The taxpayer forked out €708,000 on “logistics” for Malta Film Week, figures tabled in parliament show.  The figures were provided by Tourism Minister Clayton Bartolo in a reply to a parliamentary question by Nationalist MP Julie Zahra, who asked for a full breakdown of the expenses for the award ceremony, including the cost of billboards, stage, lighting, and any payments to the presenter and others involved in the ceremony.  Back in April, Bartolo told Times of Malta that €1.3 million was spent on Malta Film Week, but at the time, he was unable to specify how much of the money went to the Malta Film Awards night.  Replying to the parliamentary question, Bartolo said the €1.3 million figure was the total expenditure for Malta Film Week, including 22 activities and the Malta Film Awards.  A total of €81,328 was spent on travel costs and €69,483 on marketing.  The biggest expense was on “logistics” which cost a total of €708,011 and another €478,520 on “creative”. No further detail was provided along with the figures and Bartolo did not provide the total amount spent on the Malta Film Awards.  Held in January, Malta’s first-ever film awards caused an uproar among those in the...

The education ministry has awarded a €118,800 direct order to a private company to set up a tracking system for school transport, a measure that was first promised to parents four years ago. According to a notice published in the Government Gazette, the ministry awarded the contract to Handson Systems Ltd to provide a “three-year monthly support and maintenance for fobs tracking solution for school transport system”. A fob is a hand-held electronic device that can be attached to a keychain. The same company was awarded another direct contract worth €132,500 to provide “additional equipment to install on 250 new vehicles under the free state school transport”. According to regulations, government procurement is not to exceed €10,000 by direct order unless in exceptional circumstances and as a last resort. Sometimes, urgency is used to justify a direct order. As a rule, however, calls for tenders are to be issued for procurement above that amount in order to promote competition, transparency and the best use of taxpayer money. When the free school transport scheme was launched in 2018, then education minister Evarist Bartolo said that every vehicle would be equipped with an...

A dog that had been rescued from squalid conditions but somehow ended up back with its original owners has been confiscated once again.   The Pomeranian was picked up by Animal Welfare officials on Tuesday morning, according to an animal rights activist following the case.   Authorities are investigating Facebook claims that Agriculture Minister Anton Refalo bypassed procedures and handed the confiscated dog for adoption to a woman in Gozo, his electoral district. Refalo has categorically denied the claim. The regulations say confiscated dogs cannot be handed over for adoption until court proceedings involving the owner are exhausted.  However, they can be handed over for temporary fostering. In the case of the Pomeranian, the woman in Gozo eventually handed the dog to another woman, also in Gozo.  Activist Maxine Borg has said the Pomeranian had ended up back with the person it had been confiscated from, partially because Refalo had facilitated the adoption of the dog without following the appropriate procedures.  She said the dog should have never been put up for adoption once it was still the subject of a court case and should have therefore only been eligible for...

Tottenham Hotspur star Son Heung-min has revealed he faced racism as a teenage footballer in Germany and was happy to get “revenge” when South Korea knocked Germany out of 2018 World Cup. Son, 29, became the first Asian footballer to win the Golden Boot for being top scorer in the English Premier League with 23 goals last season. The South Korea football icon, the leading Asian goalscorer in English football’s top-flight history, was awarded the country’s highest sporting honour in June for his achievements. But Son said his most memorable career moment had been South Korea’s stunning 2-0 victory over Germany four years ago, because of the racism he had endured in the country as a teenager after joining Hamburg in 2010. Son shared in public for the first time his experiences of racism, while speaking to fans at an event in Seoul on Monday.  For full story click here.

