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Race to cover Notre-Dame as rainclouds gather over Paris

April 23, 2019, 9:41 am
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Climbers were brought in Tuesday to unfurl tarpaulins over Notre-Dame Cathedral to protect it from expected rain after the iconic structure was left badly damaged and open to the elements after a massive fire last week. The devastating blaze erupted on April 15, felling the spire and destroying two-thirds of its wooden roof while leaving the 850-year-old Gothic cathedral as a whole in very fragile condition.  "The work to put up the tarpaulins has started," cathedral spokesman Andre Finot told AFP. "We will start with the choir and then the nave." With intense efforts underway to shore up sections still at risk from collapse, experts faced a new challenge as the national weather service forecast several days of rain. The risk is that the surviving part of the roof and the famed vaulted ceilings of the architectural masterpiece could suffer further damage, sparking a race to erect a temporary protective cover.  Forecasters expect the rain to begin on Tuesday night, with conditions taking a turn for the worse on Thursday.  "The biggest priority is to protect the cathedral from the coming rain," the cathedral's chief architect Philippe Villeneuve told France's BFMTV, saying he...
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Thieves steal 35 rare saxophones from Italian collector

April 23, 2019, 10:51 am
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Thieves have stolen 35 rare saxophones from a well-known Italian collection but missed the crown jewel: one which belonged to jazz great Sonny Rollins. Attilio Berni told AFP Tuesday that his collection of 600 saxophones, which has been exhibited at the Louvre museum in Paris, had been built up over 25 years. "They did not touch the Sonny Rollins saxophone... which suggests that they did not really know what they were doing," he said. "Thank God, eight of the 35 stolen instruments have already been found by police," abandoned in a poor Rome neighbourhood, he added. Berni estimated the total value of the instruments stolen over the weekend at 300,000 euros ($340,000), but noted that it was hard to sell them. The stolen saxophones include those made in the 19th century, or others that had belonged to well-known saxophonists such as US big band leader Adrian Rollini. Berni already planned to open what he says will be the world's first saxophone museum, on September 6 in Maccarese, near Rome, with many of the instruments that were stolen. "This setback makes me even more determined to open the museum," he told AFP.  
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Gender law ‘smokescreen’ for party State-funding

April 23, 2019, 11:15 am
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Legal experts have voiced fears that gender quota proposals aimed at increasing female participation in Parliament are nothing but a “smokescreen” to introduce political party funding by the State “by stealth”. The proposals, which were presented by Parliamentary Secretary for Reform and Simplification of Administrative Processes, Julia Farrugia Portelli, in March, would see the female gender representation in Parliament increased to 40 per cent through the addition of 12 extra seats.  However, legal experts have pointed out that the proposed legislative amendments include a provision that appears to have fallen under the radar and that they claim can be used as a backdoor to introduce “the financing of political parties by the State by stealth”. The proposals make reference to the introduction of “incentives in the form of State funding to political parties in order to support the under-represented sex to contest Maltese general elections”.  The document goes on to propose a number of  legal amendments for the Financing of Political Parties Act “to open the way for State funds that can be used to recruit, promote and train candidates pertaining to the under-represented...
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Absence of PN candidates means 117,000 people were almost left with no reason to vote - PM

April 23, 2019, 11:21 am
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The PN's decision not to field enough candidates for elections in 21 localities could have been a tactic aimed at discouraging the people from going out to vote on May 25, even though the European Parliament elections were also being held on the day, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said on Tuesday. Earlier on Tuesday the PL said  the Nationalist Party had already lost a third of local councils since it fielded just enough candidates to fill the minority seats in 21 Labour-controlled localities. No elections would have been necessary had Labour not fielded a higher number of candidates than the remaining seats. Addressing supporters during the opening of the Labour party's annual general conference in Tarxien, Dr Muscat warned against the view that people did not need to vote because Labour had already won in their locality. "Had Labour played the same political game as the PN, 117,000 people would have been left with no reason to vote in the local council elections. They would also have had less of an incentive to vote in the European Parliament elections", he said. European Parliament elections and local council elections will take place on the same day for the first...
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Birkirkara win third straight women's title

April 23, 2019, 1:05 pm
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Birkirkara have won their third straight women's league title after sharing the spoils with Hibernians in a 2-2 draw that was enough for the Stripes to clinch the championship at the Centenary Stadium, on Tuesday. With one game left, the Stripes hold a six-point lead over Mġarr United against whom they will end their league commitments.  This is Birkirkara's eighth league crown with the first one dating back to the 2006/2007 season. In winning the title three times in a row, the Stripes have managed to do what Hibernians did between the 2013/2014 and 2015/2016 campaigns.  Against Hibernians, Birkirkara made their intentions clear when Ylenia Carabott latched onto a throughball but the oncoming Dorienne Grech blocked her effort.  Moments later, the Stripes survived a scare when Samantha Zarb failed to clear the danger away, with the ball dropping onto the path of Jade Flask but the latter failed to beat Janice Xuereb. The Stripes came close again through Alishia Sultana but her effort from the edge of the area went wide. Yet, Sultana was not to be denied on minute 8 when she hit a curling effort from inside the box to beat Grech and put the Stripes one up. Birkirkara doubled the...
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Ombudsman’s recommendations

