«His justice be done...»

Chelsea manager Emma Hayes lamented Swedish referee Sara Persson's «horrendous» officiating after title-holders Lyon knocked the Blues out of the Women's Champions League at the semi-final stage on Sunday. South Korea's Ji So-yun scored with a fine free-kick for Chelsea but it was not enough to defeat European powerhouse Lyon who hit back through Eugenie Le Sommer's well-taken goal that secured a 1-1 draw in the second leg and 3-2 aggregate victory. French side Lyon will now face Barcelona in a bid for a fourth succesive Champions League crown. Hayes, while proud of how Chelsea had pushed Lyon hard, made no attempt to hide her unhappiness with Persson's performance. «I'm going to take a fine for it, but I thought the referee was horrendous,» said Hayes. «You really want strong officials in big games. She didn't manage the game, I think she was scared of them. She didn't control both teams.» Chelsea pressed hard for a second goal in the second half with captain Karen Carney curling a fine shot against a post. Defeat left the London club unable to qualify for next season's Champions League as Chelsea cannot finish in the top two of this term's English Women's Super League. 'Scared...

A late penalty miss from Tim Leibold spared Bayern Munich a humiliating defeat at Nuremberg on Sunday but Niko Kovac's Bundesliga leaders missed the chance to pull away in the title race with a dramatic 1-1 draw at the relegation strugglers. Bayern had the chance to go four points clear at the top of the table with three games to go after title rivals Borussia Dortmund lost 4-2 to Schalke on Saturday. Yet there was another twist in the tale on Sunday, as a disciplined Nuremberg side kept Bayern at bay for long periods to earn a well-deserved point and keep Dortmund's title hopes alive. Leibold had the chance to win the game for the relegation-threatened side late on, but thundered his penalty against the post. Bayern looked nervous from the offset, and nearly went behind when goalkeeper Sven Ulreich misjudged a backpass from Mats Hummels in the first half. Matheus Pereira put Nuremberg ahead with a brilliant strike from the edge of the area in the 48th minute. Gnabry grabbed a scrappy equaliser with 15 minutes to go, scuffing the ball over the goalkeeper Christian Mathenia at the far post.   1. FC Nürnberg - Bayern München Live Score

Barcelona Women will play Lyon in their first ever Champions League final after beating Bayern Munich 1-0 on Sunday to secure a 2-0 aggregate victory. Lyon will be attempting to lift the cup for a fourth consecutive time, and sixth overall, when they play the final in Budapest on May 18. But Barca have never gone this far, having lost in the last four to Paris Saint-Germain on their previous best run in 2017. Mariona Caldentey's penalty towards the end of the first half proved the difference against Bayern in front of a crowd of 12,764 at Miniestadi, a Barcelona record for a women's home match. The one blot on the afternoon was Kheira Hamraoui being sent off in the 70th minute, which left her team hanging on and means she will be suspended for the final. Bayern captain Melanie Leupolz had earlier rattled the crossbar and Sara Dabritz was among those to miss good chances during a period of sustained pressure after half-time. Barca keeper Sandra Panos also made an excellent save to deny a header from Dominika Skorvankova and as time ran out for Bayern, frustration grew, with their coach Thomas Worle sent off for dissent. The result might have been more emphatic had the Catalans...

Italy's Five Star Movement (M5S) wants to team up with like-minded anti-establishment parties and form a new grouping within the European Parliament to wrest power from the traditional left and right, its leader said Sunday. «I don't think that the traditional parties have the potential to attain an absolute majority in the European Parliament,» M5S chief Luigi di Maio said. Speaking at an event in Warsaw with Poland's populist Kukiz'15 movement and Croatia's Zivi Zid (Human Shield) party, Di Maio said the traditional differentiation between politics of the «left» and «right» was «outdated». «I prefer to distinguish between good and bad ideas,» said Di Maio, who is Italy's deputy prime minister. He said his party was open to collaboration with any political movement «that comes up with good proposals.» Di Maio's Polish host, the punk-rocker-turned-politician Pawel Kukiz, said his party's slogan for the EU elections would be «Poland in Europe, Europe for Poland» and that the focus of his campaign would be the fight against the «ossified elites». "We cannot accept that Europe is in the hands of the European Commission, which in reality serves the interests of two states, a sort of...

