Новости за 23.09.2021

A freezing order against a former senior official at Pilatus bank who owned no assets that had derived from suspect criminal activity would be “disproportionate” and prejudicial, a court has declared. This was the outcome of a decision delivered by Madam Justice Consuelo Scerri Herrera on Thursday presiding over an application by the Attorney General to have such freezing order issued against Pilatus bank, extended also to Claude-Ann Sant Fournier, former head of compliance and legal department at the bank. Читать дальше...

The African Union's health watchdog warned on Thursday that Britain's pandemic travel restrictions could make people across the continent more reluctant to get vaccinated. Under the restrictions, Britain only recognises vaccines administered in a few countries. For most of the world and all of Africa, Britain will not recognise locally-administered vaccines - even if the jabs came from Britain. "If you send us vaccines and you say, 'we don't recognise those vaccines', it sends a very challenging message for us," said John Nkengasong... Читать дальше...

Former supermodel Linda Evangelista says she has been permanently disfigured by a fat-reduction cosmetic procedure that backfired and caused her to look bloated and unrecognizable. Evangelista, 56, said she underwent "CoolSculpting" five years ago and that it had the rare side effect of causing her fat cells to increase rather than decrease. Evangelista's post on Instagram. Evangelista, a 1990s modelling icon from Canada who starred on catwalks with colleagues like Cindy Crawford and Naomi Campbell... Читать дальше...

Three former Anderlecht executives, a player agent and a British law firm have been charged in Belgium over suspected fraud in the 2017 sale of the club, a source confirmed to AFP on Thursday. The accused include Herman Van Holsbeeck, the former general manager of Belgium’s most successful club, and Belgian agent Christophe Henrotay who were already implicated in 2019 in another investigation into the transfer of Serbia striker Aleksandar Mitrovic to English club Newcastle.  The two-year investigation... Читать дальше...

If you have ever watched a film involving a police officer in training, you will have come across a scene at the shooting range, with the main protagonist wearing noise-cancelling headphones while relentlessly shooting a cardboard figure. Eleanor Bezzina’s training looks very similar to those scenes, except for the cardboard cut-out and The Eye of the Tiger blaring in the background. Eleanor Bezzina at the shooting range. Photo: Joanna Demarco Eleanor, one of the athletes who last month represented Malta at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games... Читать дальше...

University students will start returning to campus on Monday after it was confirmed they will have in-person lectures during the upcoming school year.  In a statement, the University of Malta said new students will "enjoy" the traditional Freshers’ Week organised by KSU on the quadrangle with lectures then starting on October 11. "An opening ceremony to herald the new academic year will be held on October 4," the university said after a senate meeting on Thursday.  Because of the pandemic, university... Читать дальше...

A man, who repeatedly blackmailed and raped a woman, threatening to tell her partner about their 'affair' unless she satisfied his sexual needs, was jailed for eight years by a court saying there was no place for him in society until he was truly rehabilitated.  David Xuereb, 48, a recidivist, was declared guilty of violent rape, violent indecent assault as well as stalking and harassing the victim, causing her to fear violence throughout the ordeal dating back to 2017. The two first met in July 2016 and after an initial chat... Читать дальше...

Prime Minister Robert Abela has condemned threats made against Manuel Delia and said that he was in contact Police Commissioner Angelo Gafa to ensure the activist’s safety. The statement came in reply to questions sent by Times of Malta on Thursday, after Delia said he would be leaving Malta after being threatened by people accused of complicity in Daphne Caruana Galizia’s murder. A spokesperson for the office of the Prime Minister said that Abela “not only condemns any form of threats but is... Читать дальше...

Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi on Thursday announced measures worth three billion euros to keep gas and electricity bills down this winter as power prices soar across Europe. He told the Confindustria employers association the measures would particularly target the poorest and most vulnerable. "In the absence of government intervention, in the next quarter the price of electricity could increase by around 40 per cent, and that of gas by 30 per cent," Draghi said. "For this reason, we have... Читать дальше...

Lewis Hamilton on Thursday dismissed rivals’ suggestions that he exaggerated his injuries after the Italian Grand Prix and said he used acupuncture and yoga to recover for this weekend’s Russian Grand Prix. Hamilton also suggested that Max Verstappen could be feeling the pressure of chasing a first title. Hamilton, a seven-time champion, escaped from his damaged Mercedes at Monza 11 days ago after Verstappen’s Red Bull landed on his cockpit. Continue reading this article on Sports Desk. 

Romelu Lukaku says football must take “stronger” action in the fight against racism, questioning the impact of players taking the knee before Premier League matches. Lukaku’s Chelsea team-mate Marcos Alonso this week explained his decision to stop making the gesture, deciding instead to stand and point to the “No To Racism” badge on his shirt. Last season, Crystal Palace forward Wilfried Zaha stopped taking the knee, labelling it “degrading” and opting to stand instead. Continue reading this article on Sports Desk. Читать дальше...

Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi on Thursday announced measures worth three billion euros to keep gas and electricity bills down this winter as power prices soar across Europe. He told the Confindustria employers association the measures, equivalent to $3.5 billion, would particularly target the poorest and most vulnerable. "In the absence of government intervention, in the next quarter the price of electricity could increase by around 40 percent, and that of gas by 30 percent," Draghi said. Читать дальше...

