Fragmentation of agricultural land, often divided into parcels not larger than a few hundred square metres, has always been considered by academics and public administrators as a major obstacle that hinders professional, remunerative agricultural activity of any kind. Professional and hobby agriculture are very different kettles of fish. For modern and remunerative agriculture, the priority should be placed on the former and not the latter, which will probably mean less enterprises but of a larger dimension. Very small enterprises are probably destined to exit the professional agricultural market. Land fragmentation characterises many Maltese agricultural land. There is no doubt that this is a phenomenon which is having a negative impact on the sector. For the negative socio-economic and environmental factors to be mitigated, one needs to support and develop projects and policies for a reorganisation and consolidation of agricultural land. Fragmentation of land is always one of the major causes of a lack of innovative development in the agricultural sector. A medium-term objective might be the setting up of innovative procedures for the re-organisation of agricultural land to...

Ilnur Zakarin of Katusha soloed to a snow-capped summit finish victory on a chaotic 13th stage of the Giro d'Italia on Friday that shook up the overall picture. The Russian thereby climbs to third in the overall standings, which is where the now 29-year-old finished on the 2017 Giro. «I came to the Giro d'Italia to make the top five and I hope it's still possible,» Zakarin said after spraying champagne on the podium. Slovenia's Jan Polanc of Team UAE kept hold of the overall lead as favourites another Slovene Primoz Roglic and Italian Vincenzo Nibali crossed the line together 2min 57sec adrift, with Briton Simon Yates and Colombian Miguel Angel Lopez another two minutes back. «It was a very hard stage, I tried to pace myself on the climb and I'm happy to have managed to defend the maglia rosa,» said Polanc. On this first summit reckoning in a mountain-packed second section of the Giro, the peloton climbed to 2,237m altitude, with Zakarin dropping Spain's Mikel Nieve in the final section and beating him by 35sec at the panoramic finishing post in the Gran Paradiso national park. Movistar pair Mikel Landa and Richard Carapaz came third and fourth on a great day for the Spanish...

Arsenal and Chelsea have returned over half of their combined allocation of 12,000 tickets for next week's Europa League final due to the difficulty and great expense for fans travelling to Azerbaijan. A lack of direct flights between London and Baku means supporters face costs of over £1,000 ($1,300) just to make the 5,000-mile round trip before tickets and accommodation are taken into account. Arsenal had initially complained over their small allocation, but confirmed to AFP that they have returned 2,200 tickets for the Gunners' first European final in 13 years. AFP understands that Chelsea have sold just 2,000 of their 6,000 allocation. UEFA denied reports that sponsors had also returned tickets and said they were confident that local fans will snap up the spare tickets to ensure there is a capacity crowd at the 68,000 Olympic Stadium. «The majority of these tickets have already been sold to local fans in Azerbaijan and we are confident that the remaining ones will also be sold as demand is very high,» UEFA said in a statement to AFP. The Chelsea Supporters' Trust (CST) joined other supporters' groups in criticising UEFA for the location of the final, but also turned on their...

President Donald Trump announced Friday that some 1,500 additional US troops would deploy to the Middle East against a backdrop of soaring tensions with Iran. «We want to have protection in the Middle East,» Trump told reporters as he prepared to set off on a trip to Japan. «We're going to be sending a relatively small number of troops, mostly protective,» Trump added. «It'll be about 1,500 people.» The deployment includes reconnaissance aircraft, fighter jets, engineers, and the extension of the presence of a Patriot missile defence battalion that accounts for 600 of the personnel. «This is a prudent response to credible threats from Iran,» said Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan. Pentagon officials said the 1,500 additional troops were in response to recent incidents in the region that US intelligence had tied to Iran's leadership. Those have included a rocket attack on the Green Zone in Baghdad, explosive devices that damaged four tankers in Fujairah at the entrance to the Gulf, and a Houthi drone attack against a Saudi oil installation. «We view this as a campaign,» said Rear Admiral Michael Gilday, director of the Pentagon's Joint Staff. Gilday stressed that the...

