German sportswear giant Adidas reported an almost-fivefold leap in its net profit on Wednesday, with the group betting on double-digit growth in 2022 despite the impact of the war in Ukraine. Adidas booked a net profit of €2.1 billion on its continuing operations in 2021, up from €432 million the previous year, the company said in a statement. Excluding the Reebok brand after Adidas agreed its sale in August, the net profit on continuing operations came in at €1.5 billion, up from €461 million the previous year. Across the board, the outfitter saw revenues rise by 15.2 per cent to €21.2 billion in 2021, despite strong headwinds.  Coronavirus lockdowns, supply chain disruptions and “challenging conditions” in the key Chinese market shaved more than €1.5 billion off the sales figure. In China, the company has been facing a consumer boycott over its refusal to use cotton from Xinjiang in response to accusations of forced Uyghur labour. Sales in the market were down 24 per cent in the last three months of 2021, limiting annual revenue growth to three per cent, while other market regions powered ahead. Looking forward, the Bavarian group is aiming for revenue growth between 11 and 13...

Burmarrad residents have raised the alarm over a new road planned through ODZ land that Infrastructure Malta is trying to keep secret, Arnold Cassola is claiming. The independent candidate said on Wednesday that the plans were also confirmed to him by an Infrastructure Malta whistleblower. The plan, he said, is to build a new road from the Erba' Mwieżeb roundabout situated between St Paul’s Bay and Burmarrad, through fields behind the Kiabi Complex and ending just next to the Burmarrad football ground. He questioned whether this new road would be serving anyone’s interest, such as the Bonnici Brothers, who were recently flagged by activists as having an interest in separate IM works close by. Video: Jonathan Borg Last year, Moviment Graffitti claimed IM wanted to build a roundabout that threatened arable land and the destruction of a 500-year-old reservoir at Burmarrad so as to benefit Bonnici Brothers, who is behind the proposed development of a supermarket on ODZ land. The St Paul’s Bay council had objected to the proposed supermarket and wanted IM to revise plans for the new roundabout. On Wednesday, Cassola said the local council had not been informed of the exact details of...

The theatrical company Dumnikani Beltin has been producing Holy Week theatre productions since 1974. These religious productions depict the passion, death, and resurrection of Christ as well as provide an annual gathering of theatregoers towards the cultural events related to the Lenten season. This year’s passion production carries the name of Niko Demos: Victory of the People, which is a direct link towards one of the secondary characters which we find in the Bible. Nicodemus was a Pharisee and a member of the Sanhedrin, who according to the gospel of John, showed favour to Jesus. Scriptwriter Etienne Micallef has once again taken care of the script. Stage direction will be entrusted to Frank Micallef, a veteran in the direction and production of Holy Week stage ensembles. The plot The plot deals with Nicodemus and his family. A different perspective of him is proposed, far removed from what we are used to read in the Holy Scriptures. The first time Nicodemus is mentioned in the Bible, he is identified as a Pharisee who comes to see Jesus at night. During the dress rehearsal of the play. According to the scripture, Jesus went to Jerusalem for the Passover Feast. While in...

Novak Djokovic was entered into the draw for this week’s ATP/WTA Indian Wells tournament on Tuesday but it is unclear whether he will take part in the tournament, organisers said. A brief statement from tournament organisers said officials were in contact with Djokovic’s team to determine whether he would play in California or even be allowed to enter the United States because he has not been vaccinated against the coronavirus. “Novak Djokovic is on the tournament entry list, and therefore is placed into the draw today,” tournament chiefs said.   Continue reading this article on Sports Desk, the new sports website by Times of Malta

What do Labour Party supporters make of their party's electoral pledges and of party leader Robert Abela?  We attended a PL rally in Corradino held last Sunday to speak to supporters and hear their views first-hand.  The vast majority waxed lyrical about the party's electoral campaign and struggled to name a single weakness of Robert Abela. Some said they were just there for a good time. But not everyone was so jovial, as our reporter Mark Laurence Zammit found out.  See what they said in the video below.  Video: Matthew Mirabelli/Karl Andrew Micallef 