A 35-year-old man was on Sunday jailed 18 months and fined €800 after he was found guilty of theft. The accused, a Libyan, was charged of stealing from a shop in Valletta. The police said that he was also found to be carrying items that had been stolen from other shops. The man was also accused of resisting arrest, insulting the police, and being a relapser. Police investigations are continuing.

Valtteri Bottas resisted an attacking final charge by his Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton to win Sunday’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix and regain the lead in the 2019 drivers title race. In a thrilling, closely-fought and dramatic race, the Finn came home 1.5 seconds ahead of Hamilton as Mercedes swept to a fourth successive one-two finish, the first team to do so since Ferrari in 1952. It was the second win of the season for Bottas and fifth of his career and delivered him some redemption after leading last year’s race until his car suffered a puncture with three laps remaining. “Yes, ha!” said the delighted Bottas. “Amazing job guys. Really, really strong. I am so proud to be part of this team.” “We are all performing really, really well,” said Bottas of the Mercedes team. His win lifted him one point clear of Hamilton in the embryonic championship courtesy of his fastest lap in Australia. Bottas has 87 points, Hamilton 86 and Vettel has 52. The two Mercedes men came home ahead of Sebastian Vettel of Ferrari, Max Verstappen who was fourth for Red Bull and, after a storming effort, Ferrari new boy Charles Leclerc, who started eighth on the grid and scored the fastest lap after a...

The government has committed to giving the nurses’ union Mount Carmel Hospital renovation time frames by next week, Tiems of Malta has learnt. Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses (MUMN) president Paul Pace said that the nurses were promised by the Health Ministry that the time frames would be supplied by “next week”. On Wednesday, the newspaper reported that the union had threatened the government with industrial action if it did not provide time frames that outline the work planned for the hospital. In comments to the newspaper following the meeting, Mr Pace confirmed that the ministry had indeed agreed to provide the union with the timeframes. The union head, however, was quick to point out that nurses would only be assured once the time frames were actually in hand. “We’ve been here before. The government promises things and then fails to deliver them. So we have to wait and see whether these will actually be supplied,” Mr Pace said. The move comes in the wake of reports in the 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...

Borussia Moenchengladbach forward Thorgan Hazard has confirmed German media reports that he has agreed terms with Gladbach's Bundesliga rivals Borussia Dortmund. The Belgian international, who is the younger brother of Chelsea star Eden Hazard, told Belgian platform VTM Nieuws that it was now up to the two clubs to complete the transfer. «I have reached a personal agreement with Dortmund,» said Hazard in a video interview published by VTM on Saturday. «I have said before that I want to take the next step in my career. I want to experience something new.» «It is up to the clubs, there are talks between Gladbach and Dortmund. It will take time.» Various German outlets, including kicker magazine and Bild newspaper, reported in April that Hazard was on the brink of a move to Dortmund after five years at Gladbach. Hazard joined the Bundesliga club on loan from Chelsea in 2014, and completed a permanent move the following year. His current contract expires at the end of next season, meaning Gladbach risk losing him on a free transfer if they do not sell him this year. Gladbach sporting director Max Eber has previously ruled out allowing Hazard to leave for no fee.

Greeks feasted Sunday after fireworks and colourful lanterns welcomed Orthodox Easter and the government hailed an economic resurrection. Easter is the biggest religious festival in Greece, where some 90 percent of the population is Orthodox. «We can finally be optimistic after all those difficult years. The Calvary of bailout programs is behind us,» Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said in his Easter message. Calvary is the hill outside Jerusalem on which Christians believe Jesus Christ was crucified. In August, Greece exited its third and final international bailout, a milestone as it tackles a crushing nine-year debt crisis. The economy is back on track and Athens is now set to borrow on financial markets without the strict conditions imposed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and eurozone creditors. Families gathered across the country on Sunday for traditional dinners of roast lamb as they brought the penitential 40-day season of Lent to an end. City centres were deserted as residents flocked to home villages and islands, with many expected to enjoy an extended Easter owing to this year's proximity to the May 1 Labour Day holiday. Planes, ships and trains were filled...

