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Debono, Schembri claim Road Running League titles

March 25, 2018, 11:18 pm
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On March, Sunday 25, the Malta AAA organised the fifth and final race in the 2017/2018 Road Running League which started and finished at Marsascala. Despite the adverse weather conditions, Mellieha stalwart Andrew Grech and the St Patrick’s runner Roberta Schembri emerged clear winners. Grech won the men’s 10km race in a time of 33 minutes 15 seconds while in the women’s race Schembri covered the 10km distance in a speedy 36 minutes 47 seconds. Schembri’s victory at Marsascala meant that she also became the overall winner in the 2017-2018 Women’s MAAA Road Running League. On the other hand, the winner of the Men’s 2017-2018 Men’s MAAA Road Running League was Charlton Debono, the Gozitan runner from Athletix AC, who had already sealed victory after Race 4 and who on the day of the Marsascala race was abroad on international duties. The Men’s team title went to Mellieħa Athletic Club who in addition to the exploits of leading runner Grech, also managed other excellent performances thanks to athletes of the calibre of Felipe Vella, Darren Agius and Paul Formosa. In the Women’s Category St Patrick’s spearheaded by Schembri proved worthy winners with athletes Joelle Cortis and Marika...
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Watch: Independence supporters clash with police in Barcelona

March 25, 2018, 11:31 pm
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Demonstrators in Barcelona clashed with police on Sunday, after former Catalan president Carlos Puigdemont was taken into custody by German police. Police said three protesters were arrested and 50 suffered minor injuries in the scuffles. They were part of a wave of discontent that brought tens of thousands of Catalans, many wearing yellow in support of jailed separatist leaders, out onto the streets, chanting "Puigdemont, our president" and "freedom for political prisoners. Spain's Supreme Court ruled on Friday that 25 Catalan leaders would be tried for rebellion, embezzlement or disobeying the state and reactivated international arrest warrants for Puigdemont and four other politicians who went into self-imposed exile last year for their roles in an independence vote that the Spanish government declared illegal. German police arrested Puigdemont on Sunday in the northern state of Schleswig-Holstein on a European arrest warrant issued by Spain. The Spanish Supreme Court had issued an international arrest warrant against Puigdemont last year but withdrew it in December to avoid the risk of Belgian authorities granting him asylum. In a statement, German police said Puigdemont was...
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Italy’s dramatic politics

March 25, 2018, 11:48 pm
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Weeks after the Italian elections, interpretations still abound as to why traditional parties have been so humiliated by the electorate and replaced by populist parties that still have to prove that they can indeed govern. There were, of course, winners and losers in the March 4 election. The big winners were the popu­list parties Movimento Cinque Stelle (M5S) and the Lega. Both parties are anti-EU and anti-euro. One thing they have in common is that they are experts in exploiting the widespread frustration of millions of people who are fed up with an inept political class under whose stewardship economic growth was sluggish; unemployment, especially among younger generations, is among the highest in Europe, while organised crime and corruption remain mostly unchallenged. I consider the Italian people as among the winners of this election. They have shown that they do not want more of the same from traditional parties and are prepared to provoke a political crisis, hoping that perhaps this time around things will begin to change. I have seen some comments by political analysts claiming that the success of the M5S in the south is less revolutionary than it seems. These analysts...
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Watch: Porn star says she was 'threatened' to keep quiet about Trump affair

March 25, 2018, 11:52 pm
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Adult film star Stormy Daniels says she was threatened to keep quiet, about claims she had sex with Donald Trump before he was president. Daniels told 60 Minutes on Sunday in 2011, a man who she didn't know confronted her and said: "Leave Trump alone. Forget the story." She says she didn't go to the police because she was afraid and called the encounter a "direct threat." Her story gained traction after the Wall Street Journal reported Trump's personal lawyer Michael Cohen paid her $130,000 to stay quiet. However recently she's declared that deal with Cohen is invalid because the president never signed it. The White House and Cohen deny the alleged affair took place. However the lawyer has not explained why he made the payment - or whether Trump was aware of it. Sunday was actually the second tell-all TV interview in a week involving claims of a Trump affair. Playboy model Karen McDougal told CNN about a 10-month long affair with him beginning in 2006. Trump would have been married to his wife Melania during both alleged relationships. The president did not respond to reporters asking whether he would watch the 60 Minutes segment and he hasn't directly commented on the...
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Good Friday walk in aid of Puttinu Cares