Updated 8pm At least 19 students - most of them female - died Friday in a fire at an Indian building housing a college, officials said, as images showed people jumping to escape the blaze. «The students lost their life both because of the fire and jumping out of the building,» Deepak Sapthaley, a fire official in the western city of Surat, told AFP. Images showed blazing orange flames and black smoke billowing out of the building. Sapthaley added that when the blaze began 50 or 60 people were inside the coaching institute on the top floor of the building, which is several storeys high.  The cause was not yet known.  «The toll has jumped to 19 and includes 16 females. Sixteen persons died because of burns and three others from injuries after they jumped,» Jayesh M Patel, medical officer at Surat Municipal Institute of Medical Education and Research, told AFP. Officials had initially given a toll of at least 15 dead. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who comes from Gujarat state where the fire broke out, said on Twitter: «Extremely anguished by the fire tragedy in Surat. »My thoughts are with bereaved families. May the injured recover quickly. Have asked the Gujarat Government and...

Andrei Agius won the coveted MFA Player of the Year Award for the 2018/2019 season, during the MFA Awards Night which were held at the Mediterranean Conference Centre, on Friday. The Hibernians defender was one of the five finalists who were Valletta trio Henry Bonello, Steve Borg and Rowen Muscat and Agius’ team mate at Hibernians Jake Grech. Agius, 32, played every single game in the domestic league for the Paolites. Meanwhile, Miguel Alba of Valletta was named MFA Foreign Player of the Year while Hibernians’ coach Stefano Sanderra was awarded the Coach of the Year accolade. Birkirkara midfielder Matthew Guillaumier won the Young Player of the Year award. In the major women’s award, youth Haley Bugeja of Mġarr United claimed the Player of the Year award. Awards in full:  MFA FOOTBALLER OF THE YEAR Andrei Agius (Hibernians). COACH OF THE YEAR Stefano Sanderra (Hibernians). YOUNG PLAYER OF THE YEAR Matthew Guillaumier (Birkirkara). FOREIGN PLAYER OF THE YEAR Miguel Alba (Valletta). BOV FIRST DIVISION BEST PLAYER Ige Adeshina (Sirens). BOV SECOND DIVISION BEST PLAYER Gilbert Martin (Fgura United). BOV THIRD DIVISION BEST PLAYER Claudio Calleja (Żurrieq). BEST YOUTH LEAGUE PLAYER...

Taiwan made history on Friday with Asia's first legal gay weddings as same-sex couples tied the knot in jubilant and emotional scenes, the culmination of a three-decade fight for equality. The weddings, which came a week after lawmakers took the unprecedented decision to legalise gay marriage despite staunch conservative opposition, places Taiwan at the vanguard of the burgeoning gay rights movement in Asia. Some dozen couples were among the first to arrive at a government office in downtown Taipei to legally register their relationships as marriages. They embraced and kissed in front of the gathered press before proudly holding aloft their wedding certificates and new identity cards listing each other as spouses. Among those tying the knot were social worker Huang Mei-yu and her partner You Ya-ting.  They held a religious blessing conducted by a progressive Buddhist master in 2012 but longed for the same legal rights granted heterosexuals. «It's belated, but I'm still happy we can officially get married in this lifetime,» Huang told AFP after signing her marriage certificate, clutching a bouquet and beaming.  Legal recognition of their love, she said, was a crucial step and...

A young driver who tried to run over a policewoman last Sunday in Cospicua, was granted bail since the alleged victim had taken the witness stand on Thursday. Kurt David Azzopardi, 18, from Qormi, unemployed, was arraigned on Monday under arrest, pleading not guilty to attempted grievous bodily harm, committing an offence against a police officer, failure to obey legitimate police orders, reckless and dangerous driving as well as driving without a police licence and without insurance cover. He was further charged with breaching a bail decree granted last month. The young man had been remanded in custody upon his arraignment following the episode, which appeared to be the latest in an escalating series of incidents with the female officer. When proceedings against the accused continued on Thursday, the policewoman testified that the young man’s dangerous driving had almost caused a collision with the police vehicle. The policewoman had got out of the car and approached the young driver, intending to have a word with him. However, as she got close to his car, he had sped off, injuring her in the process as her leg was caught by his tyre as a result of the sudden...