An artist has replaced the Maltese flag at the national art museum with one missing the George Cross, putting colonial symbolism and national identity in the spotlight. Keit Bonnici's new guerilla performance piece has two names: ‘In dependence’ or ‘Għandna salib’. He designed a flag exactly the same size as that hanging in one of the corridors at MUŻA. However, it has one key difference. His design eliminated the George Cross from the white field and replaced it with a red squarish border. Bonnici... Читать дальше...

Conor Borg is set for a return to the Maltese Premier League after the midfielder has agreed terms to rejoin Sirens, the Times of Malta can confirm. The 24-year-old midfielder had played for Sirens last season and was expected to again form part of the St Paul’s Bay outfit this season and in fact had started pre-season with the club. But then Borg decided to continue his career abroad when he was offered the chance to join United Arab Emirates club Ras Al Khaimah. Borg was lured to the Middle... Читать дальше...

Maltese forward Ylenia Carabott will resume her career in English football as she is set to sign for Keynsham Town LFC. Keynsham Town LFC is a third-tier team which plays in the Women’s National League – Premier Division, which includes notable teams like Southampton and Portsmouth. Carabott has been recovering from a long-term injury that sidelined her for the past eight months, forcing her to miss the final part of the Belgian top-flight with RCSC Charleroi and several international appointments with the Malta women’s national team. Читать дальше...

Lawyers assisting murder suspect Adrian Agius (Ta' Maksar) are challenging the notion of public disorder as a ground for denying bail, requesting a constitutional reference which, if upheld, would suspend criminal proceedings.  Arguments about this latest application brought to a close another session in the ongoing compilation of evidence against Adrian Agius, his brother Robert, Jamie Vella and George Degiorgio who were present in court on Thursday. The two Ta’ Maksar brothers were arrested... Читать дальше...

The health authorities are carrying out about 2,300 COVID tests daily, according to the latest EU figures as the positivity rate drops to the lowest rate since June. The Maltese health authorities stopped providing details on the number of tests carried out earlier this month when they decided the focus should be shifted to the number of people hospitalised with the virus. Asked why the authorities stopped providing this information, public health chief Charmaine Gauci directed people to the ECDC data, which she said is publicly available. Читать дальше...

The number of people planning to buy or rent a residential property has declined since the beginning of the year. A PricewaterhouseCoopers Malta survey carried out in June found that 45 per cent of those questioned had plans to buy, a drop from 58 per cent in January.  As for those in the market for a rental property, the drop was from 16 per cent in January to 11 per cent in June. In January, 26 per cent of respondents said they had no plans to rent or buy in the near future but that figure went up to 44 per cent by June. Читать дальше...

UEFA has doubled prize money for the 2022 Women’s European Championship in England, the continent’s governing body for football announced on Thursday. The 16 qualified teams will share a total of 16 million euros ($18.7m), up from just eight million euros at the last Euro in the Netherlands in 2017. “The financial distribution will include increased guaranteed amounts and performance-based bonuses for the group stage,” UEFA said following a meeting of its executive committee in the Moldovan capital Chisinau. Читать дальше...

The European Union announced on Thursday that it will impose a universal charger for smartphones, setting up a clash with Apple and its widely used iPhone. The European Commission believes a standard cable for all devices will cut back on electronic waste, but Apple argues that a one-size-fits all charger would slow innovation and create more pollution. The bloc is home to 450 million people, some of the world's richest consumers, and the imposition of the USB-C as a cable standard, once approved by member states and the European Parliament... Читать дальше...

Democracy is not a commodity, but a way of life that we have to acquire day by day, Judge Emeritus Giovanni Bonello told students at an event organised by civil society NGO Repubblika.  Bonello compared democracy to oxygen, noting that people only realised how important it was when it became scarce. He added that people were born with human rights - no government or institution could give people human rights, however, they could deprive them of their rights. "Human rights can only survive through... Читать дальше...

A 71-year-old man was grievously injured in a fall from a ladder on Thursday. The police said the accident happened at a residence in Triq id-Duluri, Żejtun. The man was given assistance by members of the Civil Protection Department as well as first aid by a medical team. He was then taken to Mater Dei hospital by ambulance. The police are investigating.

Hollywood movie set designer Peter Howitt - who moved to Malta in the 1970s and “mentored many theatre people” -  has passed away at the age of 93. Howitt, a four-time Oscar nominee, was the man who created the sets of many classic movies, familiar to most around the globe, that include the Indiana Jones films, Braveheart, Mission: Impossible, Superman and Superman II, and the 1974 Great Gatsby. When he moved to Malta in the 1970s, first living in Gozo, he continued working his magic within the... Читать дальше...

Art, drama and music at primary level are being treated like “dispensable” subjects, as specialised teachers are being pulled away to replace generalist educators for the second year in a row, according to an education professor. Raphael Vella, Associate Professor in Art Education at the University of Malta’s Faculty of Education was responding to an education ministry call asking for peripatetic teachers to shift to generalised teaching. Peripatetic teachers move from school to school to teach subjects such as art, music, PSD and science. Читать дальше...

Science in the City is returning on Friday with an action-packed hybrid format, featuring online events and a ‘real-world’ programme celebrating the arts and sciences in Valletta. The festival has become a much sought-after national event. A survey in 2019 commissioned by Esplora/MCST revealed that nearly every three in four people in Malta knew about the festival and nearly half the population had attended.  Last year, the event was held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was again a success... Читать дальше...