Athleta stun Virtus to retain title

January 24, 2016, 3:01 pm

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Falken Cynergi Virtus 84Gżira Athleta 98 (17-27, 27-23, 21-13, 19-35) Athleta captured the BOV Cup for the fourth year in a row after beating Virtus in an entertaining final at the Ta’ Qali Pavilion, yesterday. Both teams reached a high level of performance throughout the decider. However, it was Joe Galea’s team who left the court with a broad smile on their faces after denying Virtus a clean sweep this season. Athleta’s victory was deserved. They held an edge underneath the boards with Lee Fisher, Michael Naudi and Nicolai Lub-rano making their mark by winning several rebounds in attack... This article is part of our premium content. Full story is available on Times of Malta Premium.

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Maroons leave it late to beat Lija

January 24, 2016, 3:01 pm

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Lija Athletic 1Gżira United 3 Two goals in the last four minutes gave Gżira United an important win that moved them three points clear of Ħamrun Spartans at the top. The result was harsh on Lija who played their hearts out and could have gone ahead when the score was still 1-1. Both sides were without their influential foreigners. Gżira had Raphael Kooh Sohna unavailable while Erjon Beu was suspended for Lija. Gżira’s early pressure paid off on 15 minutes. Clayton Giordimaina clipped Yanis Tonna in the box and a penalty was given. Moises Avila Perez sent the keeper the wrong way to score... This article is part of our premium content. Full story is available on Times of Malta Premium.

Vet on perjury charge over long-running Gozo sheep case

January 24, 2016, 3:01 pm

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The government’s veterinary surgeon in Gozo is facing perjury charges in the case of the controversial decision to cull an entire flock of sheep. Frank Galea, 57, from Victoria, appeared before Magistrate Joseph Mifsud in the Gozo Court and denied having given false evidence during civil proceedings in which a farmer challenged the authorities’ decision to slaughter his sheep. Dr Galea has pleaded not guilty. Criminal action was taken after shepherd Gianni Attard filed a complaint with the police claiming Dr Galea had lied under oath while testifying on three occasions during court proceedings related to his application to stop the culling of 220 unregistered sheep. In November 2012, the authorities had culled 216 of the sheep while Mr Attard was under arrest at the Victoria police station in connection with a registration issue involving the animals. Mr Attard had filed an urgent application in an attempt to stop the Department of Veterinary Services from slaughtering the animals. The culled sheep, estimated to cost in the region of €520,000, had been tested and none was found to be sick. Magistrate Josette Demicoli, however, ruled that the action was justified to safeguard...

Sant: Time has come for strategic review of the European project

January 24, 2016, 9:49 pm

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Former Prime Minister Alfred Sant has told the European Parliament that the time has come for a strategic review of the European project. "We need a strategic reflection regarding the assumptions, not the values, the models not the methods, of the European project. Among others, the reach and soft power of the Union; a new design for political coherence in Europe; immigration policies; the effects of globalisation; the mix of state and private sector; not least in the areas of job creation." Dr Sant made this intervention at the European Parliament in Strasbourg during the plenary debate ‘Review of the Luxembourg Presidency’ which focused on Luxembourg's role as it occupied the rotating six month Council presidency. Dr Sant said that the results of national elections over the past six months showed that European peoples may have realized the need for this strategic review. "Clearly, when you operate in fire fighting mode, as Europe has been doing over the past months, there is no time to undertake strategic reviews. Yet the signs are that the time has also come for such reviews. Dr Sant said that in the second half of 2015, the Luxembourg Presidency and the European Commission...

New IS video shows Paris attackers committing earlier atrocities

January 24, 2016, 9:55 pm

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New video released by Islamic State (IS) shows the extremists who carried out the terror attacks in Paris committing atrocities in IS-controlled territory while plotting the slaughter in the French capital that left 130 people dead. The 17-minute video shows the extent of the planning that went into the multiple attacks in Paris, which French authorities have said from the beginning were organised in Syria. The video was provided online by the SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors jihadi websites, and in it IS - also known as Daesh - also threatens to attack other countries including Britain. All nine militants seen in the video died in the Paris attacks or their aftermath. Seven of the attackers - four from Belgium and three from France - spoke fluent French. The two others - identified by their noms de guerre as Iraqis - spoke in Arabic. Seven of the militants, including a 20-year-old who was the youngest of the group, were filmed standing behind bound captives, described as "apostates," who were either beheaded or shot. "Soon on the Champs-Elysees," says Samy Amimour, who was raised in a Paris suburb near the French national stadium, as he holds a captive's head aloft. The...