In a quiet and bright courtyard in Mdina, six local artists are showcasing their skills in the ancient art of ceramics. They have known each other for years and call themselves friends but all have different styles. In Formed with Fire, they express their concerns and interests mostly through the way they portray the human figure. “We all give different interpretations but the one thing in common between our works is that they are formed with fire,” Mario Sammut, one of the exhibitors, says. Ceramic art is made from clay, or clay mixed with other materials, that is shaped and subjected to heat. Different types of clay, used with different minerals and firing conditions, may produce earthenware, stoneware, porcelain or bone china. This particular exhibition features earthenware, that is pottery that has not been fired to vitrification and is thus permeable to water, and stoneware, a vitreous or semi-vitreous ceramic that is fired at high temperatures, is non-porous and may be glazed. Kenneth Grima presents a set of artefacts which resemble primitive art, yet have a contemporary style. Sina Micallef showcases two of her sculptures, one of which is an abstract reclining figure and...

Politics will have an unusually large role in picking a new chief for the European Central Bank this year, as the switchover coincides with European Parliament elections and the choice of a new Commission. But beyond the horse-trading over the right person for the presidency, some policymakers and observers are debating whether the Frankfurt institution needs new priorities after 20 years in operation. «Good luck stepping into the shoes» of 71-year-old Mario Draghi after he leaves in October, a European source speaking on condition of anonymity told AFP. The Italian has shepherded the eurozone through eight years of crisis with sometimes dramatic steps, as well as seeing off frequent political challenges to the central bank's independence. He has extended the bank's «toolbox» of options for supporting the economy with trillion-euro stimulus programmes and negative interest rates. And with «forward guidance» about future policy, the ECB now communicates more clearly and forcefully with markets about how it will pursue its price stability target. One widely tipped candidate to succeed Draghi, Bank of Finland governor Olli Rehn, believes the central bank must evolve further in the...

Beijing on Friday accused the United States of spreading «lies» about Huawei after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the telecom giant was not being truthful about its ties to the Chinese government. Huawei has been thrust at the centre of escalating tensions between the world's two top economies, with President Donald Trump saying Thursday the fate of the company could be included in any deal to resolve their trade war. Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said he was not aware of the «specifics» of Trump's comments and repeated that dialogue must be based on «mutual respect». The Trump administration has infuriated Beijing by blacklisting the smartphone and telecommunications company over worries that China uses it as a tool for espionage and allegations of breaking Iran related sanctions. Huawei has repeatedly denied that it works with the Communist-led government. «To say that they don't work with the Chinese government is a false statement,» Pompeo told CNBC. Lu said US politicians have spread rumours about Huawei without providing evidence. "These American politicians continue to fabricate various subjective, presumptive lies in an attempt to mislead the American...

There was one road traffic fatality in the first quarter of 2019, the National Statistics Offce said on Friday. It said in a statement the number of reported road traffic accidents in the first quarter this year reached 3,656, up by 8.4% over the comparative period in 2018. The northern harbour district registered the largest share of all road traffic accidents with 1,375 cases or 37.6%. Road traffic casualties decreased by 3% to a total of 360 over the same period in 2018. Thirty drivers, six passengers and 23 pedestrians/other persons were grievously injured. One driver's injuries proved fatal. Vast majority injured were men Classified by gender, 71.2% of those grievously injured were males. The only recorded fatality comprised of one male while the majority of casualties fell in the 26 to 40 age-bracket. The largest number of road traffic casualties (63.1%) involved passenger cars, followed by motorcycles (21.7%) and goods-carrying vehicles (9.4%). Four cyclists were hit but sustained only slight/insignificant injuries. Road traffic casualties caused by collisions between vehicles topped the list with 68.9% of the total. When did most accidents happen? The highest road...

Political bias might be interfering with the accurate dissemination of information on how the tariffs on China will impact the US economy. The players opposing tariffs say it will reduce GDP and those supportive of this tariff suggest it will increase GDP. So which is it? The outcome is rather unclear. The GDP impact depends on a combination of economic interactions that could lead to either side being correct depending on what assumptions are used and what retaliatory actions result. In order to cut through the political bias, it is important that we understand the underlying mechanisms. The impact of tariffs is of high importance to market participants as it directly impacts which way the market moves. GDP is calculated using personal consumption expenditures, gross private domestic investment, government consumption and investment, and net exports. The tariff on China will likely impact (directly or indirectly) all four of the GDP inputs to varying degrees. Impact on each variable Consumption spending will likely go down as a result of tariffs. If one solely considers the consumption of Chinese goods, the increased expense of consumption will reduce the volume of purchases.

