The decline in value has seen a shift towards materialism and away from awareness and compassion for others, the dean of the Faculty for Social Wellbeing, Andrew Azzopardi, told Times Talk. He warned that loneliness was a far greater problem than previously thought, as shown in a recent survey carried out by the faculty. The problem is how to solve it, as a holistic approach involving society, the government, families, the church and the education system all have a role to play, he stressed. What is not so clear is whether the connectivity provided by social media can help - as what is needed, he said, was actual contact.  

Many building contractors leave loose bricks on the pavement, uglifying the surroundings and often obstructing the way for people using wheelchairs, pushchairs or trolleys. These bricks are probably left on the pavement so they can quickly be used as makeshift no-parking warnings in order to reserve parking for the contractor’s vehicles. Surely this is illegal... but one can see this practice near most building sites. I wonder why the authorities do not fine contractors for such bad practices.

European stock markets recovered yesterday but concerns about the Huawei row and broader China-US trade war kept investors on edge. The pound, meanwhile, tumbled on lingering Brexit turmoil, before bouncing back. Against sterling, the European single currency reached a three-month high at 87.89 pence. The pound also hit a four-month low at $1.2685. European shares had fallen heavily Monday, as did New York’s tech-rich Nasdaq, after Google said it was beginning to sever ties with Chinese telecoms giant Huawei, days after US President Donald Trump’s decision to bar it from the US market. The Huawei development – with the US citing national security concerns – has muddied the waters in the tariffs stand-off between Washington and Beijing, which was thought to have been close to conclusion at the start of the month. Some observers are now warning that stalled talks between the economic superpowers might not see any progress before a hoped-for meeting between Mr Trump and Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping at the G20 summit in June. “The market was a little optimistic that a trade deal would just get done here this month,” Brett Ewing, chief market strategist at First Franklin Financial...

I read the article ‘Pope Francis warns against fake news, urges journalists to stay humble’ (May 18). I completely agree with the Pope. There are even many reports of fake news against the Pontiff himself. Granted, he has misspoken at times but I truly believe that some of the remarks that make Catholics (like myself) open their eyes wide are due to mis-translations by journalists who want a tilted translation to make a salacious news story. They may even seek to blacken the Pope’s good name. The Pope is the ‘Bishop of Rome’ and the ‘Vicar of Christ’. As far as I can tell, he has done a reasonably good job as the 266th Pope of the Roman Catholic Church. Granted, I concede no pope is perfect. Benedict XVI and Saint John Paul II each made big blunders of their own. The clergy sex-abuse story has been around for centuries but the blockbuster scandal came to widespread light in the year 2002 under John Paul II’s watch. My advice is for people to scrutinise the ‘sources’ of their news and not depend on one single source. By examining several news outlets – even if they are domestic and foreign news outlets ‒ a person may get a clearer (and truer) version of any story. That’s one...

An undefined group of public sector workers with complaints about “anomalous or unfavourable situations” are to receive a one-time payment, even if their claims are legally baseless. The announcement, made in a Tuesday afternoon press release issued jointly by the Finance and Family Ministries, was thin on details and did not specify which workers would be eligible for the payment, although they include former members of the labour corps who, after January 1979, were transferred to government corporations or other entities. The statement did not explain on what basis their claims would be accepted or how much money would be handed out, but it would cover the period until the workers retired or left the public service.  Details will be published in the Government Gazette on Friday, May 24 – one day before the European Parliament and local council elections. The payment was agreed upon by ministers during a cabinet meeting on Tuesday and will follow a similar scheme for aggrieved members of the labour corps who were transferred to government departments in the late 1970s.  It concerns claims made by other workers with “particular circumstances” which were “to a certain point...

