Quantcast
Channel: Times Of Malta
Viewing all 84484 articles
Browse latest View live
↧

The Buttigieg effect: 'Americans are finally pronouncing my name right'

February 9, 2020, 9:00 am
$
0
0

Joe Gauci: His pastizzi business is booming. Right: Lisa Buttigieg-LiGreci: “Everyone I know asks if we’re related.”

Malta is receiving a lot more attention since Democrat candidate Pete Buttigieg launched his bid to become US president, Maltese people living in the US say. The openly gay politician, whose late father was from Ħamrun, surprisingly beat fellow Democrat Bernie Sanders in the first poll in Iowa this week in the race to contest Donald Trump on November 3. “Everyone I know asks if we’re related, because it’s not a very common name here,” says Lisa Buttigieg-LiGreci, whose father emigrated from Paola with his family when he was two. “I have to explain to them that Buttigieg is a very common surname in Malta and it’s not likely that we are related. But you never know, right? We could be distant cousins!” The Michigan resident says it has also helped people pronounce her name correctly for the first time in her 60 years. “Growing up with the name Buttigieg was interesting. No one ever heard of it or could pronounce it. That gave me the opportunity to tell people I was Maltese and my family was from Malta. “The funny thing is, we never pronounced our last name correctly either. When my father enlisted in the army for World War II, his boot camp sergeant mispronounced his name as...
↧
Search

Democrats Sanders, Buttigieg trade barbs as New Hampshire vote nears

February 9, 2020, 9:50 am
$
0
0

Democratic presidential candidates Bernie Sanders (left) and Pete Buttigieg.

Bernie Sanders and Pete Buttigieg carried their fight for the Democratic presidential nomination to the nation's airwaves Sunday as they scrapped for votes with just two days to go before New Hampshire's closely-watched primary. The 78-year-old Vermont senator and the 38-year-old former mayor of South Bend, Indiana came in atop the first contest in Iowa -- marred by messy confusion about the result -- giving each important momentum as Democrats seek a candidate to take on Donald Trump in November. Sanders, a leftist whose state borders New Hampshire and who won there by a landslide in 2016, holds a lead in that state in four polls released Sunday, each of which had the moderate Buttigieg in second followed by Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren then former vice president Joe Biden. "I think we have an excellent chance to win," Sanders told CNN's "State of the Union," lining up political talk show appearances before a final push on the ground in the small northeastern state. With the primary season under way in earnest, some of the earlier collegiality among Democrats has fallen away. "I am running against a candidate, Pete Buttigieg, among others, who has raised contributions...
↧
↧

Hibernians drop valuable points against Senglea

February 9, 2020, 10:28 am
$
0
0

SENGLEA ATHLETICS 1 Wilkson 32 HIBERNIANS 1 Grech 4 pen. Hibernians missed another golden opportunity to bridge the gap on the Premier League frontrunners when they could only manage a 1-1 draw against Senglea Athletic. After last week’s disappointing defeat to Sirens, the Paolites were desperate to get back to winning ways in a bid to relaunch their title challenge, particularly after leaders Floriana dropped points against Gżira United on Saturday. It looked as though Hibernians were on course when they took a fourth-minute lead courtesy of a Jake Grech penalty conversion. But the Paolites failed to build on that bright start as they looked short of ideas and were ultimately made to pay by a fine individual effort from Jose Wilkson that earned a merited point to Senglea. After this result, Hibernians joined Sirens in third place on 31 points, four adrift of joint-leaders Valletta and Floriana while Senglea remained second from bottom on 16 points. Hibernians coach Stefano Sanderra handed a debut to Jorge Santos Silva in the absence of the injured Jurgen Degabriele while Luis Edison ‘Tarabai’ was named on the bench after his return to the club last month. Senglea, on their...
↧