March 25, 2018, 11:57 pm
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The annual Good Friday Night Walk, now in its 15th year and which takes participants from Mellieħa to Senglea, will be held this week with proceeds going towards Puttinu Cares. Organisers are urging those intending to take part to gather earlier than previous editions – at 12.30am – at Mellieħa parish square rather than near the Sanctuary of Our Lady. From there, they will make their way across the country to reach the city in Cottonera. Participants can show up without registering though a €10 donation will be solicited of every walker. Transport will take participants to Mellieħa from Senglea from 10pm onwards. Transport will also be available to return participants to Mellieħa once the walk is over. To book a seat on one of the transport buses, call 9999 1800 or send a message to the Mixja Gimgħa l-Kbira 2018 on Facebook.
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Dangerous crossing

March 26, 2018, 9:23 pm
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The two roundabouts at the top and bottom of Triq Manuel Dimech, Qormi, have been modified (reduced in diameter) thus increasing the lanes from two to three. Is this according to international standards? Leaving Qormi from above the direction of the bridge and trying to cross over to the park-and-ride site and heading from Triq Manuel Dimech to Rabat via Żebbuġ entails very dangerously bypassing three lanes, considering that traffic approaching roundabouts have the right of way. Can Transport Malta explain this precarious situation and, more importantly, take remedial action to avoid accidents?
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Laundering €50

March 26, 2018, 9:32 pm
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Maltapost should instil some common sense in their employees. On March 20, I went to Rabat post office to send €50 to a Ghana address, via Western Union. The well-groomed, bearded, clerk handed me the usual form to fill in, which I did. He asked me if I was familiar with the person I was sending the money to. I said yes, but not personally, only on the internet. Just on the internet? he wondered. He seemed never to have heard of such a thing. I am sorry, I cannot accept to send the money, he said politely. Why, I asked. The recipient may be laundering money, he said. Who on earth, I asked, using stronger language, would launder €50? He stood his ground and I had to fume away. At another Maltapost office, the clerk accepted my money, no questions asked. Looking at that beard talking to me, I wondered if the migrants we have here meet such obstacles sending some money to their families, after all their efforts at saving the meagre earnings they sweat for.
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Uber sells Southeast Asia business to Grab after costly battle

March 26, 2018, 9:32 pm
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Ride-hailing firm Uber Technologies Inc has agreed to sell its Southeast Asian business to bigger regional rival Grab, the firms said yesterday, marking the US company’s second retreat from an Asian market. The industry’s first big consolidation in Southeast Asia, home to about 640 million people, puts pressure on Indonesia’s Go-Jek, which is backed by Alphabet Inc’s Google and China’s Tencent Holdings Ltd. A shake-up in Asia’s fiercely competitive ride-hailing industry became likely earlier this year when Japan-based SoftBank Group Corp’s Vision Fund made a multi-billion dollar investment in Uber. “It was really a very independent decision by both companies,” Grab president Ming Maa told Reuters, adding that SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son was “highly supportive”. Uber will take a 27.5 per cent stake in Singapore-based Grab and Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi will join Grab’s board. Grab was last valued at an estimated $6 billion. “It will help us double down on our plans for growth as we invest heavily in our products and technology,” Khosrowshahi said in a statement. The Competition Commission of Singapore (CCS) said it has the mandate to review whether any mergers will result in a...
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Announcements - March 27, 2018