The team behind the Daphne Project walked away with a special European press prize on Thursday during a ceremony held in Warsaw. The European press prize celebrates the highest achievements in European journalism. Forbidden Stories, the French NGO that coordinated the collaboration between 18 media houses, including Times of Malta, picked up the special award together with other journalists who worked on the Daphne Project. The collaboration saw 45 journalists come together to continue the work of assassinated journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia. These journalists spent five months poring over 750,000 files and official documents to complete Ms Caruana Galizia's work on corruption and international money laundering networks. Ms Caruana Galizia, who was killed by a car bomb outside her home on October 16, was at the forefront of some of the bigger stories in recent years, including the Panama Papers. The Daphne Project team would go on to put a spotlight on the links two top government officials had with a mystery Dubai company called 17 Black. The collaboration also put a spotlight on Pilatus Bank’s links with Azerbaijan’s ruling family, fuel smuggling and passport sales to...

Sarah Darwin, the great-great granddaughter of British biologist Charles Darwin, was sleepless in Berlin when, to her «enormous surprise», she heard a nightingale warbling merrily outside her window. «It's very, very rare in the UK, so to be living in the middle of a capital city in Europe and hearing a nightingale singing outside your bedroom window is quite an extraordinary experience,» the Berlin-based British botanist told AFP. The trills got Darwin thinking, and led to the launch of a citizens' project examining why the non-descript-looking brown bird, with its distinctive song, has been flocking to the German capital. The project by Berlin's Natural History Museum, where Darwin works, asks city dwellers to go out and record nightingales' song with their smartphone and upload it onto an app. Through the sound clips collected, scientists are also seeking to map out whether the birds take on «different dialects» in different parts of Berlin. «What's really exciting in Berlin is that, unlike for instance in England, where the population of nightingales has plunged by 90% in the last 60 years, in Berlin there's in fact a positive trend,» said Silke Voigt-Heucke, who is...

Confusing junctions, potential bottlenecks, unsafe bike lanes and missing street signs are among 37 different issues flagged by Transport Malta over the roadworks at Tal-Balal, between Naxxar and San Ġwann. The €4.4 million upgrading project is being carried out by another government agency, Infrastructure Malta, and began last August without planning permission, with a permit only granted in November when much of the work had already been done. Transport Malta was asked by the Planning Authority to give its comments and recommendations on the basis of plans submitted by the roadworks agency after the permit was issued. Read: Tal-Balal Road will be ready ‘as soon as possible’ In an unusually lengthy reply, the transport watchdog listed dozens of issues with the plans, including the fact that the roundabouts along the two-kilometre road catered had one circulatory lane despite nearly all the entry arms having two lanes, potentially creating bottlenecks. One particular roundabout at the junction with Triq Murray earned itself eight different recommendations, including over its confusing layout, potential road blockages, missing signage and access requirements. Transport Malta also...

The ‘international community’ recognises its past initiatives over the last seven years have all failed and ‘the West’ now needs, as a matter of urgency, an end to the Libyan debacle. However the fact is ‘the West’ is much divided over what should happen in Libya, notably France and Italy, who each have vast economic interests that are at odds with one another. While the US and UK of course have an eye on their potential economic interests in a future-liberated Libya, theirs is more of an anti-terrorism effort aimed at eradicating IS’s presence in Libya and specifically to find Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi who is thought to have recently moved to Libya and set up a new HQ. IS released an 18-minute video of him speaking, thought to have been taped in Libya. The first such video showing al-Baghdadi to surface in five years. In the intervening period, the battle to take Tripoli continues by Field Marshall’s Haftar’s forces. Following on the heels of a vote by several members of the East Libyan parliament to label the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist group, Washington is also contemplating the designation of the Brotherhood as a terrorist organisation. The London based pan-Arab daily Asharq...

Since being universally ratified in the 1980s, the Montreal Protocol – the treaty charged with healing the ozone layer – has been wildly successful in causing large reductions in emissions of ozone depleting substances. Along the way, it has also averted a sizeable amount of global warming, as those same substances are also potent greenhouse gases. No wonder the ozone process is often held up as a model of how the international community could work together to tackle climate change. Read: Report accuses China firms over ozone-depleting gas However, new research we have published with colleagues in Nature shows that global emissions of the second most abundant ozone-depleting gas, CFC-11, have increased globally since 2013, primarily because of increases in emissions from eastern China. Our results strongly suggest a violation of the Montreal Protocol. A global ban on the production of CFCs has been in force since 2010, due to their central role in depleting the stratospheric ozone layer, which protects us from the sun’s ultraviolet radiation. Since global restrictions on CFC production and use began to bite, atmospheric scientists had become used to seeing steady or accelerating...