Sta Lucia maintain winning momentum

February 9, 2020, 10:33 am
$
0
0

TARXIEN RAINBOWS 1 Ciantar 45 STA LUCIA 3 Maxuell 29, 64 pen. Henrique 90 Sta Lucia’s positive run of late continued yesterday as the newly-promoted club overcame bottom-placed Tarxien Rainbows at the Hibs Stadium. It was a merited victory for Sta Lucia who held too much firepower for the Rainbows with their front trio of Kevin Ante Rosero, Maxuell, and Paolo Henrique causing all sorts of problems to the Rainbows defence. For Sta Lucia this was their third win in a row which lifted them to ninth place in the standings on the 20-point mark, five clear of the drop zone while Tarxien remained bottom on seven points Sta Lucia looked lively for much of the first half and on 11 minutes, Rosero came close when his low shot scraped past the upright. The Colombian striker came even closer seven minutes laster when he connected to Leighton Grech’s cross but diving header came off the bar. Sta Lucia’s breakthrough was only a matter of time and that duly arrived on 20 minutes. Paulo Henrique burst his way past Destine Mambouana and picked Maxuell who headed firmly into the roof of the net. The Rainbows tried to force their way back into the match and on 35 minutes they thought they restored...
↧

Marlene Mizzi calls for Daphne Caruana Galizia middleman pardon to be revoked

February 9, 2020, 10:45 am
$
0
0

Former Labour Party MEP Marlene Mizzi has called for the pardon granted to the middleman in the Daphne Caruana Galizia murder case to be revoked after what she described as a "lying" reference to retired judge Antonio Mizzi, her husband. The former judge was named in taped conversations between the middleman Melvin Theuma and alleged mastermind Yorgen Fenech.  In the recordings, Fenech claimed that Keith Schembri, then the OPM chief of staff, had spoken to the judge on behalf of Joseph Muscat over bail for the three men accused of carrying out the murder.  The 'Mizzi' mentioned in the recordings was identified by Theuma as the former judge in court earlier this week.  Writing on Facebook on Sunday, the former MEP Ms Mizzi dismissed the claims as lies and called for Theuma's presidential pardon to be revoked.  "Two criminals speaking about a judge of known impeccable integrity, over a 38 year carrier [sic] in the judiciary, suddenly become exponents of gospel truth," she said. "Criminal Yorgen Fenech has nothing to lose now. He is probably facing a deserved life in jail and he will try to bring down as many people with him as possible." Ms Mizzi said Theuma was merely repeating...
↧
↧

Head of anti-bird poaching unit is also a trapper

February 9, 2020, 10:49 am
$
0
0

The new head of the government’s anti-bird poaching unit is himself a bird trapper. Richard Lia was appointed head of the Wild Birds Regulation Unit, Gozo Minister Clint Camilleri, who is also a bird trapper, confirmed to Times of Malta.  Mr Lia had previously served as acting head following the resignation of Sergei Golovkin back in 2018.  Sources said Mr Lia had applied for a bird trapping licence while already employed at the WBRU.    Conservationists contacted by Times of Malta pointed out that this was a departure from the practice of having either policy, or environmental protection experts in charge of such units.   “This just goes to show that the first priority will be the interests of hunters and not wildlife protection,” said Birdlife chief executive Mark Sultana, who added that the move was “disheartening”.    The WBRU was set up two months after the Labour Party was voted into power back in 2013 on the promise that the government would work to ensure the sustainability of local hunting and trapping.   It hit the headlines last month after Prime Minister Robert Abela announced his decision to move the unit from the Environment Ministry to the Gozo Ministry.
↧

Watch: Bogdanovic hits winner for Jazz, Celtics win seventh straight

February 10, 2020, 4:07 am
$
0
0

Bojan Bogdanovic (centre) of the Utah Jazz celebrates with his team mates following their victory over the Houston Rockets