April 23, 2019, 9:06 pm
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I refer to the editorial ‘Parliament fails Ombudsman’ (April 22). The public administration is far from making the Ombudsman’s work difficult or is being indifferent to the recommendations of the Ombudsman. The governance publication by the Office of the Principal Permanent Secretary on how the public administration actioned cases by the Office of the Ombudsman is one such instance.  The data available to the public administration shows that the Office of the Ombudsman (the Parliamentary Ombudsman and individual commissioners) investigated 291 new complaints during 2017. A significant percentage of cases (40 per cent in 2017) was resolved by the public administration without the need for investigation by the Office of the Parliamentary Ombudsman or any of the commissioners. For the remaining cases, it is indeed rare for the public administration not to have taken immediate corrective action.  In fact, our data shows that of all cases considered in the Ombudsman 2017 annual report, 70 per cent of cases either needed no further action from the public administration (these amounted to 51 per cent of all cases reported in the Ombudsman 2017 annual report) or the recommendation(s)...
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The joy of Mass

April 23, 2019, 9:11 pm
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Traditionally in Malta, Holy Week starts with the feast of Our Lady of Sorrows. Once again, we have just experienced this event with an overwhelming amount of people expressing their devotion by attending one of many processions in different localities, also packing churches for Mass. This is very positive but certainly there is room for improvement when one takes into account the latest Church census showing that only 40 per cent attend Sunday Mass regularly. This is because many do not appreciate the value of Mass.  In the words of the Cure D’Ars, if we knew the value of Mass we would die of joy. How can one resist being in the real presence of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist. The receiving of Jesus in total trust at Communion during Mass is the fullest of trust that guides us as we encounter the realities of life, including all the burdens which are light when we seek His comfort. The enduring presence of Jesus in our daily lives, His insistence on serving others with kindness and His love for humanity show that ordinary men, women and children can experience an intimacy with Christ.  This was captured in the tender exchanges between Jesus and Gabrielle Bossis, a French nurse and...
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War and peace

April 23, 2019, 9:21 pm
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The ongoing conflict between warring parties is the modern and sad state of South Sudan. Pope Francis and the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, have prayed together for peace in South Sudan. The Pope kissed the feet of President Salva Kiir Mayardiit and of other political leaders who have been in open conflict since their country’s independence. There can be no better example of bringing peace to the war-torn country. So let us remember South Sudan in our prayers and work for everlasting peace.
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Rescuers battle to find bodies in Myanmar mudslide

April 23, 2019, 9:30 pm
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Recovery teams in Myanmar fought against a huge lake of sludge on Wednesday in their search for bodies after a landslide engulfed more than 50 jade miners - the latest fatal accident in a notoriously dangerous but highly-lucrative industry. Dozens die each year in landslides caused by jade mining, a poorly regulated industry rife with corruption. The disaster struck the mine in Hpakant township in northern Kachin state late on Monday night. Police initially described how a "mud lake" buried 54 miners - all feared dead - while there were sleeping, although Wednesday said the men had been working a night shift at the time. By nightfall on Tuesday, only three bodies had been recovered, a police officer from Hpakant Township, who asked not to be named, told AFP. "Searching in the mud is difficult - it's not like soil," he added. The site is mined by Myanmar Thura Gems and Shwe Nagar Koe Kaung companies. Myanmar Thura Gems director Hla Soe Oo told AFP by phone that the company was "helping the families identify the victims' bodies". The open jade mines in Hpakant township have turned the landscape into a vast moonscape-like terrain of barren hills and vast valleys of dirt scoured by...
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Oil prices shoot to 2019 highs on Iran crackdown

April 23, 2019, 9:31 pm
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World oil prices struck fresh 2019 peaks yesterday, boosting energy company share prices, while Wall Street opened higher after a series of better-than-expected corporate results. Crude futures extended Monday’s sharp rally, which was triggered by a US crackdown on Iranian oil exports. Brent North Sea crude reached $74.70 per barrel yesterday, the highest point since early November, before falling back slightly. WTI hit a similar near six-month high at $66.19.  London’s benchmark FTSE 100 rose by 0.6 per cent on the news. “UK markets have returned from their long break with solid gains for the FTSE 100, led by strength in oil stocks thanks to the surge in crude prices over the past 24 hours,” noted Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG trading group. Brent had rallied more than two dollars on Monday and WTI jumped $1.70.  Meanwhile, US giants including Twitter, Coca-Cola, Procter & Gamble and Verizon revealed positive earning reports after the Easter break, buoying investor hopes. However, analyst Patrick O’Hare of Briefing.com said traders could still be holding fire ahead of more results.  “The blue chip results are nice to see, yet this market is probably waiting on a...
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International accountancy event in Malta