Smokers in Singapore will no longer have to sneak a drag on the street, with the launch of the city-state's first air-conditioned «smoking cabin», but the experience won few fans among cigarette puffers on Wednesday. The city-state has some of the world's strictest anti-tobacco laws and smoking is banned in most public places, with a fine of up to Sg$1,000 ($725) if caught. E-cigarettes are also banned outright. The new cabins, which are fitted with a Danish filtration system that can purify cigarette smoke before it is released into the air, can reportedly fit up to 10 people at a time. But tobacco enthusiasts appeared unimpressed, with many choosing to light up at a nearby open-air smoking corner instead. «The atmosphere in there is stifling, honestly. Because it's so small and squeezy, I feel a bit like a second-class citizen smoking in there,» e-commerce executive Azfar Zain told AFP after using the cabin. «There are no seats, either. I'm not comfortable with smoking there unless they make the room bigger.» Office worker Rama Dass said he preferred to smoke outside, adding, «sometimes I just need a bit of fresh air». Singapore-based Southern Globe Corporation, which launched...

Article 39 (1) of the Maltese Constitution guarantees the individual’s right, whenever charged with a criminal offence, to a fair hearing only before an independent and impartial court and no other administrative set-up. This safeguard is superior, and allowed to be so. Crucial parts of the Competition Act, introduced in 2011, have been declared to be inconsistent with Article 39 (1). This debilitated the Competition Office.  Two approaches are suggested to resolve this.  One proposes amending Article 39 (1).  No precise details have been published except that the Article 6 (1) model of the European Convention may be used as an “inspiration”. This means that instead of amending the ordinary law, which was declared to be inconsistent with the human rights provisions of the Constitution, the Constitution is amended to accommodate the ordinary law.  It is argued that this route would safeguard the position of other public authorities, which as things stand, might be equally challenged before the court and end up powerless like the Competition Office.  This point was raised before the Civil Court (constitutional jurisdiction) in the estate agents case. The court defended the...

Science can be a wonderful thing, but it surely doesn’t evoke that spontaneous, emotional response which typifies how we react to the divine nectar – unless, of course, science and wine meet in your glass. That unusual blend was presented by the Delicata winery in collaboration with sciANTific last week at their first ever Wine Science Show. It was an insightful wine-tasting event which demonstrated the hard work and passion involved in today’s wine growing but also scientific principles that support it. Wine is often described as an expression of the land, which reigns supreme, made with the help of a rather hands-off winemaker, who lets the grapes tell their own story. While it’s true that wine was made long before anyone could explain it, nobody can deny though that scientific research has hugely improved its overall quality. Modern-day winemakers rely on it to underpin their rationale and actions so as how to create the best possible authentic bottle of wine from a given lot of grapes. For their maiden Wine Science Show, fourth-generation winemaker Matthew Delicata and Delicata’s seasoned viticulturist Jonathan Falzon were joined by scientist Anthony Galea. Galea is a young...

UK election authorities acknowledged Thursday that some EU citizens were turned away at UK polling stations while trying to cast ballots in the European Parliament polls. The hashtag #DeniedMyVote began trending in Britain as voters cast their ballots in one of the 28 countries taking part in four days of voting. «Early morning visit to cast my vote only to have it disenfranchised because my declaration that I wouldn't be voting in Sweden (my country of citizenship) hadn't been processed in time,» Twitter user Lina Dencik wrote. The lobby group, The3Million, representing the interests of EU nationals working and living in Britain said it had been contacted by «hundreds» of people who were turned away. Britain's Electoral Commission said it was monitoring the situation but refused to take the blame. «We understand the frustration of some EU citizens of other EU member states,» it said in a statement. It attributed the incidents to misunderstandings by some people of European election rules for those living abroad. «The very short notice from the government for the UK's participation in these elections impacted on the time available for awareness of this process among citizens,»...