Press digest

January 24, 2016, 10:13 pm

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The following are the top stories in the Maltese newspapers today. Times of Malta says a vet is facing a perjury charge over the long-running Gozo sheep case.  The newspaper also reports that rural policy changes have allowed the planning authority to approve a permit outside development zone within a Natura 2000 site and the buffer area protecting the Dingli coastal cliffs. The Malta Independent leads with Valletta council's plans for Cafe Premier's future including meeting halls and a courtyard to be used for exhibitions and an area for a night and day centre, clinic and library. In-Nazzjon gives prominence to the return of the Malta waterpolo team from Belgrade where it took part in the European championship. It also says that in a year, four reports condemning Joseph Muscat were issued.   l-orizzont leads with Joseph Muscat's comment that he would tackle governance issued head-on. It also says that the owner of a legal zoo is calling for updated rules on care of exotic animals.

Early Carnival gets underway in Venice

January 24, 2016, 10:41 pm

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Venice has celebrated the first full day of Carnival with a parade of brightly-decorated boats through the city's canals.  Scores of boats representing different organizations, or maybe none at all, paraded through the city's waterways to mark the first full day of the annual celebration. They were cheered on by revelers who had come from all over the world for the party. The Venice Carnival had fallen into decline but was revived in 1979 and has now become one of the most famous in the world, filling the city with colorful costumes and smiles.

Obama keen to get out of 'the bubble' - reflects on his achievements

January 24, 2016, 10:50 pm

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US President Barack Obama says he would not run for a third term even if he could. Speaking in an interview airing on CBS, he said his wife Michelle would not let him. The presidency took a toll on family life, he said, and the office "should be continually renewed by new energy and new ideas". Mr Obama said he was not yearning for a third term (which is not possible anyway) because he was confident that things were a lot better in the United States than when he came into office. Mr Obama said that what made him happiest about his presidency ending next January was a chance to get out of what he called the "the bubble" - the tight security controls over his travels outside the White House. The bubble was  "the hardest thing about the presidency" he said. See the interview below

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No reports of casualties, major damage after Spain earthquake

January 24, 2016, 11:40 pm

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There were no immediate reports of any casualties or major damage across Spain's southern coast early today after an earthquake of magnitude 6.3 struck about 162 km (100 miles) southeast of Malaga. The quake hit at 5.22am, the Spanish National Geographic Institute said, and was followed by six lesser aftershocks. The U.S. Geological Survey had earlier reported the tremor had a magnitude of 6.6 and was registered at 33 km (20 miles) deep. Emergency services in the southern region of Andalucia said in a statement on their Twitter feed they had received 250 calls from alarmed residents. The tremors and aftershocks were felt throughout the region, including in the cities of Malaga, Cordoba, Seville and Granada. In Melilla, a Spanish enclave on the Moroccan coast, emergency services said they had received more than 200 calls from people warning of damage to properties. Schools would remain shut on Monday so buildings could be inspected. Media in Melilla said power was being restored to areas where it had been cut.

ODZ development benefits from an amended policy

January 25, 2016, 12:19 am

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Rural policy changes have allowed the planning authority to approve a permit outside development zone within a Natura 2000 site and the buffer area protecting the Dingli coastal cliffs, documents show. The application, submitted by architect Charles Buhagiar, a Labour MP, sought to sanction the construction of an agricultural store and reservoir at Tal-Pitkali area. This is designated as a zone of high landscape value, a special area of conservation of international importance and having ecological and scientific significance. The July 2014 changes to the rural policy has led to a string of developments in ODZ. What was occurring in the north, next to the Red Tower in Mellieħa (see picture), was a sample of how rural areas were being bombarded with development applications based on the new rural policy, environmentalists have noted. The original application by Mr Buhagiar was submitted in January 2006. However, the application did not include drawings showing the proposed development, in line with the policy at the time, and proof that the development to be sanctioned was built prior to 1967. He also failed to provide photos confirming an illegal canopy, parapet wall and...