Mellieħa, being an isolated village with no military objectives, suffered relatively few attacks during World War II. Bombs occasionally did fall in the area, but mostly in fields and on rocky garigue. So it proved to be a safe haven for many refugees who had abandoned their hometowns and found shelter in the small village. Some even chose to live in surrounding caves, preferring the damp and discomfort to enemy bombs. But all was to change on April 25, 1942, when the Germans decided to focus their attention on the Recruits Camp at Għadira. In March 1942, it was decided to set up a training camp for King’s Own Malta Regiment recruits at Għadira, Mellieħa Bay. Instructors to train the recruits were to come from other battalions on the island. The camp was to be under the command of Lieutenant Colonel H.D. Chaplin. On March 29, all necessary items were transported to the camp, and by that same evening, soldiers from 2nd Battalion The Queen’s Own Royal West Kent Regiment had set up tents on already-existing concrete platforms. These tents were to serve as accommodation for the green troops. Two days later, instructors and staff arrived and a conference was held by Lt Col Chaplin.

Prosecutors in the United States have hit back at claims that a reference to Seyed Ali Sadr Hashemenijad’s link to Malta made in the criminal case built against him forms part of a misleading and irrelevant narrative. Lawyers for the former Pilatus Bank chairman last month asked the US courts to dismiss the “vague and overbroad allegations” against him. Mr Sadr, whose wedding guests in 2015 included Prime Minister Joseph Muscat and his top aide Keith Schembri, was last year charged with money-laundering and sanction busting by US prosecutors. Read: US prosecutors gained warrant to search Sadr e-mails in 2014 He stands accused of having disguised the origins of $115 million worth of transfers for an Iranian-Venezuelan housing project, in violation of US sanctions against Iran. Dr Muscat has insisted the charges against him have no link to Malta. Apart from the oblique references to Mr Hashemenijad’s role in Malta, no direct evidence has emerged from prosecutors linking Pilatus Bank or Malta to the case. Pilatus Bank’s licence was formally withdrawn by the European Central Bank in November 2018. As part of his motion to dismiss the charges against him, Mr Hashemenijad’s lawyers...

With Julian Mallia’s new exhibition – Julinu’s Radioactive Ravioli – now open, there’s ample time for you to enjoy the talent and humour in this exciting display. Jo Caruana discovers the connection between pop-surrealist art and pasta. Julian Mallia – aka Julinu – isn’t one for keeping things average; he never quite fit a mould. In fact, although he originally graduated in psychology, he has since crafted a life for himself as an illustrator, fine artist and graphic designer – recently earning him recognition from the AOI World Illustration Awards. More recently he was featured in The Power and Influence of Illustration, a book about contemporary illustration published by Bloomsbury UK, alongside a handful of world-renowned illustrators, including Dave McKean (who designed comic-book covers for Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman), Gerald Scarfe (creator of Pink Floyd’s The Wall), Milton Glaser (the man behind Bob Dylan’s iconic psychedelic poster) and cartoonist Quentin Blake (best known for illustrating Roald Dahl’s books). Now, he has just launched his latest work – a collection of 17 pop surrealist oil paintings under the title of Julian’s Radioactive Ravioli. It will be on show...

Changing the culture with regards to construction safety was as important as changing the legislation, according to Catherine Halpin, the CEO of Quad Business Towers. “There is definitely no legislation and no health and safety practice that could not be improved in some way. No one should ever be afraid of review. So if we need to look at the legislation, by all means, let us do so, but it should not just be changed for the sake of change,” she told the Times of Malta. “There is legislation, there are competent people, and there are plenty of examples of things being done professionally. But unless there is the right culture with regards to safety – from the client to the managers and the employees – all the legislation in the world will not help.” Following the collapse of an apartment block in Gwardamanġa on Wednesday night, the Chamber of Architects on Thursday had lamented that there was too much fragmentation of responsibilities, and that there were no clear lines of responsibility. There has been a spate of recent accidents over the past months, but these were linked to safety of the workers – a matter that falls under the remit of the Occupational Health and Safety...