Valletta will be under the guidance by Darren Abdilla as from the 2019/2020 campaign after the Malta champions unveiled him as their new coach, on Thursday. Abdilla pledged his future with the Citizens for the next three years, taking over from Gilbert Agius who will stay at the club as assistant coach. After taking charge of the club following Danilo Doncic's resignation in the final games of the season, club legend Agius steered Valletta towards the Premier League title and FA Trophy final.  «Valletta Football Club is delighted to announce the appointment of Darren Abdilla as new coach for the senior squad,» the Citizens said in a statement on their social media platform.  «Abdilla has signed a contract with the Champions till the end of season 2021/2022. On behalf of all of us at Valletta FC we would like to welcome Darren and wish him all the best with our senior squad.» Last season, Abdilla resigned from his post as Gżira United coach following a 1-0 defeat to Hibernians, ending a five-year stay at the Maroons.  During his time with the Maroons, Abdilla managed to guide the club into European football for the first time since the 1973/1974 campaign. 

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat wound up the Labour Party’s election campaign on Thursday with a message of unity and a pledge to deliver further on the achievements of recent years.Speaking in Birgu, Dr Muscat highlighted the 55 per cent of his party’s 2017 electoral pledges that he said had already been achieved and the tangible benefits he said these had delivered. He reiterated his characterisation of Saturday’s European Parliament and local council elections as a choice between himself and PN leader Adrian Delia, while stressing his full confidence in each of his party’s candidates. At the same, Dr Muscat stressed the need to challenge racism and xenophobia, as he has in recent campaign appearances since the arrest and arraignment of the men alleged to have killed an Ivorian migrant. “The challenge of our time is learning how to live alongside each other,” Dr Muscat said. “In this country, whether you are Maltese or foreign, everyone has to follow the same laws, but the future is one of integration, not segregation. If anyone believes the language of hate can unite us, they are wrong.“Our history is one of a people that always welcomed other peoples while demanding the right...

A new web application that directs people to the nearest available ‘smart’ recycling bin has been launched. IBiNs, which gauge the volume of waste disposed, have doubled the collection of plastic waste and contributed to a dramatic increase in the collection of recyclable paper, metal, glass and plastic compared to the same quarter last year, according to GreenPak. The company said all ‘old’ recycling skips in 42 localities served by GreenPak had been replaced and the new system led to a 23 per cent drop in the number of trips made by collection truck. GreenPak teamed up with Vodafone to develop an app directing people to the nearest IBiN. If that one happens to be full, the app will indicate the next available one.  The app works on any mobile device. Speaking at Santa Luċija in the presence of GreenPak CEO Mario Schembri and Labour MEP Miriam Dalli, Vodafone Malta’s director of enterprise and business development, Kenneth Spiteri, said helping protect Malta’s environment was one of his company’s three strategic pillars. Vodafone Malta was, therefore, committed to using its next generation technology to help redefine the way waste was managed, he added. Dr Dalli highlighted her...

Italy's Cesare Benedetti won Thursday's 12th stage of the Giro d'Italia at Pinerolo in the Italian Alps ahead of compatriot Damiano Caruso. Slovenian Jan Polanc took the overall lead. It was the first win for 31-year-old Bora rider Benedetti who led a long break-away group in the first mountain stage after the 158km run from Cuneo. Polanc, also among the leading group, took the leader's pink jersey from UAE Emirates teammate Valerio Conti of Italy. Benedetti crossed just ahead of Bahrain-Merida's Caruso with Ireland's Edward Dunbar of Team INEOS third. «I've worked a lot for the others in the past but today I got my opportunity,» said Benedetti. «I'm not a talent, I'm not (usually) a winner, but the way I finished it off is exactly what I wanted to do.» It was the third stage win for Benedetti's Bora team after Germany's Pascal Ackermann's two sprint wins. The first 15 finishers had all been part of a large early breakaway that built up a sizeable advantage. Polanc finished 25 seconds behind Benedetti but more than nine minutes ahead of Conti and more than seven minutes ahead of fellow Slovene Primoz Roglic, who climbed to second Behind the breakaway, the opening skirmishes...