March 26, 2018, 9:36 pm
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BALDACCHINO. Tragically, on March 18, GIULIO of Sliema, residing in Mellieħa, at the age of 44. He leaves to mourn his irreparable loss his mother Marlene, his son Liam and Maria, his sister Alexia and Julian, Irene, relatives and numerous friends.The funeral cortége leaves Mater Dei Hospital tomorrow, Wednes­day, March 28, at 8.30am for Our Lady of Victories (Marija Bam­bina) parish church, Mellieħa, where Mass præsente cadavere will be said at 9.30am, followed by interment in the family grave at Santa Maria Addolorata Ceme­tery (entrance through main gate). No flowers by request but donations to id-Dar tal-Providenza, Siġġiewi, will be greatly appreciated. Lord, grant him eternal rest. The family request that all those attending the funeral do not wear black. BARBARO SANT DEI MARCHESI DI SAN GIORGIO. On March 24, at Mater Dei Hospital, ANNA, aged 71, passed away peacefully comforted by the rites of Holy Church and surrounded by her loved ones. She leaves to mourn her loss her sister-in-law Emily, widow of her brother Arthur, brothers and sisters Marie and Stephen Jones, Alfred and Rita, Elisabeth and Maurice Borg, Evelyn and Joseph L. Pace, George and Maria, nephews and...
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Direction of travel - Stuart Gill

March 26, 2018, 9:44 pm
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In the 19 months I have been Britain’s High Commissioner to Malta, there is one question I have been asked more than most: “Are you really leaving the EU?” followed by “You’re not really leaving are you....? There’ll be another referendum and we can all go back to where we started”. I always answer clearly and unequivocally that we are leaving and that we are going to make a huge success of it. From the agreement reached at last week’s European Council, the direction of travel is plain to see. The UK is leaving the EU. One year from now, the EU flag outside my office in Ta’ Xbiex will be coming down for the last time. I don’t mind being blunt about it; sometimes we need to get straight to the point and see things as they are. Let me resort to a cliché: “We are leaving the EU, but we are not leaving Europe.” Among the many phrases and slogans doing the Brexit rounds, this is the one that means the most. It’s not about cake or cherries, but about the reality of a democratic decision taken by the British people. It’s about taking back control (there’s another one)... taking back control of our laws, our borders and our money. In short, it’s about sovereignty. It’s about the ability...
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Pilatus account only used to buy passport – New Zealand billionaire

March 26, 2018, 9:45 pm
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Christopher Chandler, the New Zealand-born billionaire behind Legatum, a London-based think tank that emerged as one of the most vociferous supporters of Brexit, has distanced himself from Malta-based Pilatus Bank, stating that his private account there was only used to buy a Maltese passport. Following news reports on possible money-laundering activities at the Ta’ Xbiex bank, a spokesman for Mr Chandler made it clear that his only association with Pilatus was to acquire a Maltese passport. Read: Pilatus Bank chairman arrested in the US According to his spokesman, Mr Chandler, as well as Mark Stoleson, the chief executive of the Legatum Group, opened private accounts at Pilatus Bank to effect the transactions related to their acquisition of Maltese passports. “The accounts at Pilatus were to take out Maltese citizenship to provide flexibility for their travel and business,” he said. According to various British newspapers, the Pilatus accounts of both Mr Chandler and Mr Stoleson were personal and not connected to the Legatum Group, and the sums held at the bank were not substantial. Last January, The Financial Times reported that Mr Chandler and Mr Stoleson, and several of...
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Japan's Abe 'not involved' in doctoring documents: key official

March 26, 2018, 9:51 pm
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A Japanese official at the heart of a cronyism and cover-up scandal that has dented Shinzo Abe's popularity said Tuesday the prime minister's office was not involved in falsifying documents. In hotly awaited parliamentary testimony broadcast live on national television, Nobuhisa Sagawa said only his office took part in altering key documents relating to a controversial land sale, potentially easing the pressure on the embattled Abe. "This is an issue only for the finance bureau (of the ministry) ... therefore we never reported outside the finance bureau ... not to mention reporting to the prime minister's office," said Sagawa, 60. He added that neither Abe nor his cabinet secretary or finance minister had ordered the alterations. Sagawa's testimony came as fresh polls showed public support for Abe's government plunging by double digits, apparently due to the scandal, amid opposition calls for the prime minister to resign. However, Sagawa declined to answer detailed questioning about how and when documents were altered, saying he was under criminal investigation. This sparked furious scenes in the normally restrained Japanese parliament, as opposition lawmakers jeered and...
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IMF head tells eurozone time right to set up rainy day fund