People would rather hear about proposals aimed at improving their quality of life than be barraged with «negativity», Prime Minister Joseph Muscat insisted on Tuesday evening. Addressing Labour Party followers in Żejtun ahead of Saturday's elections, Dr Muscat chastised the Nationalist Party for resorting to what he said was a negative campaign. Despite losing two elections and Opposition leader Adrian Delia promising «a new way» of doing politics, the PN had resorted to its old ways, he said.  «One would think that if they did not get the message in 2013, they would have in 2017. Genuine Nationalists admitted that they were too negative.And what happens? They elected someone who acknowledged this but then when it came to his first test next Saturday, we have heard nothing but negativity. Hopefully, it will be a case of third time lucky,» Dr Muscat said.  People, he argued, do not want negativity but rather a clear indication of where the country is heading, pointing to good quality of life as one of the main priorities of today's society. To do so, he went on, the government was using the surplus to improve people's lives, making changes that reduced pollution and increased...

Gozo is little more than an afterthought for the government, Opposition leader Adrian Delia said on Tuesday. Speaking during a political gathering in Nadur, Dr Delia said 25 years of Nationalist administrations had turned the sister isle into the envy of many. For the present administration, however, Gozo was clearly not a priority. In the last Budget, Gozitans had been relegated to second class citizens, given just a few lines in the entire document. Dr Delia said he had recently been to Munxar, where projects that had been pledged by the government had still not been delivered. Gozitans, he said, could not be expected to wait around on governments to deliver. Dr Delia asked why the government had taken away the cargo ferry service, which had worked so well in the past, only to clog up passenger ferries with large cargo trucks. The new ferry, which had been needed for many months, had suddenly showed up a week before the election and it was older than those currently in service. Gozitans, he said, were starting to realise - if there was any doubt - that the government simply did not care for them. The PN on the other hand wanted Gozo to be its own region, a total regeneration...

US fighters intercepted six Russian military aircraft in international airspace west of Alaska, and shadowed them until they exited the area, the North American Air Defense Command said Tuesday. The Russian aircraft included two Tu-95 strategic bombers, which were intercepted Monday by two F-22 fighters, the command said. A second group of two Tu-95 bombers and two Su-35 fighters were also intercepted by a pair of F-22 fighters, it said. An AWACS surveillance plane monitored the operations, NORAD said, adding that the Russian aircraft were in international airspace throughout. They were picked up as they entered the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone, a perimeter line that lies outside national airspace but within which air traffic is kept under constant surveillance to reduce response times in case of a hostile threat. «Our ability to deter and defeat threats to our citizens and vital infrastructure starts with detecting, tracking, and positively identifying aircraft in our airspace,» NORAD's commander, General Terrence O'Shaughnessy, said. «We are on alert 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year,» he said. The United States has four Air Defense Identification...

An undefined group of public sector workers with complaints about “anomalous or unfavourable situations” are to receive a one-time payment, even if their claims are legally baseless. The announcement, made in a Tuesday afternoon press release issued jointly by the Finance and Family Ministries, was thin on details and did not specify which workers would be eligible for the payment, although they include former members of the labour corps who, after January 1979, were transferred to government corporations or other entities. The statement did not explain what basis their claims would be accepted or how much money would be handed out, but it would cover the period until the workers retired or left the public service.  Details will be published in the Government Gazette on Friday, May 24 – one day before the European Parliament and local council elections. The payment was agreed upon by ministers during a cabinet meeting on Tuesday and will follow a similar scheme for aggrieved members of the labour corps who were transferred to government departments in the late 1970s.  It concerns claims made by other workers with “particular circumstances” which were “to a certain point similar”...

Xavi Hernandez’s dazzling career came to an anti-climactic end when his side Al Sadd were beaten 2-0 by Iranian giants Persepolis in their last group match of the AFC Champions League on Monday. The 39-year-old midfield genius, who helped Spain win the World Cup in 2010 besides helping Barcelona win two UEFA Champions League titles and eight La Liga titles, was cheered by poster-carrying fans at the Azadi Stadium in Tehran where already-eliminated Persepolis put on an improved display to register only their second win in six matches. Xavi was also honoured by the Persepolis management, but Al Sadd’s second defeat in a row, following their 4-1 thrashing by domestic rivals Al Duhail in last week’s Amir Cup final in Doha, must have left him with mixed feelings. Al Sadd had already qualified for the last 16 of the Asian tournament and they had hoped a victory on Monday would be an apt send-off for their captain who has been with them for four years. But although the Spaniard produced some signature passes and watched a free-kick late in the game sail agonizingly over the goalpost, it was hosts Persepolis who made the most of the chances that came their way. Before that though the...