Sepp Blatter has blasted his successor as FIFA head Gianni Infantino for thinking he can ride roughshod over decisions already made by the organisation after plans for a 48-team 2022 World Cup were shelved. Speaking to AFP, disgraced Blatter said that «you can't just change willy-nilly rulings taken by the Executive Committee», adding that Infantino wanted to «revoke» the decision made in December 2010 to make the 2022 World Cup in Qatar a 32-team tournament. The expansion, which was scrapped on Wednesday evening, was a pet project of Infantino, who pushed the idea despite the need for Qatar's fellow Gulf nations to put aside a two-year blockade and help to host the proposed larger tournament. Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt and Bahrain cut all ties with Qatar in June 2017, accusing Doha of supporting Iran and Islamist groups, and while Kuwait and Oman have not taken sides in the crisis Oman said in April it was «not ready» to host matches. «Wanting at any cost to organise the World Cup in the (Gulf) region... he knew very well that was like going into a nest of vipers and it is not football's role to get involved with all that,» said Blatter, 83, who is serving a six-year ban from...

Saturday’s elections would mark the ‘end of the beginning’ for the PN, Opposition leader Adrian Delia said on Thursday, borrowing a phrase from Winston Churchill. As of Monday, he told a Net TV interviewer, the Nationalist Party would embark on a fresh process where it would analyse what it had learnt and channel it to its programme for an alternative government. Dr Delia said the past 20 months since he became PN leader had been a journey during which he had the privilege to meet people from all walks of life to discuss their needs and their view of what the country needed. He had discussed all sort of things, such as the people’s complaints that salaries and pensions were inadequate, how rents had gone through the roof and how students were learning things they did not need, but not getting the right skills of the 20th century. Many complained about how Malta was losing its character. And despite the country becoming more populated and congested, some spoke about their solitude.   In the health sector, while the PN would continue to speak about the Vitals scandal, he had also heard complaints about the medicines the people had to buy and about shortcomings in the care of...

A woman left jewellery worth more than 3.5 million euros she was taking for pop singer Rita Ora to wear at Cannes film festival on a plane, police told AFP Thursday. The Kosovo-born star was loaned the gems by a luxury brand when she walked the red carpet at the festival last week. But a courier sent from London with the jewellery forgot her cabin luggage and her coat when leaving her plane at Nice Airport. By the time she realised her mistake, the aircraft had already taken off on the return journey to London Luton. «Someone with their head in the clouds nearly lost several million,» a police sourced joked, saying the jewellery was recovered at Luton and send back to Nice via London Heathrow. Ora, 28, later appeared at a party in Cannes in a striking diamond necklace and a white bustier dress. 

A former youth football coach at Premier League side Southampton, Bob Higgins, was found guilty of 45 counts of indecent assault on young boys on Thursday. Police described Higgins as a «kingmaker» who used his position of power over the future careers of his young players to abuse them during a 25-year period. Higgins, 66, sexually touched and groped victims, most of them trainees at Southampton FC and Peterborough United, between 1971 and 1996. Higgins had also worked in Malta, but the Malta FA said in 2016 that it was not aware of any allegations of child sexual misconduct during his spell as MFA youth development officer in the early 1990s. Detective Chief Inspector Dave Brown, of Hampshire Police, said that Higgins managed to escape coming under suspicion for many years through the strength of his reputation in the football world. Brown said: «We have heard from a number of victims over the last few weeks during the court process, they all describe Bob Higgins as an incredibly talented football coach who they absolutely respected for his ability to coach them in relation to their football skills. »They also describe him as the kingmaker, someone who held their very future...

Captain Cristiano Ronaldo was included in Portugal's squad for next month's Nations League semi-final against Switzerland, head coach Fernando Santos announced on Thursday. Ronaldo, 34, a five-time Ballon d'Or winner missed the group stages preferring to try and adapt to life in Juventus since moving from Real Madrid. The Euro 2016 champions welcome the Swiss on June 5 in Porto and the Netherlands play England in Guimaraes a day later before a third place play-off and a final on June 9. He lifted the Serie A title with his Italian club this season but failed to clinch a third straight Champions League after losing to Ajax in the quarter-finals. Head coach Fernando Santos has chosen not to call up veterans Adrien Silva, Nani and Ricardo Quaresma and Sevilla forward Andre Silva misses out with a knee injury. Highly-tipped Benfica uncapped youngster Joao Felix is also included alongside three other club teammates who won the Portugese league champions this season. Portugal squad to face Switzerland on June 5 in the Nations League semi-finals: Goalkeepers: Beto (Goztepe/TUR), Jose Sa (Olympiakos/GRE), Rui Patricio (Wolves/ENG). Defenders: Joao Cancelo (Juventus/ITA), Jose Fonte...