Some 26 Ukrainians have applied to be resettled here as refugees so far, Prime Minister Robert Abela said on Wednesday. Abela said all of them are expected to stay in the country for the foreseeable future. It is not clear whether they are staying with family members or are being housed by the government.  Ukrainians do not need a visa to enter Malta and are automatically granted a 90-day visa upon entry. Abela said all 26 have since applied for refugee status. He did not divulge how many refugees the country expects to take in as civilians in Ukraine are forced to flee their homes and head for safety.  Ukraine is currently at war with Russia, after the latter began a military invasion into the country on February 24. The EU has responded with a series of stringent economic sanctions and an EU-wide initiative committing member states to provide Ukrainians fleeing conflict in their country with temporary humanitarian protection.  Robert Abela says Malta will do what it can, given its size limitations. Video: Ivan Martin Malta he said was helping in every way possible, within the island’s limitations. On Tuesday, the United Nations said the number of people fleeing Russia's...

Local leading trade finance, factoring and forfaiting solutions providers seeks iMovo’s help to implement data integration FIMBank is a customer-driven banking organisation that focuses on optimising business performance and supporting business growth for its clients. The bank offers customised trade finance and banking solutions and the services offered include trade finance, corporate banking products, factoring, forfaiting, and real estate finance. FIMBank forms part of the KPICO Group, which is one of the MENA region’s most successful companies, compromising of over 16,000 employees across twenty-four countries. FIMBank’s goal is to always provide the highest quality of service to its clients. However, this means that it must improve the lifecycle of its data. As the company started to experience rapid growth, the organisation had to rely increasingly on various information systems, both on-premise and on-cloud. However, with the ever-increasing number of system integrations across different platforms, managing core enterprise data from multiple sources became increasingly difficult. At this point, the company needed to store, present, optimise, transform, and secure all...

What do Labour Party supporters make of their party's electoral pledges and of party leader Robert Abela?  We attended a PL rally in Corradino, Paola held last Sunday to speak to supporters and hear their views first-hand.  The vast majority waxed lyrical about the party's electoral campaign and struggled to name a single weakness of Robert Abela. Some said they were just there for a good time. But not everyone was so jovial, as our reporter Mark Laurence Zammit found out.  See what they said in the video below.  Video: Matthew Mirabelli/Karl Andrew Micallef  Times of Malta will also speak to PN supporters at a similar event during the election campaign.

A 34-year-old man had sex with a minor and filmed it without her knowledge, a court heard on Wednesday.  The man, who is from Peru and needed the help of a Spanish speaking interpreter in court, is alleged to have had sex at least twice with a 15-year-old girl.  He stands accused of sexual activity with a minor under 16 and producing indecent material.  The matter came to light when he sent a video of them having sex to his victim, who did not know that she was being filmed. She then showed the video to her father, who reported the issue to the police.  A court upheld a request to ban publication of the names of those involved, for fear of the victim being identified.  The man pleaded not guilty to the charges but his lawyer Herman Mula did not request bail at this stage, as civilian witnesses have to testify.  Nagistrate Nadine Lia placed a protection order on the victim and remanded the accused in custody.  Inspector Joseph Busuttil prosecuted. 

Conde Nast, which publishes magazines such as Vogue, Glamour and Vanity Fair, has said it is suspending publishing operations in Russia, citing the Ukraine conflict and the safety of its editorial staff. In a statement published on Conde Nast's website on Tuesday, chief executive Roger Lynch said the company was “shocked and horrified by the senseless violence and tragic humanitarian crisis in Ukraine”. He said new legislation in Russia – which could see individuals jailed for up to 15 years for publishing “fake news” about the military – meant the publisher could not guarantee the safety of its journalists and editors. “To that end, we have decided to suspend all of our publishing operations with Conde Nast Russia at this time.” Lynch said the company would continue its mission of producing trusted and compelling journalism. A past edition of 'Vogue Russia'. Photos: Twitter.com The Russian edition of Vogue was first launched in 1998, according to Conde Nast's local website, and the publishing house produces Russian-language editions of titles including GQ, Tatler and Glamour. The West has imposed a range of sanctions on Russia for its military incursion in Ukraine launched...

