Chelsea gained the upper hand in a tight battle for a place in next season’s Champions League by inflicting Liverpool’s fifth consecutive home defeat as Mason Mount’s winner earned a 1-0 win on Thursday. The Blues move into fourth in the Premier League, four points clear of Liverpool, who slip to seventh. After a 68-game unbeaten league run at Anfield over nearly four years was ended in January, the English champions are now on their worst ever league run at home. Continue reading this article on Sports Desk. 

KSU is commemorating and celebrating Women’s Day with an expo being held between Monday (March 8) and Wednesday at The Grand Hotel Excelsior. The aim of the expo is to celebrate Maltese women who have defied gender stereotypes and norms, and who have cemented themselves as experts and pioneers in their respective fields. A number of female-created projects will be exhibited, together with visual testimonials.  There will also be panel discussions.   Panel 1 (March 8): ‘Women in Leadership: Achieving an Equal Future in a COVID-19 World’ will be made up of Rebekah Cilia, Claudette Buttigieg, Cecilia Attard Pirotta, Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca, Lydia Abela and Rebekah Buttigieg. Panel 2 (March 9): ‘Media and the Image of Women’ will see the participation of Sarah Demicoli, Kristina Chetcuti, Rachel Cachia and Sam Vassallo. And Panel 3 (March 10): ‘Women in 2021: Stereotypes, Norms & Mainstreaming’ will feature Joanna Delia, Sue Caruana, Erika Spiteri Bailey, Marcelline Naudi and Karly Naudi. Entry to the expo is free of charge. Interested attendees may find the event on Facebook: https://fb.me/e/ecSPW2o5D. Those who would like to RSVP may do so by filling in the form...

The construction compulsion The protest by the Gozo mayors (February 23) against the siege of construction going on all over the island is indeed commendable. The mayors’ call is a breakthrough in its unanimity, although it came late in the day since Gozo reached its saturation point years ago, especially if we truly believed in its eco identity. For the sake of Gozo, we need more such actions, which transcend the persistent and suffocating political divide. Architecture has always been a hallmark, to a large or some extent, of self-aggrandisement for both dictatorial and democratic leaders with an eye to posterity. In the latter category, former president Francois Mitterand, with his bacchanalia of grands projets, and ex-prime minister Tony Blair, with his enthusiasm for the Dome, come to mind… and here, at home, Lawrence Gonzi, with a Parliament House on stilts adorning the entrance of the capital, Valletta – which does serve its purpose well – and a roofless theatre – which does not. Will Robert Abela be remembered by Gozitans for a multitude of high-rise horrors? Joseph Psaila – Victoria Catalan members’ immunity in European Parliament At the request of the Spanish Supreme...

Fontana parish’s message for Lent is “Simon, are you asleep?” (Mk 14, 37). It is intended to give Christian hope and encouragement to the community during this difficult period of the Coronavirus pandemic. Lent is a time for believing, the Pope writes in his Lenten message for 2021. Fr Marcello Ghirlando, OFM, will deliver Lenten sermons at the sanctuary of the Sacred Heart of Jesus from March 15 to 18 at 6.30pm. On March 19, feast of St Joseph, Fr Ghirlando will celebrate Mass and a healing session at 6pm. The sermons and the Mass will be broadcasted live on the community radio Radju Sacro Cuor 105.2FM and streamed live also on the Facebook Page Fontana Parish. Fontana parish church is adorned with papier-mâché statues of the Flagellation and the Fall under the Cross by Michael Cutajar Zahra, Our Lady of Sorrows by Gallard et Fils, Christ on the Cross by Michael Camilleri Cauchi and Saint John the Evangelist by Alfred Camilleri Cauchi. Various paintings depicting scenes from the last days of Christ on earth, including the Last Supper by Lazzaro Pisani and the Agony in the Garden, the Crucifixion and the Resurrection, all by Paul Camilleri Cauchi, feature prominently in the church.