Following Wednesday's strong uplift of 1.9%, the MSE Equity Price Index retreated by 0.65% to 4,837.896 points on Thursday. The drops in FIMBank, HSBC and BOV, coupled with the declines in Medserv and Tigné Mall, outweighed the gains in five other companies including IHI and GO. Volumes remained buoyant as a total of €0.48 million worth of shares changed hands. International Hotel Investments plc extended its recent rally as the equity added a further 1.3% to the €0.81 level (the highest since June 2015) across 81,942 shares. IHI is due to hold its AGM on 13 June. Shareholders as at close of trading on 26 June are entitled to receive a net dividend per share of €0.02. Also among the large companies, GO plc ended 0.5% higher at the €4.28 level after strongly recovering from an intra-day low of €4.02 (-5.6%). A total of 15,817 shares traded. GO is scheduled to hold its AGM on Tuesday 28 May. In the property segment, Malta Properties Company plc regained the €0.62 level across 78,500 shares. The company will be holding its AGM on 11 June. Trident Estates plc moved to a fresh 2019 high of €1.68 albeit on just 5,225 shares. Today, the equity started to trade without the entitlement...

Close to half of those placed on probation last year had been found guilty of theft or fraud-related crimes, a new Council of Europe study shows. Published earlier this week, the annual penal statistics – commonly referred to as SPACEII –give an insight into probation trends across Europe. The data on Malta showed that the majority of those who were put on probation in the year under review, 48.4 per cent, had committed so-called offences against property.  Such crimes usually involve thefts, fraud, arson or even blackmail. This figure translates to about 304 people. Coming closely behind were those found guilty of offences against people – 31.1 per cent of those on probation.  This was followed by 12.4 per cent for drug offences and 1.8 per cent for road traffic offences. A further 6.4 per cent had committed “other offences”. According to the study, there were 1,031 people under the supervision of probation officers in the period reviewed. The data also indicated that 6.2 per cent of those put on probation were minors and 2.5 per cent were women. No foreigners had been put under the supervision of probation agencies. The figures show there were only 20 probation officers to...

Manuele Blasi is looking forward to test his coaching credentials after being named new Ħamrun Spartans coach in a two-year deal, on Thursday. Blasi, 38, will replace fellow Italian colleague Giovanni Tedesco who has taken over at Gżira United.  Read: Gżira United appoint Tedesco as coach. With Tedesco, Blasi shared the dressing room at Perugia and Palermo, and in fact he spoke to the former Floriana and Birkirkara coach prior joining the Spartans. «To be honest, I spoke to (Giovanni) Tedesco before making my decision to coach in Malta,» Blasi told the Times of Malta.  «He steered the club towards an impressive season and I will be trying to at least repeat the same campaign he did, if not go a step further.» Meanwhile, the former Juventus midfielder is already in talks with the club's director to plan the upcoming campaign.  «We are still in the early stages, but we have already started out the discussions to plan the upcoming season in order to be competitive,» Blasi explained. «From my end, I will try to share my enthusiasm to the players in order to maximise their potential for a successful season.» Blasi has enjoyed a distinguished career as a player having enjoyed a...

Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas delivered a perfect on-track tribute to Niki Lauda on Thursday when they topped the times for the dominant Mercedes team in second practice at the Monaco Grand Prix. The two Silver Arrows drivers were separated by only 0.081 seconds at the front of the pack with nearest pursuant Sebastian Vettel, in the leading Ferrari, seven-tenths adrift in third place. Barely 72 hours after the death of their team's former non-executive chairman, the defending five-time champion and current series leader and his team-mate were in a class of their own on the unforgiving barrier-lined Mediterranean street circuit. Hamilton was fastest in one minute and 11.118 seconds, his most eloquent statement since arriving in the principality and side-stepping a routine pre-event news conference on Wednesday afternoon. Many of the mourning Mercedes' team, and others, wore black armbands or carried messages on their cars on a sombre day of hazy sunshine. It was, as Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff had said of his fellow-Austrian before the opening session, as if the sport had just lost not only a great three-time champion and larger-than-life personality, but something of its...