Lapo and LukeVault 1, St Angelo Waterfront, VittoriosaTel: 2180 8990 Food: 7/10Service: 7/10Ambience: 7/10Value: 7/10Overall: 7/10 We live on a tiny island. At three hundred odd kilometres squared, you can get almost anywhere in an hour or so (assuming the hellscape that traffic has become is moderate at best). Which makes it a wonder why some things seem just too far away. It’s the small island mentality that is ingrained into each of us. If an hour is the furthest you ever have to travel, then anything close to it seems like an eternity. A friend of mine recently purchased an apartment in Xemxija. To actually live in. I will miss them. It is especially weird when you consider that the situation completely changes when we’re abroad. I’ve found myself happy to walk 12 kilometres around a city taking in the sights whereas I’ve whipped together a Pasta à la Fridge (my speciality) to avoid the 100-metre trek to the corner store for some actual ingredients. With this new-found epiphany, I have now taken to the occasional ‘Tourist Day’ in my own country. The things you take for granted are often overlooked because they are the norm for us. Malta’s trademark balconies, our charmingly...

Simonne Pace catches up with Roy Taylor, professor of medicine and metabolism at Newcastle University, ahead of his talk in Malta on a possibly new diabetes cure involving diet supervision by GPs. Groundbreaking research on putting Type 2 diabetes into remission could change the way this chronic disease is treated in the future. This wonderful study – the Diabetes Remission Clinical Trial (DiRECT) – throws light on the possibility of lessening the severity of symptoms of Type 2 diabetes by following a low-calorie diet supervised by one’s GP. “For people in the first six years of Type 2 diabetes, 90 per cent of those losing more than 15 kilos return to non-diabetic control, off all tablets and injections. For longer-duration diabetes, the chance gets steadily less, but never say never,” says Roy Taylor, professor of medicine and metabolism at Newcastle University, who is leading the research together with Mike Lean from the University of Glasgow. More than 42,000 cases of diabetes in adults were registered in Malta in 2017, with the prevalence rate being a very high 13.2 per cent of the Maltese population, according to the International Diabetes Federation. Is a Mediterranean...

No wonder critics were bewildered by Brahm’s Violin Concerto in 1879. Not only is it a monumental work that requires highly attentive listening, it often feels more like a symphony with violin than a concerto. The work has none of the fireworks typical of the early 19th century concerto, although it is still a technically demanding work. It requires a fine balance of poise and passion, two qualities which violinist Guy Braunstein together with the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Michalis Economou, amply had. The latest MPO concert, held at the Mediterranean Conference Centre, presented two colossal works by two giants of the German Romantic tradition – Brahms and Mahler. Presenting a Brahms concerto followed by a Mahler symphony was an interesting combination, even if it made for a rather heavy programme. Wagner’s Rienzi overture, which was meant to open the concert, was wisely dropped from the programme. Brahms is one of those composers that can easily become tedious at the hands of lesser musicians. It is easy to interpret his music as being serious and Germanic, but that would be missing the point entirely. Braunstein, apart from being an undisputed master of...

Malta is in the “worst constitutional mess” that it has faced since Independence, the Dean of the University of Malta’s Faculty of Laws, Kevin Aquilina, has told The Sunday Times of Malta in reaction to last Thursday’s judicial appointments and the lawsuit that challenged the selection system. It is a sentiment echoed by other legal experts, who also raised the spectre of the appointees’ judgments being tested in the future on human rights grounds. Thursday’s rushed judicial appointments fly in the face of a report by the Council of Europe’s Venice Commission that says the mechanism of appointments “falls short of ensuring judicial independence”.  Civil society organisation Repubblika latched onto the report by the world’s most eminent constitutional body to mount the unprecedented challenge in the constitutional court. In a day of legal drama, the urgent lawsuit reached the constitutional court at 12.30pm on Thursday, which led to Mr Justice Mark Chetcuti giving the Prime Minister 24 hours to reply and appointing an urgent hearing for Monday morning. Ninety minutes later another urgent application requested a stay of the appointments but this was rejected by the judge on the...