On fire in a burning cockpit: Formula One legend Niki Lauda, who died late on Monday at the age of 70, will forever be known for his 1976 accident. But even the horrific crash could not shake the 1975 world champion's icy determination -- he staged a near-miraculous comeback to win two more titles and went on to become a successful entrepreneur, founding his own airlines. Lauda had taken his maiden Formula One world championship for Ferrari the previous year and was leading the standings when on August 1, 1976, his car plunged off the track for never-explained reasons and burst into flames on the notorious 22.8-kilometre (14-mile) long Nuerburgring in Germany. He was trapped in the burning vehicle for almost a minute before being pulled out by other drivers who stopped to rescue him, risking their lives as their own fireproof racing suits were scorched by the intense heat. Images of the accident went around the world. Just days earlier, Lauda had said in an interview: «On the Nuerburgring, if your car has a problem, you're 100 percent dead.» Fighting spirit But six weeks after receiving last rites in his hospital bed, Lauda surprised the world of motorsport by taking part in the...

Shalon Abela, 24 of Valletta, was jailed for three years on Tuesday after admitting to having burgled a house in Mosta in April last year, stealing jewellery worth not more than €2,329.37. In handing down sentence, Magistrate Yana Micallef Stafrace observed that the accused has a colourful criminal record and had failed to take up opportunities for him to reform. The court also noted that the burglary took place during the term of a suspended sentence. It therefore also ordered the forfeiture of a personal guarantee and a deposit, totalling €2,300.  

Two-time Olympic champion Caster Semenya will race the 3,000 meters at the Diamond League Prefontaine Classic on June 30, a distance she can contest without reducing her testosterone levels. The South African has won two Olympic golds at 800 meters, and has insisted she will not take medication to comply with new International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) rules governing testosterone levels in women athletes that went into effect on May 8. The new rules require women with higher than normal male hormone levels -- so-called «hyperandrogenic» athletes -- to artificially lower the amount of testosterone in their bodies if they are to compete in races over distances of 400m to the mile. Semenya won the 800m at the Doha Diamond League meeting this month in her first race since losing her appeal of the controversial ruling at the Court of Arbitration for Sport. South Africa have said they will lodge an appeal of the CAS ruling with the Switzerland Federal Tribunal citing lack of clarity over how the rules can be implemented. Semenya's case has provoked a furious debate across sport worldwide about gender and «hyperandrogenic» athletes, those with "differences of sexual...

Frenchman Arnaud Demare clinched a long-range, high-speed bunch sprint to win stage 10 of the Giro d'Italia on the cobbled streets of Modena on Tuesday. The 27-year-old FDJ sprinter timed his move to perfection as Italy's Elia Viviani came second and early pace setter Caleb Ewan finished fourth after a 60kph crash on the home straight took out German sprinter Pascal Ackermann. Winner of two stages so far on the Giro and wearer of the sprint points jersey, Ackermann got back in the saddle and trundled across the line with the left side of his outfit in tatters, showing painful looking grazes. Ackermann retains a slight advantage over Demare in the sprint points ranking and both riders intend, unlike many others, to finish the Giro in the hope of winning the Cyclamen Jersey. For Demarre this was a first ever Giro win, but the 27-year-old has been consistently in the mix on bunch sprints so far here and in 2016 won the Milan San Remo classic. «We got it right today,» FDJ sports director Frederic Guesdon said after the race. «We had a good chat with him on the rest day and got him in the right mood.» The rider himself said he had never let himself become downhearted watching others...

A young mother with a serious drug problem has been cleared of stealing funds from her grandmother’s bank account for lack of evidence.  The 21-year old was accused of theft after relatives had reported that her grandmother that only €5 remained out of €800 credited to her account some three days previously. The grandmother suspected that her granddaughter had pinched her credit card, along with the account PIN number, from her handbag, while the two were out shopping. The young woman's mother had also suspected her daughter’s hand in the theft, telling police that her suspicion was roused when told by the bank that the funds had been withdrawn in Hamrun, the locality where the accused was staying at the time. The €800 had been deposited on October 2 and by October 5 had been withdrawn in ten transactions, leaving a balance of €5.  The court, after analyzing the evidence, including the testimony by the accused’s grandmother and mother, said it was “not at all convinced” of the woman’s guilt. The accused’s mother had stated that her suspicions were based on the fact that her daughter was living at Hamrun, the place where the bank withdrawals were effected, while the grandmother...