Updated 1.05pm with PN statement Utility billing company ARMS breached the law when calculating customers' bills and ordered the company to refund two consumers with the money they overpaid as a consequence of the unfair billing system, a court has ruled.  The judgment vindicates consumers who have been protesting against the billing system for years and sets a precedent for every other utility bill issued under the system. Lawyer Maxilene Pace said the judgment means virtually anyone who decides to take ARMS to court over their bills, should be granted a full refund of the amount they overpaid. The case began in 2017, when Darren Cordina and Melvin Polidano accused the authorities of breaching the law because ARMS issued their bill on a pro-rata basis, rather than on an annual cumulative consumption basis. They said the manner in which the bills were issued did not allow them to reap the full benefits of the underfloor heating system they had installed in their house. The two were even threatened with having the electricity provision suspended, forcing them to settle the excessive bill under protest. The court, presided over by Madam Justice Anna Felice, has now ordered ARMS to...

Paris Saint-Germain have parted company with coach Mauricio Pochettino, the French champions confirmed on Tuesday ahead of the expected announcement of Christophe Galtier as the Argentine’s successor. “Paris Saint-Germain confirm that Mauricio Pochettino has ended his role at the club,” said a club statement as the former Tottenham Hotspur coach leaves the Parc des Princes after 18 months in charge. Pochettino and his backroom staff depart having won the Ligue 1 title last season but the campaign was better remembered for a disappointing exit from the Champions League in the last 16 at the hands of Real Madrid. “The club would like to thank Mauricio Pochettino and his staff for their work and wish them the best for the future,” added PSG’s statement. Read full story here.

A Russian-flagged cargo ship at the centre of a fight over grain between Kyiv and Moscow remained anchored Tuesday off Turkey's Black Sea coast four days after its unexpected arrival. Ukraine alleges that the Zhibek Zholy had set off from its Kremlin-occupied port of Berdyansk after picking up illegally seized wheat. Moscow concedes that the 7,000-tonne vessel was sailing under the Russian flag but denies any wrongdoing. And NATO-member Turkey has said nothing official in public as it tries to maintain its open relations with both Moscow and Kyiv while facing Ukrainian pressure to seize the ship. The saga started when a Kremlin-installed leader in southeastern Ukraine last Thursday announced the launch of the first official grain shipments across the Black Sea since Russia invaded its neighbour in February. Russia claims to have "nationalised" Ukrainian state infrastructure and to be buying crops from local farmers. Ukraine says the grain is being illegally seized and used to fund Russia's war effort. "Seven thousand tonnes of grain are heading toward friendly countries," local Russian-backed administration head Evgeny Balitsky said on Telegram. Marine traffic websites then...

Shamrock Rovers coach Stephen Bradley is banking on the passionate support of his club fans as the Irish champions prepare to host Hibernians in the first qualifying round of the Champions League. Shamrock Rovers come into the tie in high spirits as the Irish side have been the dominant team on the domestic scene this season. In fact, they are currently on their way to clinching another league title as they are leading the league standings with a commanding ten-point advantage over nearest rivals Dundalk. But the Hoops are desperate for a strong run in the UEFA elite club competition this season and Bradley said that a positive result against the Malta champions is crucial to put themselves in a strong position to progress. “We are expecting a very difficult match,” Bradley told the club’s website. “European nights are always special at a packed Tallaght Stadium (Shamrock Rovers’ stadium). We have had some brilliant nights there and our fans always played a big role. I hope that we have a massive crowd to help us. “All the players and staff are looking forward to the game so hopefully we can get the job done.” Click here to read full interview

A young man who strongly protested his innocence when found in possession of almost 8,000 psychotropic pills stuffed inside three protein shake tubs, has been acquitted by a court which deemed his version as credible and not contradicted. Ayoub Ahmad Mohamed Ahmad, was 23 when the case happened five years ago, The Libyan national left his homeland in 2015 to study in Malta. He soon settled down and was granted refugee status, making new friends along the way. One of those friends was a fellow national who offered him a job as a driver in the business of car importation from The Netherlands. When in November 2016, Ayoub expressed the wish to visit his mother in Libya, his friend offered to help him acquire a ticket for travel, with the departure date being January 4, 2017. After meeting his friend to reimburse him the costs of the ticket, his friend requested a favour. He asked Ayoub to deliver three protein shake tubs to his brother in Libya who was a workout fanatic. On the eve of his departure, Ayoub went to his friend’s place in Bugibba to collect the items which were handed over to him, along with a sizeable suitcase for transporting the large tubs to Libya. As he made his...