A continuing low interest rate regime, a strong competitive environment and an ever-increasing regulatory burden made 2018 a challenging year for the banking sector, APS chairman Frederick Mifsud Bonnici said in the bank’s latest annual report. “All this coupled with the objective of strengthening and promoting the Bank to retain existing customers and as an attractive alternative to potential new customers and to meet future challenges and growth made it even tougher,” Mr Mifsud Bonnici said.  However, Mr Mifsud Bonnici said he believed the Bank’s senior management “ably led by the chief executive officer”, Marcel Cassar, have done a remarkable job.  In 2018 APS Bank’s Group Operating Income expanded by 4.6 per cent, from €42.8 million to €44.7 million (Bank: by 6.3 per cent to €45.7 million) and Pre-tax Profit increased by 1.5 per cent, from €18.4 million to €18.6 million (Bank: by 7.7 per cent to €19.7 million). The APS chairman emphasised that the costs of compliance with new and changing regulation “are increasing unrelentingly”. He said he had no doubt that regulation has many benefits and beneficiaries, however, to be effective and efficient, a regulatory regime and...

Church bells tolled mournfully at Colombo's devastated St Anthony's Shrine on Sunday, as scores of Christians wept but defiantly prayed and lit candles for the victims of the horrific Easter bombings. The bells rang out at 8.45am, the moment a jihadist suicide bomber detonated his device inside the 18th-century church on Easter Sunday, one of six attacks on churches and luxury hotels that left 253 dead. The bomber destroyed part of the shrine's roof and scarred its walls with shrapnel, damaging the clock tower whose hands were still stuck at 8.45, a grim reminder of the destruction wreaked. The island's Roman Catholic leadership has suspended all public services, fearing new attacks. But on Sunday morning, as Sri Lanka's Christians sought to come to terms with the tragedy, scores of Catholics held a heavily guarded vigil outside the Colombo church. From teenagers to elderly men and women, to parents carrying their children in their arms, the crowd gradually swelled, as worshippers came out on to the streets to mourn. As they prayed and wept - some in silence, others loudly sobbing - some fingered rosary beads, while others sang hymns and lit candles, placing them inside metal...

Dumbfounded residents gathered at the foot of Gwardamanġa hill on Saturday, watching as the rest of the unsafe building they once lived in was destroyed. “We are still in shock at what happened,” one of the residents told The Sunday Times of Malta. The seven residents of the apartment block were slowly recovering belongings from their apartments after being forced to evacuate with nothing but the clothes on their back.  Part of the building collapsed late on Wednesday evening, in an incident which outraged the country and raised concerns over the dangers that may sometimes be posed by development works. Residents, however, were now less concerned about losing their home and simply thankful they made it out alive. Workers were on Saturday on site to tear down what little remained of the collapsed building, since it was all deemed unsafe. “Had the incident happened during the day, a lot of people would have been injured, since the site also has a driving theory testing centre underneath the apartments,” one resident pointed out. The corner wall of the three-storey block came crashing down around 10.40pm, with bricks and concrete rubble spilling onto the road and into a...

Speaking exclusively to Iggy Fenech, singer-songwriter Clinton Paul reveals the date of his upcoming album and what his fans and haters can expect from it. A shot of high-heeled boots comes into focus as lift doors open. Clinton appears on screen as one assistant takes his coat and another is handed his bag. The star locks eyes with a dark, brooding stranger and all is set for the story to unravel. That is how Clinton Paul closed his last chapter and how he is laying the foundations for his upcoming era. “Miraklu [Clinton’s latest song] is one of my few in Maltese and one which I thought was time to release,” he explains. “The song speaks of the ‘miracle’ that happens within us the moment we fall in love with someone new; that excitement each of us feels when there’s so much potential in front of us; that indescribable happiness that finding ‘the one’ brings with it.” The song, launched just a few weeks ago, brings to an end the singer’s latest project, which spanned well over a year and included the release of three other songs with accompanying music videos: La Copa to celebrate the World Cup; Diamond for Malta Pride; and All in the Eyes of a Boy for Christmas. The feelings...

Chelsea head into the second leg of their women's Champions League semi-final against Lyon on Sunday still in with a chance of ending the French club's dominance in the competition after a narrow 2-1 defeat in the first leg last week. AFP Sport runs the rule over the situation in both semi-finals, with Barcelona the favourites to get past Bayern Munich in the other tie and secure their place in the final in Budapest on May 18. Chelsea v Lyon Holders Lyon are looking to win the trophy for the fourth season in a row and the French powerhouses have the edge in the tie after a 2-1 victory in the first leg last week. French international duo Delphine Cascarino and Amandine Henry scored for them but a fine strike by Scotland's Erin Cuthbert kept Chelsea in the tie after Fran Kirby had earlier missed a penalty. Emma Hayes's side are now hoping to overturn the deficit as they welcome Lyon to Kingston upon Thames, where they beat Paris Saint-Germain in the last round. «We know Lyon will come at us with everything they've got. They've got star quality, they've got lots of money and they've got lots of titles,» Hayes told the BBC. "They will throw absolutely everything at this team so we...