Malta could expect to achieve herd immunity by mid-October if the current COVID-19 vaccination rate is kept up, a Times of Malta exercise has found.  And for the island to meet the end-of-summer target set by the EU, the speed at which the daily number of jabs is being administered needs to be kicked up a notch to reach 2,569 doses per day.  That could of course happen: authorities are expecting more doses to arrive and Health Minister Chris Fearne has previously said the island has the capacity to administer 10,000 doses a day. According to the latest population calculations by the NSO, there are 432,616 adults eligible to get vaccinated, of which 70 per cent need to be given the jab if the island is to declare herd immunity.  This means that a total of 302,831 adults have to be vaccinated for this to be achieved. Herd immunity is when the vast majority of a community is immune to a virus and so spread is drastically reduced.  With the three vaccines currently available in Malta – by Moderna, Pfizer and AstraZeneca - each person will require two doses to be fully inoculated, meaning the authorities have to administer 605,662 doses.   As of the official data published on March...

The proverb says that if you want to go fast you should go alone but if you would rather go far, then you should seek to go forward with others. It’s time that, for matters impacting the future of our country, we go forward together, aiming high. It doesn’t take the most astute political analyst to realise how Labour’s strategy in government was to go fast. Possibly because, from the get-go, it was meant to be a chase against time. Joseph Muscat had made it clear: 10 years in government (of which he only managed less than seven). This short-term sprint enabling a quick grab was packaged in an economic vision based on three pillars: a sleazy scheme that turns passports into a commodity for the richest and the shadiest; the corrupt sell-off of what is most basic for a country –  its energy and healthcare services; and a focus on an obvious low-hanging fruit: construction. Labour handled the national construction policy as if, instead of a country measuring 14 by seven kilometres, we were standing on the Russian steppes. The results of eight years of Labour are there for all to see: a ruined reputation for our country around the world, an administration mired in corruption and...

Obituaries ALESSANDRO. On March 3, at St Vincent de Paul Residence, GRACE, wife of Salvinu, aged 77, passed away peacefully.  She leaves to mourn her loss her son Kevin, her brothers and sisters Charlie, Manuel, Annie, Nancy, her in-laws Mons Joseph Alessandro Bishop of Garissa Kenja, Antoinette, Oreste, Mario, Rita and their families, other relatives and friends. The funeral leaves St Vincent de Paul Residence today, Friday, March 5, at 1pm, for St Pius X parish church, Santa Luċija, where Mass præsente cadavere will be concelebrated at 2pm, followed by interment in the family grave, at Santa Maria Addolorata Cemetery. No flowers by request but donations to the Hospice Malta, Balzan, will be greatly appreciated. Lord, grant her eternal rest. CAMILLERI. On March 3, at Mater Dei Hospital, MARIE LOUISE, née Bridgett, widow of Charles, aged 78, of St Venera, went to meet the Risen Lord comforted by the rites of Holy Church. She leaves to mourn her loss her children Stefan and his wife Joanne, Denise, Giselle and Corinne, and their partners, her grandchildren Amy, Nathan, Matthew, Mark, Josef, Emma, Giulia, Alec, Iris and Carla, her sisters Thelma and Ythamar, other relatives and...

An Australian court upheld a landmark class-action lawsuit against Johnson & Johnson for "negligent" marketing of pelvic mesh implants on Friday, paving the way for thousands of women to receive compensation in a costly setback for the US pharma giant. Johnson & Johnson had appealed the 2019 ruling that found the company guilty of "negligent" marketing and "deceptive conduct" while supplying thousands of pelvic meshes in Australia. Victims said the mesh - designed to support weakened muscles holding up the pelvic organs - had caused disastrous side-effects including incontinence, infections and chronic pain. "The risks were known, not insignificant, and on the respondents' own admission, could cause significant and serious harm," the judge said in the initial ruling. A three-judge panel at the federal court dismissed the appeal on Friday, a decision that "confirmed that these women are entitled to be compensated for the losses and the life-altering complications that they have suffered as a result of these implants," said Rebecca Jancasukas, a lawyer for the claimants.  Shine Lawyers, which led the class action suit, said it would now vigorously pursue compensation claims...

France, the country which coined the three fundamental words that regulate a democratic society, Liberty, Equality and Fraternity, has once again given an example of true equality before the law by delivering a prison sentence to a former president, Nicholas Sarkozy (in office from 2007-12) on charges of corruption. Before him, his former prime minister, François Fillon, was condemned to five years imprisonment because he gave a job to his wife. I will not go into a discussion of the two French cases because I am sure that, at least as far as the former president is concerned, there will be various appeals. One thing, however, is certain: the French judicial system delivered justice in function of the case at hand and not of the person concerned, despite the fact that the two men held the two highest political positions in the country. France has given an example of justice to the world. Can our justice system boast of meting out the same treatment? I wonder how many politicians in Malta would face charges for employing their husbands, wives, children, parents, aunts, uncles, cousins, partners or friends in jobs paid by the Maltese taxpayer, not on the basis of their...