A woman suspected of selling illicit drug khat within the Somali community worked with her niece to collect parcels of the substance sent to Malta by post, a court heard on Wednesday. Hodon Aden Farah, a 42-year-old Somali housewife who lives in Ħamrun, was arraigned after police intercepted a parcel containing almost 9kg of khat. Her niece, Ayan Awil Mohamed, 26, was also arraigned separately in connection with the crime. A court heard how the package, weighing between 8kg and 9kg, was intercepted before it was delivered to the Guardamanġa apartment it was addressed to. It was found to contain khat, an illegal stimulant that is popular in Africa.  Police went to the place that the parcel was addressed to and found an apartment that was completely empty.  When they called a phone number provided on the package, a woman answered and immediately said “I be there. I’m coming for the package.” Minutes later, a car carrying three people pulled up. Both Farah and her niece were among them. Prosecutors told the court that Farah would order drugs in her niece’s name and make all the arrangements to collect the package and then sell the substance within the Somali community. It was her...

Sweden said Wednesday it believed its team could be at a disadvantage after FIFA confirmed that Russia would be kicked out of the 2022 World Cup playoffs over the invasion of Ukraine. World football’s governing body said Tuesday that Poland, who Russia were due to face in the playoff semi-final this month, would be given a bye into one of the European playoff finals. Poland will face the winners of the match between Sweden and the Czech Republic for a place in the finals in Qatar. The playoff final will take place on March 29, five days after the Swedes and Czechs play each other, potentially giving an advantage to the Poles who will be well rested. The head of the Swedish football federation, Hakan Sjostrand, said he would have preferred it if FIFA had found a new opponent for Poland in place of Russia. Continue reading this article on SportsDesk, the sports website of the Times of Malta

A man who learnt that his wife was cheating on him was driven to arson to take revenge, a court heard on Wednesday.  The accused, who cannot be named by court order, is charged with having set a van on fire in Birkirkara on January 13.  Police traced that crime to the accused after spotting his distinctive van at the scene of the crime, a court heard. When confronted, he allegedly told the police that his wife had been cheating on him with the arson victim. He had thought it over and decided to settle the matter by burning his vehicle.  The accused, who is self-employed from Fgura, pleaded not guilty to charges and requested bail. Inspector Jeffrey Scicluna noted that the man had cooperated fully and released a statement in the presence of a lawyer. He said the prosection did not object to bail, provided that the court issued the necessary safeguards.  The victim had at no point suspected that the accused was the man responsible for the arson and had no clue who was responsible.  One of the accused’s lawyers, Franco Debono, stressed that testimony had been preserved and the victim was ready to abide by all court-imposed conditions. Magistrate Nadine Lia upheld the bail request...

Russian driver Nikita Mazepin, sacked by Formula One outfit Haas, is creating a foundation to help sportspeople who have found themselves barred from competing due to “political reasons out of their control”. Mazepin and Haas’s Russian title sponsor Uralkali had their contracts terminated last Saturday as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Mazepin’s father Dmitry is a non-executive director of Uralkali, a group specialising in potash. Nikita Mazepin, 23, said the funds for the ‘We compete as one’ foundation would come from the money that Uralkali would have paid Haas. He said their treatment by American team Haas was not “fair” and that he had been willing to abide by motorsport governing body the FIA’s ruling to compete as a neutral athlete. Continue reading this article on SportsDesk, the sports website of the Times of Malta

The Russian embassy has been on the receiving end of threats since the invasion of Ukraine, forcing it to request security outside its premises in Kappara, a senior government source has confirmed. The source said that just like other embassies around the island, the embassy now has a military presence outside its gate. There are also frequent patrols in the area.  Armed soldiers and a Land Rover were seen outside the embassy on Wednesday, right across the road from a primary school.  A protest was held outside the embassy on Tuesday, when Repubblika activists paraded a life-size cardboard cutaway of Russian President Vladimir Putin dressed like Adolf Hitler.    Other smaller protests were held in previous days. Activists set a cardboard cutout of Vladimir Putin as Hitler earlier this week. Photo: Jonathan Borg Ambassador summoned Malta has been party to EU sanctions against the country and Foreign Minister Evarist Bartolo met Russian ambassador, Andrey Lopukhov to explain Malta’s position. “We summoned the ambassador and explained the positions we are taking in the United Nations and the EU, namely that we do not agree with the use of force or invasions to force a country to...