Woman is separated from guide dog following report

January 25, 2016, 1:19 am

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A visually-impaired woman feels as if she were forced back into a life of disability after her guide dog was taken away from her by the Malta Guide Dogs Foundation. Bridget Micallef, 47, was thrilled to have received her first guide dog, Barbie, in December 2014. Ms Micallef credits guide dog Barbie with transforming her life completely by offering an incredible sense of confidence, independence and freedom. However, like a bolt from the blue, the guide dog was removed from her 10 months later after a report drawn up by a Swedish trainer decided there was no bond between the animal and the handler. “I broke down. For me it was as if my whole world had stopped,” Ms Micallef told this newspaper. “It was like my little baby. I was living a dream for 10 months and I was suddenly awakened.” Ms Micallef and her family are insisting the report is inaccurate. They also decried the way matters were being handled. Barbie was given to Ms Micallef in a “graduation ceremony” which was held at the Helen Keller Regional Centre, in Messina after two weeks of solid training. At the time, the Malta Guide Dog Foundation had issued a statement, quoting its orientation and mobility instructor...

Reporters banned from opening of MCESD meetings

January 25, 2016, 1:46 am

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Reporters were stopped from covering a meeting of the Malta Council for Economic and Social Development earlier today. Council chairman John Bencini said a vote had been taken to no longer allow journalists to sit in on the first half of the meeting. Instead, he said, reporters would have to wait until after the meeting. The decision was taken after a council member claimed to have been misreported by an undisclosed media organisation. The council is meeting to discuss the results of increased efforts to tackle employment for persons with disabilities.   Public sector employment of persons with disability over the past three years has already equalled that of the previous six years combined. Governemnt figures, seen by this newspaper, show that 215 people found public sector jobs between 2013 and 2015, the same number as those employed by the State between 2006 and 2012. Last week this newspaper reported that the number of people with disabilities employed in the private sector had more than tripled by the end of last year compared to 2014. The increase had followed a government pledge to enforce penalties against businesses who refused to give disabled people jobs. Some 350...

Updated - Serbs arraigned, granted bail, after drugs find

January 25, 2016, 1:49 am

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Two Serbs have been granted bail after pleading not guilty to possessing substantial amounts of ecstasy, cocaine and cannabis. The discovery was made late on Saturday by policemen on patrol who noticed Tatjana Tesic, 50, and Srdan Stevanovic, 34, acting suspiciously in a car in St Paul's Bay. As the police approached, the car drove off at high speed. The police gave chase and intercepted the vehicle at Triq Dawret il-Gżejjer. The two were charged with aggravated possession, with Ms Tesic being found in possession of 13.5 grams of cannabis grass and 11 ecstasy pills in her handbag. A sachet of cocaine was found in her St Paul's Bay apartment. Mr Stevanovic was found in possession of 47 grams of cannabis grass, 3.3 grams of cannabis resin and 45 ecstasy pills. Prosecuting officer Nikolai Sant objected to the defence counsel's request for bail, arguing that both were non-EU nationals, making it very difficult for them to be traced were they to abscond. Lawyer Giannella de Marco pointed out that Ms Tesic, who works as an interior designer, had been living in Malta for the past 14 years and had a daughter who was married to a Maltese national. She also had a fixed residence in St...

Public consultation to focus on ways to rein in junk mail

January 25, 2016, 1:57 am

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Junk mail is a nuisance but addressing the issue is a balancing act between safeguarding jobs and reducing waste, the Environment Minister said this morning. Leo Brincat was speaking at the opened a public consultation over ways to tackle the large volumes of unsolicited mail. The process will last two months and will be followed by meetings with stakeholders. A Budget initiative in 2009 to levy a tax on unsolicited printed material was eventually scrapped after stiff opposition by industry players. Mr Brincat said a balance had to be found between the environmental concerns created by the volumes of waste generated through junk mail and jobs in the printing, advertising and distribution industries. The GRTU and the Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry were represented at the launch and both said taxation was not the ideal way to tackle the problem since competitiveness had to be safeguarded. Mr Brincat said the government was approaching the issue "with an open mind", insisting he did not want to pre-empt the consultation exercise.

Dates to forget and others to remember

January 25, 2016, 2:04 am

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On the 31st December, we opened up a champagne bottle to celebrate a year which was acceptable for equity markets. It could have been much better had we not encountered a series of obstacles throughout the year. However, if you had to compare the performance of European equities to other asset classes, the performance was satisfactory. I knew that the beginning of 2016 would not be a repeat of 2015 when the European markets were up 30% in just the first few months of the year. However, I didn’t expect the snowball effect on equity prices following a series of disappointing decisions which started at the end of 2015. Dates to Forget The first of a series of disappointments was announced on the 3rd December 2015 with the ECB’s inaction to ‘do whatever it takes’ to stimulate economic growth in Europe. The second was taken by the Fed on the 16th of December when it decided to raise rates for the first time since 2006. This action by the Fed, increased risk aversion amongst equity investors. They started to fear that a potential series of rate hikes in an environment of slowing emerging market growth could send the US back into recession. The third decision which hurt equity markets...