April 23, 2019, 9:41 pm
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The Malta Institute of Accountants (MIA), the voice of the accountancy profession in Malta, hosted the 2019 edition of the Accountancy Professionals Strategic Forum (APSF).  Coordinated by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW), the annual event has grown into a key international event for professional accountancy bodies since its first convocation in 2012. Organisations from 23 countries including Malta participated in the APSF this year, representing thousands of professionals working in different regions to discuss emerging technical and strategic issues affecting the profession and its stakeholders. The event provides a unique opportunity for professional bodies to connect in a peer-to-peer environment.  Addressing the forum, the MIA president William Spiteri Bailey said that with challenges becoming increasingly global, accountants must rally together to find effective solutions and add value to national economic performance and the general public interest. “Our mission is to serve a new generation of business, public, and social leaders,” said Spiteri Bailey, speaking about the profession’s responsibilities towards stakeholders as they...
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Mt Carmel nurses ask for renovation timelines

April 23, 2019, 9:42 pm
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The government must provide the nurses’ union with timelines for the Mount Carmel renovations by Wednesday, or risk being faced with industrial action, Times of Malta has learnt.  The move comes in the wake of reports in Times of Malta that most of the wards at the country’s only mental health hospital have condemned ceilings. As a result, patients have been crammed into a few wards, with beds lined up too close to each other.  In comments to this newspaper on Tuesday, Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses (MUMN) president Paul Pace confirmed that a meeting with the government was scheduled for Wednesday.  During the meeting, the union will be asking for work timelines, as it had in the past. However this time around, if these are not provided, industrial action would follow. Referring to comments on Monday by Health Minister Chris Fearne, who assured journalists that patients were safe at Mount Carmel and that the government had a five-year plan for the hospital, Mr Pace questioned how the wards could be considered “safe” when patients did not even have enough space to store their personal belongings.  “I fail to understand how the minister could insist that while the parts of...
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IS and the Libyan vacuum - Martin Scicluna

April 23, 2019, 9:42 pm
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The so-called Islamic State has lost its last scrap of land in Syria, but the group remains active across the Middle East and North Africa and still poses a threat to the West. The West cannot afford to declare victory yet. The origins of the so-called Islamic State can be traced to George W. Bush’s ill-judged, illegitimate and ill-conceived invasion of Iraq to topple Saddam Hussein in 2003, the subsequent Sunni backlash against the newly enfranchised Shias, and the appalling civil war in Syria. The United States and Britain wanted to overthrow Saddam and rebuild the Iraqi State. Instead they destroyed it, unleashing a sectarian civil war – Sunni against Shia against Kurd – that alienated the entire Sunni population from the Shia-dominated Baghdad government. It led the Sunni tribes in the North to greet the so-called Islamic State as liberators, only to discover too late that liberation was enforced with rape, torture and beheadings. The so-called Islamic State movement was the product of a long-running dispute among jihadists: whether to take on the “far enemy”, the United States, as Al-Qaeda did in 2001, or the “near enemy”, that is Arab States in the region (Iraq, Syria,...
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Announcements - April 24, 2019

April 23, 2019, 9:47 pm
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Obituaries ARNOLD. On April 23, DONALD LEE, of Mellieħa, at his own residence, passed away peacefully at the age of 72, comforted by the rites of the Holy Church. He leaves to mourn his great loss his wife Dorothy, Donald’s sister Jo Lang and family, his in-laws and their families, nephews and nieces, other relatives and friends, Malta and abroad. The funeral cortège leaves Mater Dei Hospital today, Wednesday, April 24, at 2pm, for Marija Bambina parish church, Mellieħa, where funeral Mass præsente cadavere will be said at 3pm. Lord, grant him eternal rest. SALOMONE. On Sunday, April 21, CIKKA née Said, passed away peacefully. She leaves to mourn her loss her father Mario and his wife Liz, her beloved children Nicholas, Michaela and Matthew, her brothers Andrew, Steve and his partner Judith, her partner Antonio, her respective nephews and nieces and her many friends. Mass will be celebrated at the Sanctuary of Divine Mercy San Pawl tat-Tarġa today, Wednesday, April 24, at 10am. Lord, grant her eternal rest. In Memoriam BIANCO – ALFRED. In ever loving memory, today the fifth anniversary of his demise. Treasured always in our hearts. Sorely missed by his beloved wife Rose, his...
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Workshop for kids