With Brexit passions running high, campaigners are hitting Britain's streets and taking to social media ahead of European elections. Political parties old and new are gearing up for what has been described as a «zombie» election that was never meant to be held until Britain delayed its scheduled departure from the European Union. The vote could now become a poll on Brexit - three years on from a referendum in which 52 percent voted to leave the bloc. «I see it as a soft referendum,» said Isis Queresma-Cabral, 44, a French citizen in Britain for 19 years and a pro-EU election activist. «(It's) an opportunity for us European citizens who felt hurt by the first referendum to voice that,» she said. Brexiteers are similarly minded, with social worker Richard Harris, 37, joining anti-EU firebrand Nigel Farage's new Brexit Party. At its April 12 campaign launch, he predicted «the biggest slap in the face for the party political system that we've had in generations.» 'Intriguing contest' The May 23 vote looms with Britain in a deep political crisis over its stalled departure from the European Union after nearly half a century of membership. Prime Minister Theresa May was forced to ask...

The following are the main stories in Sunday’s newspapers. The Sunday Times of Malta speaks to the dean of the University’s Faculty of Laws on Thursday’s judicial appointments and the lawsuit that challenged the selection system. In another story, it says two separate money-laundering inquiries into the Prime Minister’s chief of staff Keith Schembri have yet to be concluded, nearly two years after being assigned to the inquiring magistrates. It also says that Valletta 2018 and the run-up to the European Capital of Culture year led to an estimated €167 million in public and private investment in the capital. The Malta Independent on Sunday speaks to the Customs director general who says the war on drugs can never be won. MaltaToday says fuel stations have been cut down to size in revised policy rules. Illum says Rabat mayor Charles Azzopardi is being investigated following corruption allegations. It-Torċa says the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Associations wanted to reduce payment for work on Sundays and public holidays. Il-Mument says 112 Labour councillors including eight mayors are not re-contesting the local elections. Kullħadd says the Labour Party launches its electoral...

A man opened fire at a synagogue in California, killing one person and injuring three, police said Saturday after they arrested him. «A man has been detained for questioning in connection with a shooting incident at the Chabad of Poway synagogue,» tweeted San Diego Sheriff Bill Gore. «@SDSOPoway Deputies were called to Chabad Way just before 11:30 a.m. There are injuries. This is a developing situation.» Local news outlet KGTV reported at least four victims have been transported. It added that the synagogue was hosting its Passover Holiday Celebration, which was scheduled to begin at 11am. The shooting comes exactly six months after a gunman killed 11 people at a synagogue in Pittsburgh, the deadliest attack on the Jewish community in the history of the United States. 

The 2019 VOOMQUEST Enemed UIM V2 World Powerboat Championship got under way on Saturday in St Paul’s Bay with Marine Diffusion emerging as the top team of the day after winning both races. Six teams registered to take part in the championship namely Atomic & Grey #31 (Belgium), Cutting Edge #77 (Malta), Freccia Blu #11 (Malta), Marine Diffusion #55 (Corsica), Interceptor Remax #19 (Malta) and El Diablo #88 (Malta). This first race saw a lot of excitement and commotion as during trials, Team Cutting Edge experienced technical faults and did not start the race. Half way through the race, Team El Diablo stopped at a halt, whilst Team Interceptor Remax spinned and flipped the boat at one of the turns. In the end it was Marine Diffusion who took the honours ahead of Freccia Blu and Atomic Grey. The afternoon session saw pole positioning for Race Two, followed by a tense second race. Here, Race Two brought quite a spectacle to spectators at St Paul’s Bay, as Team Marine Diffusion and Team El Diablo were head-to-head most of the time, fighting for the winning position. But in the end, Marine Diffusion again crossed the finish line first ahead of El Diablo and Cutting Edge. The first...