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Unemployment continues to fall

January 25, 2016, 2:33 am

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The unemployed declined to 4,615 last December from 6,287 in December of the previous year, new figures issued today show.  Data provided by the Employment and Training Corporation (ETC) shows a decrease of 1,688 persons registering under Part I of the unemployment register and an increase of 16 among those registering under Part II of the unemployment register, when compared to December 2014. Overall, decreases in registered unemployment were recorded among all age groups. When compared to December 2014, those registering for work decreased irrespective of how long they had been registering. The largest decrease was recorded among persons who had been registering for over one year. The number of persons with a disability who were registering for work also decreased by 44, reaching 398. Men accounted for 79.6 per cent of total unemployed with a disability. The largest share of men on the unemployment register sought occupations as crafts and related trade workers (17.8 per cent), whereas women mostly sought occupations as clerical support workers (28.7 per cent). The registered unemployment rate in July 2015 stood at 2.9 per cent of the labour supply, (excluding part-time...

Parents made to pay fee for childcare due to absence

January 25, 2016, 2:42 am

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Almost 17 per cent of parents who made use of the government’s free childcare scheme had to pay for the services after exceeding the absence entitlement, a spokesman for the Education and Employment Ministry said. Last year, 5,105 children attended childcare centres for free as part of a government scheme offered to all working parents and those who are studying. Parents can opt to send their children to whichever childcare centre they wish, public or private, with the government footing the bill. A total of 5,867,829 hours were booked last year, an average of 101 hours a month per child, the spokesman said. Parents are required to indicate the number of hours of day care that would be needed the following month. Each child is entitled to a number of overbooked hours, in case of sickness or other unforeseen situations where the child cannot attend. The spokesman said the system was designed to cater for such absences as well as sickness. “The absence entitlement together with the monthly 10 per cent allowance provide parents with 300 hours of absence a year.” Only those parents whose children miss more than 300 hours would have to pay for the services, he said. If every...

Metal on Thai beach was part of rocket, not missing plane

January 25, 2016, 2:48 am

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A large piece of metal that washed up on a beach in Thailand is probably part of a rocket launched by Japan, not a missing Malaysian plane, according to a Japanese rocket maker. The discovery of the metal sparked speculation that it might be from Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, which disappeared almost two years ago. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries said that the metal piece is highly likely to be part of a Japanese H-IIA or H-IIB rocket that was launched from southern Japan, based on an initial examination of photos and videos of the object. Flight MH370 lost communications and made a sharp turn away from its Beijing destination before disappearing in March 2014. It is presumed to have crashed in the Indian Ocean, far away from Thailand.

Ira to perform in second half of first Eurovision semi-final

January 25, 2016, 2:54 am

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Ira Losco will take the stage in the second half of the first semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest in May. The allocation of countries for the two semi-finals was drawn this morning at Stockholm's City Hall, but the order of participation still has to be decided. The first semi final will be held on May 10 and the second on May 12. 43 countries are taking part in this year's contest of which 37 are in the semi-finals (The others are hosts Sweden and the 'big 5' countries that sponsor most of the show - France, Germany, Italy, United Kingdom, Spain). 18 countries are in the first semi final and 19 in the second.  Ten countries will qualify from each semi-final to proceed to the final on May 14.

€7,000 pay rise after Charlon Gouder resigns as private secretary

January 25, 2016, 9:45 pm

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Former Labour MEP candidate Charlon Gouder resigned as the private secretary to a parliamentary secretary but was retained as a consultant, boosting his package by €7,000, the Times of Malta has learnt. Nationalist MP Beppe Fenech Adami last week tabled a question in Parliament asking Economy Minister Chris Cardona for details on Dr Gouder’s new financial package. Dr Cardona acknowledged that Dr Gouder was now consultant to Competitiveness Parliamentary Secretary Josè Herrera, for whom he used to be private secretary. No further details were given. A spokesman for Dr Herrera confirmed that Dr Gouder had resigned as private secretary late last year and was appointed as a consultant soon after. The spokesman said the consultancy within the same secretariat carried a higher remuneration compared to what Dr Gouder received in his former, full-time post. According to government rules, as a private secretary, Dr Gouder was entitled to a maximum salary of €29,133, pegged to scale 5 of the civil service. The consultancy contract he was given puts him in salary scale 3, which carries a remuneration of €36,482. In addition, Dr Gouder is also entitled to a car allowance of €4,659 a year...