Green growth has emerged as the dominant narrative for tackling contemporary environmental problems. Its supporters, including the likes of the UN, OECD, national governments, businesses and even NGOs, say that sustainability can be achieved through efficiency, technology and market-led environmental action. Green growth suggests we really can have our cake and eat it – both growing the economy and protecting the planet. But when it comes to tackling the most pressing environmental problems such as climate breakdown, species extinction or resource depletion, green growth might weaken rather than strengthen progress. Here are five reasons why: 1) Growth trumps efficiency In theory, advances in environmental efficiency can help to “decouple” economic growth from resource use and pollution. But such outcomes remain elusive in the real world. While sectors such as construction, agriculture and transport have managed to create less pollution and use less resources per unit of output, these improvements have struggled to fully offset the scale and speed of economic growth. By outpacing production improvements, economic growth has led to an unhampered rise in resource use, pollution,...

Doctors on Tuesday resumed the life support for a Frenchman who has been in a vegetative state for over a decade, following a court order to restore it hours after the switching off process began, lawyers said. «We have the pleasure to inform you that... the hydration and feeding of Vincent Lambert has been resumed,» said Jean Paillot, a lawyer for the parents who vehemently oppose ending his life, after a ruling late Monday by the Paris appeals court.  «It is not a suspension but a new start,» added the parents' other lawyer Jerome Triomphe who said the aim now was to have Lambert transferred to a different hospital. The Paris court ordered authorities «to take all measures» to keep alive Lambert, a 42-year-old quadraplegic with severe brain damage, pending a review by the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Earlier Monday, the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg had rejected a request by the parents to halt the decision over the cessation of life-support pending the review by the UN committee. Doctors in France Monday morning halted the nutrition and hydration Lambert receives, which is in line with the wishes of his wife and other relatives but...

Hundreds of millions of smartphone users will be affected by Google's decision to sever its Android operating system ties with Chinese handset maker Huawei. The decision, in the midst of a US trade war with China, means that Huawei users will start losing access to Google's proprietary services such as Gmail and Maps, and be shut out of future upgrades to Android on their phones. The move by the California internet giant on the software front was compounded by news that US chipmakers have stopped supplying Huawei, hitting the hardware of its phones. - Many customers affected - Huawei sold nearly 203 million phones last year, up from 150 million in 2017, according to data tracking firm Gartner, overtaking Apple to threaten Samsung atop the global charts. For the first quarter of 2019, before its recent run-in with President Donald Trump's administration, Huawei sold 59 million handhelds, IDC calculated.  Those users risk losing access to important upgrades to Android released by Google in future, although for now Huawei said it would continue to provide security updates.  The Chinese company will only be able to access software patches and distribute them from Android's open...

The National Library of Malta, Valletta will tomorrow be hosting its second public lecture relating to its ongoing exhibition Ler Librorum: Texts, Translations & Exegesis which will be open to the public during library hours till June 26. This lecture, entitled ‘Reality and Fiction in the Bible – The Relevance of Biblical Narrative in this Day and Age’ by Joseph Ciappara starts at 6.30pm in the Reading Room. The lecturer will be discussing the importance of the Linguistic and Literary Study of the Bible, the essential step of identifying literary genres, and what the Bible has to offer to everyone, believers and non-believers alike in this day and age. Part of the lecture will also be the carrying out of an exegesis of a text as a practical example. Following the lecture, the public will have the opportunity to appreciate the exhibits on display as well. Admission to the lecture is free and no booking is required. More information about the event can be found on the dedicated Facebook event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/436147910530236/ or by emailing Malta Libraries directly on: events.library@gov.mt.