A motorcyclist was seriously injured in a collision between his motorcycle and a car at Xewkija on Tuesday. The crash happened at Triq Ta' Lambert at about 9am. It involved a Honda motorcycle driven by a 29-year-old man from Qala and a Ford Ka driven by a 47-year-old woman from  Għajnsielem. The motorcyclist was hospitalised. The police are investigating. 

The internet phenomenon is continually evolving and when harnessed it can lead to great and positive changes in the world. However internet addiction may also lead to depression and anti-social behaviour among other things. This is why Fundacion Mapfre has produced and funded ‘Logging-Off’, an educational campaign that teach students aged 11 to 15 about responsible internet use. The campaign is aimed at raising awareness about internet addiction among school children and is composed of workshops streamed live into a classroom via interactive whiteboard technology. This way students receive a fun and interactive lesson on healthy interaction with the online world. Over the past two years Logging Off has conducted over 300 workshops in schools reaching more than 6,000 students in the process.  Operations became more complicated throughout the period when Covid regulations impeded Logging Off facilitators from entering the classrooms physically. This was however mitigated through a further investment in high quality conferencing cameras and microphones that made engaging virtual interaction possible.  As part of Logging Off’s educational materials a short comedic film featuring...

The European Parliament on Tuesday ratified landmark laws that will more closely regulate Big Tech and curb illegal content online, as the EU seeks to bring order to the internet "Wild West".  MEPs approved the final versions of the Digital Markets Act, focused on ending monopolistic practices of tech giants, and the Digital Services Act, which toughens the scrutiny and consequences for platforms when they host banned content. "With the legislative package, the European Parliament has ushered in a new era of tech regulation," said German MEP Andreas Schwab, a key backer of the laws. The DMA will have major consequences for Google, Meta and Apple, the online "gate-keepers" that must now do business according to a list of do's and don'ts intended to make sure smaller competitors can survive. That text passed with 588 votes in favour and only 11 against with 31 abstentions in a sign of the massive apprehension towards tech giants across the political spectrum. The DSA will target a wider range of internet actors and aims to ensure real consequences for companies that fall short of controlling hate speech, disinformation and child sexual abuse images. The digital world "has...

A Norwegian oil and gas industry group said Tuesday that a strike by oil and gas workers, which has already closed three fields, could cut Norway's gas exports by more than half by Saturday. "Almost 60% of gas exports from the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS) will be affected when the strike action is stepped up further from Saturday," the Norwegian Oil and Gas Association said in a statement. The strike comes at a time when energy prices have already soared as a result of the impact of Russia's invasion of Ukraine and associated sanctions.  "Norwegian deliveries account for a quarter of European energy supplies, and Europe is entirely dependent on Norway delivering as a nation at a time when Russian supply cuts have created a very tight market for natural gas," the association said. "A strike on this scale poses huge problems for countries which are wholly dependent on filling up their gas stores ahead of the autumn and winter," it added. Workers walked out after members of the Lederne union voted no to a proposal brought by mediators during wage negotiations. Earlier on Tuesday, Norwegian energy giant Equinor said it had shut down production at three oil and gas fields after...

Shell joined Qatar Energy's $29 billion (€28bn) project to expand production at the world's biggest natural gas field on Tuesday, becoming the fifth and final international partner. The British-based company took a 6.25 per cent stake for an undisclosed sum, joining TotalEnergies, Eni, ConocoPhillips and ExxonMobil in the North Field East project. The North Field expansion is the biggest liquefied natural gas (LNG) project ever seen, Qatar Energy said. It comes at a time of intense geopolitical tensions over energy supplies. The $28.75 billion development is predicted to increase Qatar's production from the current 77 million tonnes a year to 110 million tonnes by 2027. "As one of the largest players in the LNG business, (Shell) have a lot to bring to help meet global energy demand and security," said Qatar's Energy Minister Saad Sherida al-Kaabi, who is also the Qatar Energy president and CEO. Qatar Energy estimates that the North Field, which extends under the Gulf Sea into Iranian territory, holds about 10 per cent of the world's known gas reserves. The project's LNG – the cooled form of gas that makes it easier to transport – is expected to come on line in 2026. The project...