Bojan Bogdanovic shook off a frustrating shooting night by nailing a clutch three pointer at the buzzer to lift the Utah Jazz to a 114-113 win over the Houston Rockets Sunday. Bogdanovic is averaging 21 points per game this season but the Croatian star finished with eight points against the Rockets. He sank just two field goals. But he made it count when it mattered the most. The Jazz executed the final play to perfection as Bogdanovic shot over James Harden for the winning basket. "They made a heck of a shot," Houston coach Mike D'Antoni said. "We had two guys on him. I was afraid we were going to foul him (because) it was so close. Hats off to that shot." With just over four minutes left, Bogdanovic hit a three pointer and then Donovan Mitchell nailed a jumper to give the Jazz a 107-100 lead. But the Rockets weren't finished. Harden answered with a nifty pass to Robert Covington who sank a three to put Houston ahead 110-109 with 28 seconds left. Mitchell responded with two free throws as the Jazz got back in front. Houston's PJ Tucker then sank a corner three-pointer with 1.6 seconds left that pushed the Rockets back in front before Bogdanovic had the final say. Jordan...
↧

Tales from the paddock: Australian debut in the Bathurst 12-hour classic

February 10, 2020, 4:15 am
$
0
0

The motorsport season is gradually starting to take shape: Formula 1 fans are eagerly awaiting the season opener, Formula E faces new challenges in Mexico, and the attention of the GT world is drawn “down under”. The countdown has started: On 14 February, the new car to be driven by Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas will make its first outing during the shakedown at the Silverstone International Circuit, 30 days before Australia hosts the season opener of the premier class. From the shakedown, the team will proceed directly to the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in Spain for the first of two test weeks, namely 19 - 21 February and 26 - 28 February, when all of the Formula 1 teams have the opportunity to gauge the performance of their new cars. New track layout: It’s not long now to the fourth round of the ABB FIA Formula E Championship. Ahead of the Mercedes-Benz EQ Formula E Team’s departure for Mexico, the local officials announced the new track layout for the 2020 CBMM Niobium Mexico City E-Prix. The city, which is hosting the race for the fourth time this year, has extended the circuit by an additional 513 metres. The new configuration of the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez is...
↧
Search

Is British still best?

February 10, 2020, 4:22 am
$
0
0

The UK has a longstanding history of creating cars. Throughout the years it’s produced all manner of vehicles – both good and bad – in sites across the country. But with a lot of car manufacturing sites moved overseas, there are fewer vehicles rolling off the production lines here in Britain than before. We’ve looked at some of the car companies which are still building in Blighty. Aston Martin Aston Martin is as British as they come, and continues to build its high-end sports and supercars at its plant in Gaydon, Warwickshire. Cars like the DB11 AMR and DBS Superleggera roll out from production lines here. [attach id=832138 size="large" align="left" type="image"]Aston Martin has recently expanded to a new site in St Athan, south Wales.[/attach] Aston has also developed a new site based in St Athan, south Wales, where it will be producing the upcoming DBX SUV. Bentley Bentley has been building cars in Crewe for many, many years, stretching back to the time when the firm was owned by Rolls-Royce and needed a relatively secluded location – German bomber teams were unlikely to trouble it during World War Two. [attach id=832123 size="large" align="right" type="image"]Bentleys have...
↧
↧

Update: Struggling SPAL sack Semplici

February 10, 2020, 4:23 am
$
0
0

Leonardo Semplici

Former Italy U21 coach Luigi Di Biagio has been appointed coach of Serie A basement club SPAL in place of sacked Leonardo Semplici, the Italian outfit confirmed on Monday. Semplici had been at the helm since December 2014, leading the club from Serie C to the top flight for the first time in 49 years from the 2017-2018 campaign. The 52-year-old’s dismissal follows a poor run including Sunday’s 2-1 defeat at home against Sassuolo. SPAL have won just four games this season against Lazio, Torino, Parma and Atalanta, and are bottom of the table with 15 points from 23 games.
↧

'It will do the country good' - churchgoers welcome Pope Francis visit

February 10, 2020, 4:26 am
$
0
0

The visit by Pope Francis, seen here before last week's general audience at the Vatican, will be the fourth papal stop in Malta in the last 30 years. Photo: AFP