Sick of seeing our shelves full of Beatles and Bob Marley LPs with no record player upon which to play them, our son visited Hi-Fi emporium Richer Sounds to buy us one. On finding it didn’t work he returned it to the nearest branch where they realised he’d been given the wrong cable, supplied the correct cable, issued a refund, and explained clearly how to set it up. If someone had asked me who should be running the company, the assistant serving us would have deserved consideration. News that Julian Richer has now passed ownership of his company into an employee-owned partnership, like that used at John Lewis, it so happens that that able shop assistant has in a way come to be his own boss. Most (60%) of the company’s shares will be placed in an employee ownership trust, with its 522 employees at 53 stores around the UK set to receive a share of a £3.5m payout. Richer has passed running the business to the management board, which will be advised by a newly arranged advisory council made up of current staff. Julian Richer, who after turning 60 has handed 60% of his company to an employee-owned trust. Mick Atkins/Shutterstock At the John Lewis Partnership (which includes...

It was shocking that 43.5 per cent of people responding to a survey said they were lonely, highlighting the need for holistic action, the dean of the Faculty for Social Wellbeing, Andrew Azzopardi, warned. He stressed that although social media had connected people in many ways, they did not provide the human contact that is so important for relationships to flourish. Watch the full interview on Times Talk as from Wednesday.

A man who after a night out in Paceville allegedly smashed a beer bottle on his girlfriend’s head was remanded in custody upon his arraignment on Tuesday. Johan Tommy Noren, a 29-year-old Swede, was involved in the violent episode after a night out last Saturday. After parting company with her boyfriend, the woman had apparently gone to sleep at a friend’s house in Paceville, prosecuting Inspector Bernardette Valletta explained during the arraignment. That was where the accused had found her, lying asleep in a single bed, when he turned up at the place later. The woman was forcefully and rudely woken up to the threats and insults of her boyfriend who appeared to have been under the influence of drugs at the time. The situation escalated when the man allegedly smashed a beer bottle on her head, forcing her to seek treatment at Mater Dei Hospital. The alleged aggressor was arrested over the violent episode, and charged with causing slight injuries as well as threatening and insulting his girlfriend. No request for bail was made and the accused was remanded in custody. Upholding a request by the prosecution, the court, presided over by magistrate Neville Camilleri, issued a...

Hundreds of plastic bottle caps, a huge amount of wood, abandoned fishing gear and kilograms of other rubbish were collected from Paradise Bay during a three-hour clean up earlier this month. The popular swimming zone tends to accumulate rubbish, which is washed up by the sea.The variety of rubbish piling up, serving serves as a reminder of the huge global waste problem affecting our seas.  The clean up was jointly organised by a number of environmental NGOs including Żibel, No to Plastic Malta and environmental activist Raniero Borg, as well as local gaming company Betclic. Cleaning up the site was not easy, the NGOs said, as the clean up focused on a secluded rocky area of the popular swimming zone which activists and Betclic group workers had to hike down to. They also took the extra step of separating the rubbish collected in attempt to recycle all that was achievable, thus reducing the amount of waste filling our landfills. It was the third consecutive year that Żibel ran a clean up at the bay, following similar events in 2017 and 2018. This is the first part of the clean up at Paradise bay celebrating World Ocean Day. This forms part of a wider set of initiatives set up by...

German chemicals and pharmaceuticals giant Bayer said Tuesday that US seeds and pesticides maker Monsanto, which it bought last year, kept lists of key pro- or anti-pesticides figures in at least seven EU countries. On behalf of Monsanto, PR agency FleishmanHillard «drew up lists of stakeholders in France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Spain and United Kingdom, as well as regarding stakeholders related to EU institutions,» Bayer said in a statement. The group had promised transparency over the lists earlier this month, after a French television channel revealed the existence in France of files on prominent backers and opponents of pesticides and genetically modified crops. «The lists primarily include journalists, politicians and other interest groups,» Bayer said. Elected officials and media in France and beyond immediately cried foul over the affair, prompting Bayer to apologise. The Leverkusen-based group said Tuesday it had hired law firm Sidley Austin to investigate the lists and to determine whether they extended to other countries. Its lawyers will also contact the individuals named to inform them what data FleishmanHillard collected on them, Bayer said, starting...