April 23, 2019, 9:51 pm
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Inspired by the anthropomorphic paintings by followers of Flemish artist David Teniers, children aged between six and 12, can today get creative when joining artist and art-educator, Gabrielle Agius in a workshop being held at Palazzo Falson. Those attending can make mixed-media animal portraits while learning about the curious singerie tradition.  The workshop is being held between 11am and 1pm. Pre-booking is essential. Secure your child’s place by sending an e-mail to bookings@palazzofalson.com or calling on 21451021.
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Blockchain compliance training for service providers - Max Ganado

April 23, 2019, 9:51 pm
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While we live in an age of exponential technological in­novation, true black-swan breakthroughs are still rare. Most of our technological development is either incremental, or developing along predictable lines. But blockchain is one of those rare breakthroughs that are as innovative as they are unexpected, as timely as they are revolutionary.  Blockchain was first deployed in 2009 as part of the Bitcoin peer-to-peer electronic cash system that was invented by the pseudonymous Satoshi Naka­moto during the height of the financial crisis on 2007-2009.  It is essentially a distributed ledger that is cryptographically distributed across a number of nodes that cooperate using game theory to guarantee the integrity of the records. As a result, the value recorded on this distributed ledger can be transmitted in minutes across the globe, from one person to another, without the need of any central authority to regulate and guarantee the asset and its transaction.  It is difficult to understate the revolutionary potential of decentralised ledgers of electronic value and its implications for every industry imaginable, above all for financial services. For this reason, blockchain is posing...
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Time to call it a day - Eddie Aquilina

April 23, 2019, 9:51 pm
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Being an avid reader of this newspaper, considering the hours I spend going through every page to be a must and also time well-spent, I cannot avoid being subjected to the regular outbursts on paper that Martin Scicluna uses to vent whatever it is he needs to vent. Just like my old biros, which used to burst whenever I let them get too warm, Scicluna tends to get hot and spill ink all over the pages of this newspaper, seemingly oblivious to the fact that what he writes others may read. Whenever his pieces are published, they no longer remain to be the solitary musings and ruminations of a stagnant mind but they become public fare, for the consumption of all. I was privy to an education of the highest level, from which I was imbued with the qualities of honesty, diligence and respect for others. These are the qualities that, lumped together, allow for one to be considered a gentleman. It is, therefore, not usually my style or custom to indulge in direct criticism of an individual in what could be construed as a personal attack. However, in having long adopted such a style himself, Scicluna has forfeited any right to being protected by the common laws of decency that he has...
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Today's front pages - April 24, 2019

April 23, 2019, 10:01 pm
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The following are the main stories in Wednesday’s newspapers. Times of Malta says Prime Minister Joseph Muscat is refusing to implement recommendations made by the Ombudsman to remedy a vitiated army promotions exercise in 2013. In another story, it says the government must provide the nurses’ union with timelines for the Mount Carmel renovations by Wednesday, or risk being faced with industrial action. MaltaToday says Parliamentary Secretary Clifton Grima has vowed to have the racetrack completed by the end of the legislature. The Malta Independent says the police have been instructed to avoid exposing gender in media statements. L-Orizzont says a surplus of €250.8 million has been registered. In-Nazzjon says the government did not care for people who were paying high rental rates.
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Spring, El Khader, Islam and the Resurrection - Fr Geoffrey Attard

April 23, 2019, 10:01 pm
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Many people – especially those who suffer from SAD, an abbreviated form for both Solar Affective Disorder as well as Seasonal Affective Disorder, feel more than happy when February begins to near its end and March is around the corner, with its longer days and longer hours of light. Spring is definitely the favourite season for many. The countryside – or what is left of it in our islands – is at its best and a walk in the nearest green area would be characterised by the beautiful aromas that flow from flora and fauna alike. Even to the ancient Greeks and Romans, springtime almost had that divine touch. Persephone was the Greek goddess of spring and youth; the Romans had Flora as its equivalent. Springtime, with its touch of freshness and renewal, never ceases to catch the imagination. The Romans had celebrated three festivals in Spring: Cerealia, Parilia and Floralia.  Ovid hints at its archaic, brutal nature of the Cerealia (held for seven days from mid to late April) when he describes a night-time ritual; blazing torches were tied to the tails of live foxes, who were released into the Circus Maximus.  Then came the festival of the Parilia, celebrated on April 21, intended to...
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Cranes and pollution driving higher-spending tourists away - MHRA president

April 23, 2019, 10:01 pm
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The drop in the amount being spent by tourists showed that the island was failing to attract higher-spenders – and things are getting steadily worse because of the cranes and pollution, the president of the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association Tony Zahra told Times Talk. The number of tourist arrivals for the whole of 2018 rose by 14.3 per cent to reach nearly 2.6 million. But each tourist is spending less: at €809, that is a decrease of 5.5 per cent when compared to 2017.    
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