Confirmation of Pope Francis's visit to Malta on May 31 was met with applause from a delighted congregation celebrating mass during the feast of St Paul's Shipwreck.  Outside, 70-year-old Mary Rose Borg said that the fact that the feast of St Paul was chosen to make the big announcement - and reveal the date of the papal visit - was apt since "this nice and big news deserves a nice and big feast". St Paul was shipwrecked around the year A.D. 60 and spent three months on the island, according to the biblical account. “The Pope’s visit reminds us of the time St Paul came to Malta. He is coming to present God to us and we welcome him with open arms,” said Ms Borg, who lives in Attard but is originally from Valletta. [attach id=834181 type="video"]Video: Chris Sant Fournier[/attach] Lydia Grima, 60, from Fleur de Lys said the news was welcome. “It’s a nice thing that we also get a visit from this Pope and, hopefully, it will do the country good,” she said.   The date was announced on Monday morning when President George Vella read out a letter from the Vatican, confirming the visit on May 31, at the end of a pontifical Mass on the solemnity of St Paul's Shipwreck, on the occasion of...
↧

Restored 911 combines heritage and fashion

February 10, 2020, 5:05 am
$
0
0

Teddy Santis, founder and creative director of the popular New York fashion label Aimé Leon Dore (ALD), has collaborated with Porsche in restoring a 911 Carrera 4 (type 964). The unique car is the product of months of primary design research, including Santis’ visits to the Porsche Museum and 911 assembly line in Stuttgart.  [attach id=834193 size="large" align="left" type="image"][/attach] The centrepiece of the vehicle restoration is a fully custom interior, featuring Schott sunflower leather and Loro Piana houndstooth, the same materials highlighted in Aimé Leon Dore’s Fall/Winter 2020 collection. Rich top-grain leather wraps the dashboard, steering wheel and door panels, while the reverse suede side of the leather covers the headliner and sunroof. The bespoke seats were meticulously restored in the legendary Recaro workshop in Kirchheim, Germany. A Schott leather trunk with Loro Piana accents completes the interior. It holds a care bag inspired by designs from the Porsche Classic product archive. [attach id=834190 size="medium" align="left" type="image"][/attach] The vehicle’s exterior is painted the same shade of white as the storefront of the ALD flagship store located on...
↧

Troubled firm renounces shares in planned bank

February 10, 2020, 5:26 am
$
0
0

Laskaris Finance is awaiting approval of its banking licence from the MFSA.

A troubled company service provider is set to renounce its investment in a prospective bank after the financial regulator cancelled its registration due to a raft of regulatory breaches. E&S Group is one of nine shareholders in Laskaris Finance, which is awaiting approval for a banking licence from the MFSA and ECB. Among the rollcall of investors in Laskaris Finance are a Maltese-passport buyer, the investment arm of a cryptocurrency exchange registered in the British Virgin Islands and a pair of lawyers involved in the Smart City residential project. Pilatus Bank’s former risk manager, Antoniella Gauci, famously caught on camera sneaking out round the back of the bank with its former chairman and owner Ali Sadr on the night of the Egrant allegations, has been employed by Laskaris Finance. An inquiry into potential criminal culpability by Pilatus Bank’s former employees at the shuttered bank is still ongoing following suspicions that the bank was being used by Azerbaijan’s ruling elite to launder dirty money. The Laskaris bank project is being spearheaded by Roderick Psaila, who at the moment is the prospective bank’s CEO and majority shareholder. Replying to questions by Times...
↧
↧