Foundations have been laid down for a «massive» social housing project in Birkirkara, the Parliamentary Secretary for Housing Roderick Galdes said. Mr Galdes was speaking at a site visit for the project, which will see 73 apartments being built in Triq il-Qanpiena.  Over 80% of the apartments will have access to balconies, internal gardens or terraces, Mr Galdes said. Four hundred square metres of the 11,000 square metre project will be dedicated to open spaces. If authorities wanted to cut out the waiting list for social housing, it was clear more housing stock was needed, he said. The problem of housing has been there for over 20 years, and almost 3,000 people had been on the waiting list when he took helm of the housing secretariat, Mr Galdes added. Visiting the site on behalf of Projects Malta, Tourism Minister Konrad Mizzi said people had a right to decent housing and social mobility. “These projects address specific needs, but are not permanent solutions,” Dr Mizzi said.

The man currently facing proceedings for allegedly abducting his estranged wife and subjecting her to a three-day ordeal in an underground chamber beneath Fort Ricasoli has been jailed nine months besides and had €63,000 forfeited for breaching bail. Seychelles-born Roddie Swinton Williams, 38, had been granted bail pending compilation proceedings for attempted murder, placing his victim’s life in manifest danger, violently engaging in sexual acts and a number of other charges related to the episode which took place in October 2017. He was also accused of abducting his ex-wife and holding her against her will, regaining his personal freedom against an original bail bond of €80,000 which was later reduced, in line with case-law on the subject, to €63,000. Yet the man soon landed once again on the wrong side of the law after failing to keep his daily appointment with the bail book, last turning up to sign on February 19. He was tracked down earlier in May and arrested in a Qormi garage that was targeted during a drug raid. He was taken to court and charged with repeatedly breaching bail conditions. READ: 'I felt trapped like a mouse' Delivering judgement, the court, presided over...

The annual rate of inflation as measured by the Retail Price Index was 1.91%, up from 1.89%, the National Statistics Office said. It said the 12-month moving average rate for April stood at 1.47%. The largest upward impact on annual inflation was recorded in the Food Index, while the largest downward impact was recorded in the Clothing and Footwear Index.

Maltese sculptor Frans Galea (1945-1994) passed away 25 years ago. He was one of the best sculptors of the past decades of the 20th century, but he died young, before receiving the acclaim he richly deserved. The works he left behind are nonetheless a tribute to his outstanding, albeit unsung, output. MUŻA will this evening be holding a commemorative event featuring Galea’s family and acquaintances who will be sharing their experience and recollections about the artist. The talk, being delivered in Maltese, is being given at MUŻA, Auberge d’Italie today at 6.30pm. Admission is free of charge.

A French woman was seriously injured on Monday afternoon when she was hit by a car driven by a Briton in Gozo. The police said the accident happened in Republic Street, Victoria, at about 2.30pm. The Briton, a 46-year-old resident in Għarb, was driving a Lexus when he hit the 62-year-old French woman, who is resident in Buġibba.  The woman was hospitalised. 

French doctors Monday began switching off the life support for a quadriplegic man who has been in a vegetative state for the last decade, in a hugely controversial case that has drawn in Pope Francis. The dispute over the fate of Vincent Lambert, 42, who was left with severe brain damage after a traffic accident in 2008, has split his own family and become a subject of political tension in France ahead of European Parliament elections this weekend. His parents, avowed Catholics, have repeatedly launched court action to keep him alive, putting them at odds with Lambert's wife and five siblings who believe the most humane course is to let him die. A last-minute request Monday to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, eastern France, to halt the decision pending a review by the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities was rejected. The court had already refused a similar request in April and said Monday there was «no new evidence» that would justify a new hearing. Following a final judicial ruling to end the nutrition and hydration Lambert receives, doctors started halting his life support at the Sebastopol Hospital in the northern French city of...

British planemaker Britten-Norman is to set up a training base in Malta.  A heads of agreement was signed on Monday between Malta Industrial Parks and the company The company is to invest €1 million over a three-year period and create 14 new  jobs. It has been allocated airside land at Safi Aviation Park. The company has applied for certificates to use its base to train pilots and engineers. It will also be looking at registering a number of aircraft on the Malta registry. It recently also entered a new three-year agreement for training of the AFM pilots. The AFM operates Britten-Norman patrol aircraft.  