'Giorgia Borg' managed to become the darling of Maltese music in just over three minutes on Saturday night after a mesmerizing performance on Britain's Got Talent. The Maltese singer, aged 10, stunned the judges to the extent that she even got the prestigious golden buzzer to automatically book a place in the semi-finals. Singing an original song, that she wrote with singer/songwriter Muxu, Giorgia oozed confidence, overcoming her evident excitement when she first appeared before the judges. But from her starting note, Giorgia captured the audience and the judges, including Simon Cowell who said: «I knew this was going to be a great day. This is amazing», before Alesha Dixon pressed the golden buzzer, which is just eligible to judges for five times during the entire season. «You floored me, your lyrical capability, your vocal capability, you are 10 years old. This is unbelievable. You are a star,» Dixon said.  Giorgia, who had placed third in last year's Junior Eurovision, follows in the footsteps of Destiny and Anne Marie Borg, who had also succeeded in Britain's popular TV contest.

Claudio Ranieri admitted he would be «super happy» if Antonio Conte succeeded him as Roma coach after he took the club into the Serie A top four with a thumping win over Cagliari on Saturday. Asked by Sky Sport following his side's 3-0 win at Rome's Stadio Olimpico whether he would like Conte to take over from him at the end of the season, Ranieri replied: «Yes, I'd want him.» Speculation has intensified that Roma are making a serious bid to bring in former Juventus, Chelsea and Italy manager Conte as successor to Ranieri, who came in as interim manager following the sacking of Eusebio Di Francesco in March. Italian media reports that Roma have lined up a three-year contract worth 9.5 million euros ($10.6 million) a season to tempt him to the capital. But when pressed on whether he knew anything of Roma's approach, fellow former Chelsea boss Ranieri said: «I'm the last one to know these things... if Antonio comes I'll be super happy.» Before the match club legend Francesco Totti, now a director, said that «any club would go mad» for Conte, but refused to say whether they had spoken to the 49-year-old, who won the first three of Juventus' eight straight Serie A titles and the...

Lionel Messi clinched an eighth La Liga title for Barcelona in 11 seasons on Saturday as he scored the only goal in a 1-0 win at home to Levante. The Argentine star struck his league-leading 34th goal of the campaign after coming off the bench for the second half to help Barca wrap up the title with three games remaining.  Barca hold a nine-point lead over second-placed Atletico Madrid, but the Catalans cannot be overtaken thanks to their superior head-to-head record. It is Barca's 26th league title and nudges them closer to Real Madrid's record of 33 in Spain. «To win the title with a distance and gap is difficult with the rivals we have. We've done it two years in a row,» Barca coach Ernesto Valverde told Movistar.  «We're happy and to see people enjoying it makes us proud. But we still have challenges ahead.» Valverde initially left Messi on the bench with Wednesday's Champions League semi-final first leg against Liverpool in mind, but he replaced Philippe Coutinho at the break at the Camp Nou. Coutinho and Luis Suarez pressed Levante goalkeeper Aitor Fernandez into action early on, the Brazilian coming closest to breaking the deadlock when his free-kick rattled the...

HIBERNIANS 5 Grech 19; Fonesca 46; Taylon 63,77, 79 BALZAN 1 Ljubomirac 67 Hibernians set up a title showdown with Valletta when they crushed Balzan 5-1 at the Hibs Stadium to join the Citizens at the top of the table after the end of the Premier League campaign. The Paolites were off to a fast start and they took just 19 minutes to take the lead. Latching on a through pass from Marco Sahanek, Jake Grech held his nerve to direct the ball past the on-rushing Sean Mintoff.   The goal came at a cost for Hibs as they lost the services of Marcelo Dias who was replaced by Bjorn Kristensen. Balzan responded with efforts from Alfred Effiong and Riccardo Correa that was well saved by goalkeeper Marko Jovicic.  Inside the first minute of the second half, Fonseca pounced on a sloppy back pass from Correa to slot the ball under the body of Mintoff and open a two-goal cushion for the Paolites. Hibs’ third goal was also calamitous when Taylon was allowed a clear shot at goal by another careless clearance to hit a rising shot past the goalkeeper. Not to be undone, Balzan reduced the deficit when Uros Ljubomirac made contact at full stretch with a cross from the right to hit home. Any hopes...