Japan cruise ship now has 135 coronavirus infections

February 10, 2020, 5:52 am
$
0
0

Another 65 people aboard the quarantined Diamond Princess cruise ship moored off Japan have been diagnosed with novel coronavirus, the health ministry said Monday, bringing the total number of known infections to 135. The Diamond Princess has been in quarantine since arriving off the Japanese coast early last week after the virus was detected in a former passenger who got off the ship last month in Hong Kong. "Test results from 103 people have now come out and 65 of them are confirmed positive for the new coronavirus," the ministry said in a statement. Four of the 65 patients had been sent to hospital, a ministry official told reporters, adding that more test results were pending. The official declined to comment on the nationality of those infected, but said that the ministry "aims to report them by the end of tomorrow". Authorities have continued to test people for the virus where "necessary", the statement added. The cruise ship operator said 66 people had been newly diagnosed, mostly Japanese, but there were also Australians, Filipinos, a Canadian, a Briton and a Ukrainian. There was no immediate clarity on the discrepancy between that figure and the health ministry. When...
↧

EU calls emergency talks on new coronavirus

February 10, 2020, 5:59 am
$
0
0

The European Union will host an extraordinary meeting of health ministers on Thursday, along with a WHO envoy, to discuss the novel coronavirus outbreak. So far, only around 30 cases of the new strain have been detected in Europe, but the World Health Organisation warns that cases outside China could accelerate. "Now is the time to join forces to stop this epidemic," said European Commissioner for Crisis Management Janez Lenarcic. The EU ministers will discuss ways to prevent the virus' spread and "adopt conclusions in relation to the EU response to the novel coronavirus outbreak". Last week, German health minister Jens Spahn suggested at a meeting with his French counterpart Agnes Buzyn that Europe impose restrictions on travellers from China. The United States has already banned the arrival of foreign nationals who have visited China recently. But for any such measure to be imposed in Europe the 27 EU members would have to coordinate the decision, since most of them are in the Schengen passport-free travel area. The virus, which first emerged at the end of last year, has killed more than 900 people. Some 40,000 people have been infected in China and 350 elsewhere.  
↧
Search

'Storm of the century' leaves trail of destruction across Europe

February 10, 2020, 8:00 am
$
0
0

Frankfurt Cathedral was damaged when a crane collapsed on a section of its roof.

Updated at 6.43pm with increased death toll, details - Fierce winds and heavy rains claimed at least five lives across northern Europe on Monday as Storm Ciara disrupted travel, grounded hundreds of flights, flooded roads and left vast areas without power. In one of the region's most violent storms for years, one man died and another was reported missing in southern Sweden when their boat capsized. In Slovenia, a 52-year-old man died Monday when a tree fell on his car as he travelled in the northeast of the country. In southern Poland, at Bukowina Tatrzanska, a 40-year-old woman and her young daughter were killed by roofing torn away by the storm-force winds, police in Zakopane said. [attach id=834220 type="video"][/attach] Police in London said that a man had been killed in his car on Sunday when a tree fell on to a motorway southwest of the capital. In the west of Germany, falling trees seriously injured three people: two women in Sarrebruck -- one of whom was in a critical condition -- and a 16-year-old boy in Paderborn. And in the Czech Republic, a man was injured by a falling tree. Winds of up to 180 kilometres (110 miles) an hour left 100,000 without power, even toppling...
↧

Average motorist doesn’t expect to buy an electric vehicle until 2030

February 10, 2020, 8:15 am
$
0
0

It could be more than a decade before electric vehicles truly go mainstream as drivers are unwilling to commit until they can travel long distances on a single charge. In a survey of 1,753 UK motorists by the RAC, the minimum range an electric vehicle would have to be capable of travelling in one go would be 368 miles (592 kilometres) before the average driver would consider buying one. That would exclude all but one of the electric vehicles currently on sale in the UK. The Tesla Model S Long Range can travel 379 miles (610 kilometres) with prices starting at £77,700 (approx. €92,000). Bearing in mind concerns about range, it’s perhaps no surprise to learn that, on average, motorists don’t see themselves buying an EV until 2030. However, as manufacturers and regulators work to push more low- and zero-emission vehicles to market in order to cut air pollution, the number of buyers looking to these models for their next purchase is on the rise. The survey found that six per cent of respondents were planning to buy an all-electric model next, double the percentage of last year. Meanwhile, the number of drivers looking for all-electric, plug-in hybrid or hydrogen fuel cell vehicles...
↧
↧