A Maltese black teenager addressed a Labour Party political activity on Monday to appeal for integration in the wake of a brutal murder of an Ivorian migrant. Describing herself as “ethnically Ethiopian, but Maltese”, 14-year-old Thea Mizzi addressed a gathering in Ħamrun and said, in Maltese: “I came here to show you I am Maltese just like you.” She said that she had been hurt by the cold-blooded murder of Ivorian national Lassana Cisse. “He came to Malta for shelter, for protection. He did not come here to die,” she said, thanking Malta for having accepted her and her sister with open arms. Thea said that while she could remember some people making fun of her when she was younger, and the times she decided not to tell her mother, not to worry her, she was proud to be Maltese. She would still meet the odd person who would be surprised to hear a black person speak in Maltese, but she was proud of not only speaking in Maltese but of speaking the language as they do in Zebbuġ. Taking to the podium after her, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said Thea had sprung to mind after news had first broken of Mr Cisse’s murder. “Thea is as Maltese as you and I,” he told the crowd. Pressing on...

Rural pathways leading to Lunzjata Valley, in the limits of Santa Katerina, a hamlet in Rabat, are being given a concrete surface and the Planning Authority says no permits are required. Rabat residents who frequently go for walks along these secluded rural passageways tipped off Times of Malta about the works in progress.  A visit revealed heavy machinery on site. These included milling and rock-cutting equipment as well as ready-mix trucks laying fresh concrete on a wire mesh. “This area is completely unspoilt and is only used by farmers and some ramblers who frequently visit the 17th century chapel and retreat house there,” a shocked resident said. “We could not believe what we were seeing when trucks fully loaded with concrete kept coming and going as machinery chipped off the rocks to widen the passageways,” another resident said. When it went on site following the tip-off, the Times of Malta saw a group of employees from a local contractor working on a two-kilometre-long stretch of rural roads in the middle of the valley. The works are being done not far from the controversial residence of Transport Minister Ian Borg, who is politically responsible for both road building...

Scores of wealthy Ethiopians paid an eye-watering $173,000 (150,000 euros) to attend a dinner thrown by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, to raise funds to beautify the capital Addis Ababa, state media reported Monday. The state-affiliated Fana Broadcasting Corporate published pictures of diners, some wearing tuxedos, seated at a long rose-covered banquet table. «A seat at the event is valued at 5 million birr,» the report said. The dinner was held to raise funds for a three-year project by Abiy to «lift the image» of the capital, a bustling, fast-changing city where modern buildings have shot up, construction is ever-present and greenery scarce. «The rapid growth and expansion of the city over the past few years has not adequately utilised the natural resources and beautiful topography that the city is endowed with,» according to a video of the project posted on Abiy's website. The video said that currently green cover is only 0.3 square metres per capita in Addis Ababa, and the project hopes to raise this to seven square metres per capita -- in line with average green coverage in Africa. The project along an area of 56 square kilometres (21 square miles) envisions parks, bicycle...

One of the two soldiers accused of the racially-motivated murder of a migrant was a member of the army’s special duties unit, according to sources. Francesco Fenech, 21, was part of the Armed Forces’ C Company, a division within the first infantry regiment which is meant to be constantly combat ready, to be deployed in Malta or abroad, sources close to the murder investigation told Times of Malta. These soldiers, who are considered the army's elite, undertake special tactical and assault training and are usually deployed in peace keeping or anti-piracy missions such as those off the coast of Somalia. Mr Fenech is believed to have pulled the trigger on Lassana Cisse, a 33-year-old man from the Ivory Coast. Two other migrants were also injured in the drive-by shooting incident. The other soldier involved in the case, Lorin Scicluna, 22, formed part of the AFM’s engineering division. The two are believed to have been friends prior to joining the army and sources said they did not have any contact with each other while on official duties. They both joined the AFM in the same recruitment period in the run-up to the 2017 general election. Mr Cisse was killed on April 6 after he was...