall production, are up for grabs this weekend during the first Cospicua Short Drama Festival. The festival, however, is not only about awards and prizes. Its main aim is the exposure of local talent, giving all participants the opportunity to showcase their abilities. The six plays focus on a number of themes. The productions are L-Abbandunati, Live-in, Kola tal-Ajru, Ir-Rużarju Mqaddes, Checkmate and Għażiż Trumpant. Читать дальше...

Scores of snorkellers braved driving rain this weekend to swim through a peat bog in the Welsh mountains in the annual World Bog Snorkelling Championships. Part of the World Alternative Games, the championship, held in the picturesque Cambrian Mountains of mid-Wales near the small town of Llanwrtyd Wells, has now been running for 33 years but this year proved one of the wettest and coldest on record.   To raucous applause from spectators on the banks, many clutching umbrellas and wearing wellington boots... Читать дальше...

Air Malta saw a 27 per cent increase in passengers on its Malta-based routes in July compared to the same month last year. The national airline said on Wednesday that it carried  228,982 passengers toand from Malta. It added that 8,000 passengers were also carried on its Catania-Vienna, Catania – London Southend and Cagliari – London Southend routes. Paul Sies, Air Malta’s chief commercial officer said the airline's growth strategy,that saw it expand to 21 new markets, was bearing fruit. "Forward... Читать дальше...

One of Malta's most eagerly-anticipated indie music events, Sickfest, is back on September 1 with a line-up featuring an eclectic mix of some of Malta's top alternative and electronic artists spread over five areas. This year's line-up comes with six live bands and 28 DJs, with a Live Stage hosted by Sick of Ants headlining Golden Apes, Align the Tide, Kill the Action, Fuzzhoneys and Eyes to Argus and supported by DJ Nightmare. The Dungeons & Drag area at The Orb is hosted by Lollipop, purveyors of Malta's biggest gay events... Читать дальше...

Some 200,000 people are to start receiving a tax refund from Thursday in terms of a government measure originally announced in the Budget. Finance Minister Edward Scicluna told a press conference that all those who earned up to €60,000 euro, including those who did not pay income tax because of their low income, would receive a cheque from the government according to their income.  Those who last year earned less than €15,000 would receive a cheque for €68. Those who earned between €15,000 and €60,000 would get between €40 and €50. Читать дальше...

A project to upgrade the two main roundabouts at Żebbuġ goes into its final stage as from Wednesday evening when Infrastructure Malta starts removing the existing road surface and laying new asphalt. The De Rohan Gate roundabout and the roundabout next to the St Dorothy’s School have been rebuilt in a new design to improve their safety and efficiency. The De Rohan Gate roundabout was upgraded with dedicated bypass lanes to reduce waiting times. The new design will also make it easier for Żebbuġ residents... Читать дальше...

Vessels ramming into each other; flares and rocks hurled. The trigger? Scallops. The French were furious when two boats from the UK began fishing near the Normandy coast, in international waters.  "French fishermen have quotas, we have permitted hours. The British don't have anything: they don't have quotas, it's seven days a week for them. They fill up. They come, they dredge, they fill up the hold and then they go home. British boats can legally gather scallops all year round, but French law only... Читать дальше...

A €300,000 blockchain and distributed ledger technology (DLT) scholarship fund has been announced for students specialising in ICT, law, finance and engineering.The scholarship fund, which will be split over three years, follows the signing of an agreement between the University of Malta and the Malta Information Technology Agency (MITA).Students starting their studies in the coming academic year can benefit from the scholarship for Master’s and PhD research dissertations related to blockchain and... Читать дальше...

Facebook has reportedly started giving users a secret trustworthiness score in its attempt to tackle fake news. According to the Washington Post, the score is partly based on users’ ability to correctly flag and report inaccurate news items on the site. Facebook then takes this score into account when working out how a user’s content should be spread around the network (although it doesn’t tell users what their score is). Why has Facebook started doing this? Following events such as the supposed... Читать дальше...

Turkey does not expect a big risk to the economy or financial system, the country's finance minister was quoted as saying on Wednesday, illustrating the deep divide between Ankara and global investors over a worsening currency crisis. The comments from Finance Minister Berat Albayrak, who is President Tayyip Erdogan's son-in-law, come as ratings agency Moody's sounded more alarm about the outlook for the banking sector and as data showed economic confidence at its lowest in nearly a decade. The lira... Читать дальше...

People are increasingly leading busy lives so they have very little time to shop around for services. A Maltese couple have developed a phone application which tries to solve this problem by acting as a link between people looking for services and the businesses offering them. The MyHurryApp, developed by Matthew and Raiza Borg Carr, is a mobile application through which consumers can reach out to service providers with just one click. Any service providers who can offer the service requested can then send back a notification to the app user... Читать дальше...

A 15-year-old girl was made to have sex with a 31-year-old restaurant worker after he threatened to publish nude photos and videos of her in a gruesome case of online grooming and child pornography. Mazhar Mushtaq, 31, from Pakistan, living in Qormi was charged on Wednesday with the rape of the 15-year-old girl, forcing her to participate in porn, participating in sexual activities with an underage girl through violence,  misuse of telecommunications equipment and producing child pornography. The... Читать дальше...

A beach bar on the Croatian island of Rab has found an unusual way of attracting pet owners - by organising a swimming contest for them and their dogs. About a dozen owners and their pets on Tuesday jumped from a boat moored about 100 metres off the Adriatic island, swam to shore and then jogged back to the bar. Ervina Kriskovic-Pahlina and her poodle Bonnie came first, to the owner's surprise. "My dog loves swimming a lot... but when I saw all those larger dogs in good shape lining up, I thought he doesn't stand a chance. Читать дальше...