Leone’s late strike helps Spartans get back to winning ways

February 10, 2020, 8:15 am
$
0
0

SIRENS 1 Okoye 12 ĦAMRUN SPARTANS 2 Failla 32 Leone 86 A Nicola Leone goal three minutes from time handed Ħamrun Spartans a dramatic victory over high-flying Sirens at the National Stadium on Monday. It was a stunning outcome to a match which had seen both sides on an even keel for much of a match that produced very limited scoring opportunities. In the early stages, it looked as though Sirens were set to maintain their hot run of late when Welligton put them ahead. But the Spartans showed remarkable spirit to fight back into the match and after Clayton Failla pulled them level with a fine free-kick execution it was Nicola Leone who fired home the winner with ferocious strike three minutes from time. The win was certainly a huge tonic for the Spartans who have ended a depressing run of nine matches without a win and move up to seventh in the standings on the 22 points, level with Balzan and Mosta. On the other hand, the defeat was a blow to Sirens’ aspirations to keep up the pressure on joint-leaders Valletta and Floriana as they have now slipped to fourth place, four points adrift of the league summing. Sirens coach Steve D’Amato kept faith with the same players that last week...
↧

French state sued over violence against women

February 10, 2020, 9:36 am
$
0
0

Collage under the Ile Saint Louis bridge to denounce the murder of Jeanine, a strong and courageous woman, murdered in 2010 by her companion at the age of 61.

A Frenchwoman whose sister and parents were murdered by the sister's former partner on Monday asked a court to find the state responsible for their deaths over its alleged failure to protect the family. On August 4, 2014, after a car chase through the northern town of Grande-Synthe, Isabelle Thomas, a mother of two, and her parents were gunned down by Patrick Lemoine, an auto-repair technician. Two months later Lemoine, whom Thomas had met in 2012 after separating from her husband, committed suicide in prison. A few weeks before the triple murder, Thomas had reported Lemoine to the police for domestic violence after he attempted to strangle her. He was arrested but later released on probation on condition he refrain from contacting the 49-year-old maths teacher pending his trial, scheduled for mid-August. But the harassment continued unabated. "He followed her to her lawyer and shoved her lawyer who in turn called the prosecutor. Isabelle filed a complaint and the prosecutor was informed in person but nothing was done," Isabelle Steyer, lawyer for the dead woman's sister Cathy Thomas, said. The court case takes place against the backdrop of growing awareness and outrage in...
↧

Għargħur council wants daycare centre on land which Church plans to sell

February 10, 2020, 9:40 am
$
0
0

The plot of agricultural land which the Għargħur local council would like to convert into a day care centre and a night shelter.

The Għargħur council has written to the Archbishop’s Curia over a plot of agricultural land which is up for sale and which it would like to convert into a day care centre and a night shelter for the locality’s aging population. Mayor Helen Gauci said the council had asked the church to allow it to carry out the project it had long been planning for villagers. The plot lies just behind the church, close to the village core and was originally planned to be turned into catechism classrooms and facilities for parish use. “We only found out about the sale of the plot of land through the story on Times of Malta. The deadline had already passed but we still wrote to the Curia to tell them what we planned to do with the plot should we manage to get our hands on it,” she said. She explained many elderly people resided in Għargħur and therefore a day care centre and a night shelter for those who feel lonely and unsafe at home would be ideal. Besides, the creation of underground parking would alleviate the massive parking problem in the village streets. The Curia is selling a portion of developable agricultural land it owns in Għargħur to finance the restoration of the parish church and...
↧
Viewing all 84484 articles
Browse latest View live
Search
<script src="https://jsc.adskeeper.com/r/s/rssing.com.1596347.js" async> </script>