March 26, 2018, 9:59 pm
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International Monetary Fund (IMF) head Christine Lagarde said yesterday eurozone leaders should set up a “rainy day fund” to help cushion member states in economic downturns. Officials in the bloc have been discussing such a fund since last year as one option for setting up a eurozone budget or boosting fiscal capacity – an idea championed by France and to which opposition from Germany appears to be softening. In a speech in Berlin, the Fund’s managing director welcomed a “sustained and broadly shared upswing” in the global economy, which she said offered a precious window of opportunity for governments to “complete the architecture” of the eurozone. “There are other, forceful headwinds threatening,” Lagarde said. “Think of the rise of populism and the short-sighted siren call of protectionism.” Talks among eurozone finance ministers on an additional fiscal capacity have so far brought no conclusions, partly because Germany was long without a government following an inconclusive election in September. Leaders are likely in June to give direction to further work. Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives and the centre-left Social Democrats offered some encouragement to that...
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Ultra-thin sun shield could protect Great Barrier Reef

March 26, 2018, 10:02 pm
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An ultra-fine biodegradable film some 50,000 times thinner than a human hair could be enlisted to protect the Great Barrier Reef from environmental degradation, researchers said Tuesday. The World Heritage-listed site, which attracts millions of tourists each year, is reeling from significant bouts of coral bleaching due to warming sea temperatures linked to climate change. Scientists from the Australian Institute of Marine Biology have been buoyed by test results of a floating "sun shield" made of calcium carbonate that has been shown to protect the reef from the effects of bleaching. "It's designed to sit on the surface of the water above the corals, rather than directly on the corals, to provide an effective barrier against the sun," Great Barrier Reef Foundation managing director Anna Marsden said. The trials on seven different coral types found that the protective layer decreased bleaching of most species, cutting off sunlight by up to 30 percent. "It (the project) created an opportunity to test the idea that by reducing the amount of sunlight from reaching the corals in the first place, we can prevent them from becoming stressed which leads to bleaching," Marsden...
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Serious threat to competitiveness - Frank Farrugia

March 26, 2018, 10:05 pm
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There is no doubt that our country is doing well. The latest figures describe an economy which is punching well above its weight, while the major credit agencies are giving Malta its well-deserved positive verdict. Our country is going through a veritable summer season, the likes of which we have rarely seen before. Record low unemployment figures, record high employment figures and record growth rates describe an economy which is revving on all cylinders. However, no summer is eternal, and one day the proverbial winter will come.  And this basic economic truth weighs us with a responsibility we cannot shrug off. It makes governments and civil society alike responsible to future-proof our economy and safeguard the hard-earned results we achieved together before we risk burning ourselves out in our own success. It is in this context that, as a chamber, we are deeply troubled by the introduction of populist measures that seem to be primarily designed to pander to the lowest common denominators of our society with total disregard to the cost on the private sector and on the export competitiveness which is so crucial to our nation.  By way of context, locally we have already been on...
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Today's front pages - March 27, 2018

March 26, 2018, 10:15 pm
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The following are the top stories in national newspapers today. Times of Malta says Christopher Chandler, the New Zealand-born billionaire behind Legatum, a London-based think tank that emerged as one of the most vociferous supporters of Brexit, has distanced himself from Malta-based Pilatus Bank, stating that his private account there was only used to buy a Maltese passport. In another story, the newspaper says Sliema mayor Anthony Chircop has rubbished the Planning Authority’s suggestion that reducing parking there could encourage a shift to public transport and alleviate congestion in the long term. L-Orizzont says Malta has applied for 15 kilogrammes of medical cannabis. The application was from one doctor who said he needed it for five patients. In-Nazzjon interviews Apostolic Nuncio Alfred Xuereb, who says his mission in Korea and Mongolia is to work towards unity in the region. The Malta Independent says foreign experts assisted Maltese officers on searches during the investigation into Daphne Caruana Galizia’s murder.
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Welcome guardianship deal