Heritage Malta has joined the chorus of concern about the “very close proximity” of a proposed development to Gozo’s Ġgantija Temples as the sale of the apartment block already starts to be advertised. The starting price of the contentious shell-form apartments, with a view onto the world’s oldest free-standing building, is €135,000. And, even before they have a Planning Authority permit, their completion date is scheduled for December 2022, according to a real estate Facebook page. Meanwhile, UNESCO has been alerted to the proposed development close to the World Heritage Site – approximately 175 metres away – and said it would be reviewing the matter. The Xagħra local council has submitted its objection to the project, following a unanimous decision taken also on the basis of worries that it lies within Ġgantija’s archaeological buffer zone. The application for the apartment block, which Heritage Malta described as “disproportionate to and overpowering the neighbouring dwellings on the same street”, requires an area of 1,100 square metres of excavation for the construction of 20 basement-level garages, it noted. The national agency for museums and cultural heritage also told...

Any political power, whether it is the knitting society of St Joseph Street or President Joe Biden, that achieves its desired political outcome can frequently be heard calling for unity. From vicious political grenades lobbed onto their opponents throughout the political battle, a miraculous metamorphosis occurs on victory. Gone are the ad hominem attacks mixed with some ill-defined alternate vision of the issue at stake, only to be replaced with a Gandhi-esque cocktail, with elements of hippie-flower-power rhetoric on the importance of coming together or some such. A question that has always intrigued me is why don’t the losers of such political battles come up with the hippie-like calls for unity themselves? Why is the call for unity only the rhetoric of the winners? Ostensibly, unity is not the superficial sounding platitude it seems to be. Unity is a call to normalise the ‘win’ of the political entity calling for unity and to remove or reduce opposition that might stop the political entity from implementing its agenda. Narrowing our focus to Malta, I find it politically terrifying that President George Vella has called for a conference on national unity. It would be...

When inequitable laws are left for long to inflict pain on sections of society, no remedy can ever compensate fully the victims of legal injustices. Court rulings on the unfairness of the 2009 rent reforms have forced the government into taking action. The rent law amendments introduced in 2009 failed to resolve the freezing of rents on residential properties leased before 1995. After decades of inertia on the part of various administrations, a breakthrough in reforms now seems imminent. The government has outlined a scheme that should protect vulnerable tenants’ interests while partly compensating landlords for having their properties tied up in rental contracts that do not reflect the current market value of their assets. Taxpayers will be financing this reform’s cost as the government has committed itself to ensuring that vulnerable tenants with limited financial resources will no longer have to fret about their tenancy security. This reform is still not detailed enough to merit a final verdict on its fairness. But the details announced so far indicate this breakthrough is a positive development. There will be some who would define this development as doing too little too late.

The following are the top stories in Malta's newspapers on Friday. Times of Malta reports that the island can expect to achieve herd immunity – by vaccinating 70 per cent of the population – in mid-October at the current inoculation rate. In a separate piece, as with all the other newspapers published today, the Times of Malta also reports on heightened COVID measures announced by the government on Thursday. Among others, restaurants and cafes have been ordered to close theirdoors and families to limit the size of gatherings. The Malta Independent also reports on how the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage and the Xaghra local council have expressed serious concern about the proposed development of an apartment lock close to the Ggantija temples. The main article on the In-Nazzjon's frontpage quotes PN leader Bernard Grech calling for an independent inquiry to see whether all those who took the COVID-19 vaccine were entitled to it.  L-orizzont meanwhile carries an article about COVID victims who died abroad, including an elderly couple, married for 64 years.

Works on the regeneration of the Ta’ Qali Artisan Village which is co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) are well under way. Tenants – both current and future ones – are currently investing to develop their new properties as part of the second phase of the project. INDIS Malta has now stepped in to support the artisans address the challenges they are facing and thereby accelerate the process. The COVID-19 pandemic has had a severe impact on the artisans’ availability of capital to carry out their renovations. In addition, they were already encountering difficulties in finding skilled masons and construction workers specialised in local stonework that could build the new properties according to the established guidelines and within the stipulated timeframes. Through the support that is now being provided, construction on all remaining plots will be carried out by contractors engaged by INDIS Malta. Works will be divided in clusters of properties that will be built concurrently by different contractors. Tenants will in turn repay INDIS Malta the construction costs over an agreed period of years. Once completed, the Ta’ Qali Artisan Village will be managed on a...