ĦAMRUN SPARTANS     1 Moukanza 90 VALLETTA                1 Fontanella 31 A goal by Donneil Moukanza deep into stoppage time broke the hearts of Valletta FC as the Spartans grabbed a dramatic equaliser that sent the title race into a decider next week. Needing a win to secure a 25th league title, the Citizens were seconds away from retaining their status of Malta champions when they headed into stoppage time leading courtesy of Mario Fontanella’s first-half strike. However, a rare mistake by the City defence in stoppage time proved costly as Moukanza fired home the equaliser. With Hibernians crushing Balzan at Corradino it means that the Valletta were pegged back at the top of the standings and the title will be decided in a decider next week. As for Ħamrun, the point secured them fourth place in the standings and should Birkirkara fail to win the FA Trophy they will be back in UEFA club competitions for a first time after an absence of 25 years.... a huge feat indeed for a club who was playing Division Two football only a few years ago. Valletta coach Gilbert Agius effected just one change to the team that beat Tarxien Rainbows last week as Steve Borg returned from suspension...

Time to crack open a cold one? Not so fast - a local Mexican lawmaker proposed a measure limiting the sale of cold beer to curb alcohol consumption, unbottling a wave of mainly mocking reactions online. «If the beer isn't refrigerated, you will be forced to bring it home, put it in the fridge and drink it at home,» explained Maria de Lourdes Paz, a member of Mexican president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's left-leaning Morena party. The bill cited a study on addiction in Mexico that showed Mexico City, where Paz is a member of the local congress, has «the highest rate of youth alcohol consumption.» Most young drinkers buy alcohol while out with friends, going to one of the many small shops in the mega-city that sell refrigerated drinks. The bill proposes requiring such businesses to keep beverages with alcohol content higher than seven percent at «room temperature,» by storing them outside the refrigerator. The prospect of drinking a warm beer, while the Mexican capital suffers a heat wave, sent residents bubbling over with frustration. Some Twitter users proposed requiring tacos to be sold frozen to fight obesity, one of the main public health problems in Mexico. "This decision...

Roma struck a blow in a tight battle for Champions League football in Serie A on Saturday with a comfortable 3-0 win over Cagliari that saw them move above AC Milan and into fourth place. Javier Pastore's first league goal since September and a Federico Fazio header had the hosts two goals ahead within eight minutes of kick-off and Aleksandar Kolarov rammed home a late third to put Roma five games without defeat as they finally look to have settled under Claudio Ranieri. Despite a wildly inconsistent season that saw previous coach Eusebio Di Francesco sacked in March, Roma are two points ahead of Milan after a win that would have been more comprehensive had Edin Dzeko's deflected shot not hit the post 10 minutes after the break. They are also just three behind third-placed Inter, who host newly-crowned champions Juventus in the Derby d'Italia later on Saturday. Should Inter fail to beat their old rivals they will become the fifth team to be dragged into the fight for the Champions League places, alongside Atalanta, Lazio, Torino and Ranieri's Roma, who are all within eight points of each other. Gian Piero Gasperini's Atalanta, who will have the chance to win just their...

Dominic Thiem saved three break points in the final game to deliver a 6-4, 6-4 upset of 11-time champion Rafael Nadal and reach the final of the Barcelona Open on Saturday. The Austrian, who lost the Roland Garros final to the Spanish great last year, denied Nadal the opportunity to become the first man to capture the same ATP title 12 times. «I'm happy with how I played, I was competitive for the first time (in a few matches),» Nadal insisted. Thiem will on Sunday face Daniil Medvedev, a 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 winner over two-time tournament winner Kei Nishikori. «Things were positive even if I lost. Congrats to him, he's a great guy and a great player,» added top seed Nadal who was a semi-final loser last week to Fabio Fognini in Monte Carlo where he was also an 11-time champion. «Today I played at a good level, it was a great improvement on last week, when I was not competitive at all. »I enjoyed the match, I'm feeling the way I want to feel about my game. I'm happy and I'm confident." Third-seeded Thiem took revenge for not only his 2018 French Open final loss to Nadal but also avenged losing the 2017 Barcelona title match to the 32-year-old Spaniard. Nadal had never before lost a...