March 26, 2018, 10:26 pm
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Eighteen years ago, Midi consortium was granted a highly-lucrative land deal by the then Nationalist administration to build luxury apartments at Tignè Point in return for restoring Fort Manoel and developing a luxury “Mediterranean-style village” on Manoel Island. Although the outline planning development permit, issued before the concession to Midi was granted, included a condition requiring the foreshore to be made accessible to the public, the consortium had fenced off large parts of the island soon after the land deal was signed, thus preventing access. The ugly, high-density Tignè Point development has been completed raking in millions of euros for the developers. Yet, apart from an excellent restoration of Fort Manoel itself, which was completed some four years ago and lies unutilised to this day, Manoel Island remains undeveloped and dilapidated. Works on the planned “Mediterranean Village” never started. Eighteen months ago, to broad public approval, Kamp Emerġenza Ambjent – together with the mayor of Gżira – led a citizen’s action group to reoccupy Manoel Island and enjoy access to the foreshore. In the wake of this, Midi reached an agreement to allow limited access on...
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Launch of services to Santiago de Chile via Sao Paulo

March 26, 2018, 10:42 pm
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Emirates has announced its plan to launch a new, five times a week, service from Dubai to Santiago International Airport via Sao Paulo, starting on July 5, 2018. The new service will see Emirates fly an additional five times a week to Sao Paulo, complementing the airline’s existing daily A380 flight between Dubai and Sao Paulo. In total, Emirates will now fly 12 times a week to Sao Paulo. Emirates’ Santiago flight will be a linked service with Sao Paulo, meaning that customers in South America can now travel between the two cities in unprecedented style and comfort. Citizens from both Brazil and Chile only need ID cards to travel to either country. The new route will be operated with a two-class configured Boeing 777-200LR which offers 38 business class seats in a 2-2-2 configuration and 264 seats in economy class. The new 777 flight will also offer up to 14 tons of capacity for cargo, opening up access to more global markets for Chilean exports such as fish, seafood, cherries, flowers and general perishable goods. Commenting on the new Emirates route, Sir Tim Clark, president Emirates Airline, said: “The start of our operations to Chile underlines our commitment to South...
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Fewer parking spots in Sliema will not alleviate problem – mayor

March 26, 2018, 10:44 pm
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Sliema mayor Anthony Chircop has rubbished the Planning Authority’s suggestion that reducing parking there could encourage a shift to public transport and alleviate congestion in the long term. The authority argued, during a recent inquiry by the Ombudsman into parking issues in the town that only when motorists realised it was not possible to park would they consider public transport, and as long as parking was plentiful and cheap, car use would continue to rise. Read: Sliema parking worsens as entertainment places 'do as they please' The inquiry was sparked by the local council’s complaints over the low payments imposed on developers who did not provide enough parking for their projects, as well as the take-up of parking by new outdoor dining areas. Mr Chircop said that the PA’s argument ignored the unreliability of public transport and that  allowing development to continue eating away at parking would backfire, a view shared by the Ombudsman in his conclusions. “If anything, the current situation encourages more people to come to the area, because the same developments taking up spaces are attracting more visitors,” the mayor said. “It definitely will not achieve what the PA...
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Are lonely hearts prone to cardiovascular disease?

March 26, 2018, 11:07 pm
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Feeling lonely contributes less to the risk of cardiovascular disease than recent research suggests, scientists said Tuesday, but social isolation really does up the odds of dying after a heart attack or stroke. The alleged link between loneliness and heart disease essentially disappears once other well-known risk factors -- smoking, drinking, poor diet, lack of exercise -- are factored in, according to a study that monitored nearly 480,000 men and women in Britain for seven years. Likewise the supposed impact of feeling friendless on premature death. But even after dodgy lifestyle habits are taken into consideration, social isolation -- time actually spent alone -- boosted the risk of dying by about thirty percent in people who suffered a stroke or heart attack, according to the study, published in Heart, a medical journal. "Social isolation, but not loneliness ... remained as an independent risk factor for mortality," the researchers, led by Christian Hakulinen, a professor at the University of Helsinki, concluded. Earlier efforts to tease out the influence of a solitary existence on cardiovascular disease and heart-related mortality had produced mixed results, in part due to...
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