Reports are indicating that the world’s 10 richest persons have increased their wealth by around €500 billion. It is claimed that this amount is enough to provide the coronavirus vaccine to the total population of the world. This increase in wealth has exacerbated the income inequalities that already existed between the richer countries and the poorer countries, and between rich people and poor people. If one places income inequality in a historical perspective, one notes that from 1945 till the end of the 20th century, this inequality diminished. The gap narrowed thanks to socially oriented policies in several parts of the world. While being rich or becoming rich was not stigmatised, there was a drive by several governments to reduce income inequality, because such inequality is seen to harm a country’s political system as well as its economy. Unfortunately, the gap started to widen again as a result of the crisis in the international financial markets and the subsequent economic recession. It had been described as the worst economic recession since the Great Depression of the 1930s. Until pre-coronavirus, in several countries, incomes had not yet recovered to the levels...

The first round from the GFA Division One came to an end last weekend with the top four teams in the standings recording comfortable victories leaving leaders Għajnsielem just six points ahead of Victoria Hotspurs and Kerċem Ajax who are sharing third place. Għajnsielem maintained their leadership in the standings following a 4-2 win over SK Victoria Wanderers to remain the only side still unbeaten after the first round of matches. The Blacks looked set to be strolling towards a comfortable victory when they surged into a two-goal lead in the opening stages. Continue reading this article on SportsDesk, the sports website of The Times of Malta.

The front pages of Times of Malta from 25 and 10 years ago.  Become a Times of Malta premium member to gain full access to our archive dating back to January 1930.

Four men linked to the bomb which killed Daphne Caruana Galizia as well as the murder of a lawyer will start facing court procedures in court on Friday. Robert Agius and Jamie Vella, both 37, are charged with supplying the car bomb that killed the journalist in October 2017. Adrian Agius, 42, is charged with commissioning the murder of lawyer Carmel Chircop in Birkirkara in 2015. Vella and George Degiorgio,58, are charged with carrying out Chircop’s assassination in a garage complex. The Agius brothers and Vella were arrested on February 23, just hours after hitman Vince Muscat admitted his involvement in Caruana Galizia's murder. Muscat, known as il-Koħħu was sentenced to 15 years in prison following a plea bargain agreement. Times of Malta understands that the parte civile lawyers are expected to file a request for Magistrate Nadine Lia to recuse herself from the case since her father-in-law Pawlu Lia is the personal lawyer of former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, among other government officials.  The magistrate has twice been asked to recuse herself from cases related to the Caruana Galizia assassination. She was initially assigned to the case against businessman Yorgen...

Jurgen Klopp admitted Liverpool’s 1-0 defeat against Chelsea was a “massive blow” as his troubled club lost five successive home games for the first time in their history. Klopp’s side were condemned to unprecedented misery at Anfield by Mason Mount’s superb strike late in the first half on Thursday. After storming to their first English title in 30 years last season, injury-hit Liverpool have endured a wretched defence of the crown and now face an uphill struggle just to finish in the top four. With 11 games left, seventh-placed Liverpool are languishing four points behind Chelsea in fourth. Continue reading this article on SportsDesk, the sports website of The Times of Malta  

Restaurants are being asked to donate their excess food to feed the hungry after they were ordered to shut their doors to help contain the COVID-19 pandemic. Philanthropist chef Rafel Sammut on Friday urged chefs and kitchens not to throw out the stock they had prepared for this weekend and instead donate it to his charity food drive which he says feeds up to 2,000 every week.   On Thursday the authorities announced that restaurants and cafes would only be allowed to serve take away orders until April 11, as part of a new suite of restrictive measures to bring spiralling COVID numbers back under control.   Sammut, who runs his own restaurant Briju in Gzira, was quick to take to social media to urge restaurants to donate rather than throw out any excess food-prep.   The young chef runs Victory Kitchen, a food charity that works through a network of restaurants, social workers and logistics companies which he set up at the onset of the pandemic.   Speaking with Times of Malta he urged restaurants to donate food that is still in good condition and to ideally freeze it and label it with the date of preparation and any allergens. Towards the middle of week, he and his team will be...