The Labour Party has accused the Nationalist Party of planning to slash tax rates for the wealthy while stopping tax refund cheques for average workers. Addressing a press conference at the party's headquarters in Ħamrun, Finance Minister Clyde Caruana noted that the PN has said, through its electoral programme, that it will be giving people some sort of tax credit, while reducing tax for those earning more than €60,000. "This is the classical case of robbing Peter to pay Paul. They will steal money from a wide category of workers to give it to a smaller group of people. I don't know whether this was a mistake or purposely intended this way. I'm more inclined to believe in the latter as it's clearly written down." The PN first announced its plans to slash tax rates for income over €60,000 last year, when Bernard Grech gave his official reaction to the Budget.  Caruana said that by stopping tax refund cheques, the PN would be taking money away from 96% of workers - those earning less than €60,000 - to distribute it to the remaining 4%, Caruana said. "The promise of reducing the tax rate for those earning more than €60,000 from 35% to 25% will cost €21 million. That €21 million...

The Nationalist Party has promised to create three new free trade zones as part of its proposals to address the rising cost of living and transport challenges faced by local businesses, should it be elected into government. It said the party would make use of the Malta Free Zone act, which enables EU member states to designate parts of the customs territory as ‘free zones’ where goods imported from outside the EU are not subject to import duty and other charges.  However, when asked where such sites might be planned for and what kind of services the free zones are envisaged to offer, party spokesperson Peter Agius said that these were subject to industry consultation.  “It’s fundamental to understand that for Maltese businesses to have a better service and compete on an international level, infrastructure needs to improve,” he said. “We are an island and we can’t change that, but we can make sure that, once the goods are in Malta, businesses are receiving a better service in a one-stop-shop and these free trade zones will serve to achieve that as well.” Jason Azzopardi, Peter Agius and address the media. Photo: Jessica Arena €40m national fund in first year Nationalist MP Jason...

Portugal winger Pedro Neto celebrated his 22nd birthday on Wednesday by signing a new long-term contract at Wolves, committing himself to the Premier League club until 2027. Neto joined Wolves in 2019 from Italian club Lazio and has scored 10 times in 83 games in all competitions for club. He made his first start of the season in the defeat to Crystal Palace last weekend following a long stint on the sidelines because of injury. Continue reading this article on Sports Desk.

British bus operator Stagecoach on Wednesday backed a takeover from German infrastructure investment firm DWS, scrapping its previous support for a merger with rival UK firm National Express. Stagecoach has accepted a cash bid worth £595 million (€716m) or 105 pence per share, DWS said in a statement. “Stagecoach is a fantastic business with an exciting future as a central player in a revitalised UK bus and coach market,” said DWS head of infrastructure Hamish Mackenzie.“DWS Infrastructure will back Stagecoach to rapidly capitalise on the growth opportunities presented by increased public and private investment in UK bus and coach.” The German company added it was a long-term investor in essential services with a strong track record in UK and European transport. “The proposed offer presents a major opportunity to maximise the significant growth potential ahead,” added Stagecoach chief executive Martin Griffiths. National Express in reaction urged shareholders to take no action – but Stagecoach added its management would “no longer recommend” their tie-up. The proposed £1.9-billion merger with National Express had already hit the skids in January when UK regulators highlighted...

Explorers have found one of the most famous shipwrecks in history, Ernest Shackleton's Endurance, deep in the icy sea off Antarctica more than a century after it sank, they announced Wednesday. Endurance was discovered at a depth of 3,008 metres (9,869 feet) in the Weddell Sea, about six kilometres (four miles) from where it was slowly crushed by pack ice in 1915. Shackleton went down in expeditionary legend through the epic escape he and his 27 companions then made, on foot and in boats. "We are overwhelmed by our good fortune in having located and captured images of Endurance," said Mensun Bound, the expedition's director of exploration. "This is by far the finest wooden shipwreck I have ever seen. It is upright, well proud of the seabed, intact, and in a brilliant state of preservation. You can even see 'Endurance' arced across the stern," he said in a statement. The expedition, organised by the Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust, left Cape Town on February 5 with a South African icebreaker, hoping to find the Endurance before the end of the Southern Hemisphere summer. As part of Shackleton's Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition between 1914 and 1917, Endurance's crew was meant...