Murder suspect George Degiorgio has confessed to his role in the plot to blow up journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia in October 2017. Speaking during an interview with Reuters, Degiorgio said the assassination was “just business", and insists he has no intention of "going down alone" for the murder.  Degiorgio, his brother Alfred and accomplice Vince Muscat were arrested and charged in December 2017 with carrying out the murder. George Degiorgio, who is being held in preventative custody, confessed to the murder during an interview with Reuters. 'I would have asked for more money' Prior to the interview, both the Degiorgio brothers have denied involvement in the assassination plot, which saw a bomb placed under the journalist’s car metres away from her Bidnija home. Fellow co-conspirator Vince Muscat, known as Il-Koħħu, admitted to his role in the bombing last year, in exchange for a reduced sentence of 15 years imprisonment. Degiorgio said during the interview that had he known who Caruana Galizia was, he would have asked for more money. “If I knew, I would have gone for €10 million, not €150,000,” he said, in reference to the sum paid to him to murder the journalist. He later...

Lawyers in money laundering proceedings against Pilatus Bank and one of its former senior officials, are claiming that the prosecution “knowingly” withheld information at the interrogation stage, failing in its duty of full disclosure.  The issue came to the fore on Tuesday when Claude-Ann Sant Fournier, former money laundering reporting officer at the now-shuttered bank, returned to court for another sitting in the ongoing compilation of evidence. Sant Fournier, a lawyer, stands accused of aiding and abetting money laundering activities both in her personal capacity as well as in her former official role at the bank. Following a magisterial inquiry into suspicious transactions at the bank, charges were issued against her and the bank itself, represented in court by PWC partner Fabio Axisa who was appointed as competent person to represent the bank. That magisterial inquiry, which cost the State some €7.5 million, had allegedly identified a number of third parties who were to face prosecution over their involvement in suspicious transactions at Pilatus Bank. The names of those individuals were recently outed in an application filed in court by civil society group Repubblika,...

A British holidaymaker who was paralysed in an open-top bus crash four years ago says he is still waiting for compensation. Rob Butt, 48, from the UK, was left tetraplegic after suffering head and spinal cord injuries when a tour bus crashed into a tree in Malta in 2018. The incident killed two tourists and left 50 others injured.  The driver of the double-decker bus and four directors of a company that operates sightseeing tours were charged in court over the incident in February.  The court had declared that the company directors did not have a case to answer for so the case proceeded only against the driver.  Speaking to the BBC on Tuesday, Butt said he was lucky to be alive but he still expects compensation. The BBC reports that the High Court in London has listed the case for next year. Butt was on an Easter break with his wife Kathy and their three children, who were also injured when the bus struck a tree.  The former school teacher said he has no recollection of the crash that changed his life. He now requires 24-hour care.   "I can't do any of the activities I used to do. I'm confined to a wheelchair and can't move anything below my shoulders," he said. "I feel...

Divock Origi signed for AC Milan on Tuesday after being let go by Liverpool at the end of last season. The 27-year-old Belgian international Origi has joined Milan as a free agent after his contract was registered with the Italian top flight, although the club are yet to announce the move. Origi arrives at the Serie A team after not having played enough matches to trigger an extension to his contract with Liverpool. He has reportedly signed a four-year deal which will net him four million euros ($4.23 million dollars) a season. He was largely a bit-part player at Liverpool but scored vital goals over his eight years on Merseyside which made him a favourite of fans and manager Jurgen Klopp. Read full story here.

A consortium led by German car giant Volkswagen said on Tuesday it would remove Europcar from the stock exchange this month as it completes its takeover of the car rental firm. Europcar would become a "cornerstone" of Volkswagen's plan to offer customers new ways to use its vehicles, the carmaker said in a statement. Volkswagen expected consumer demand to be "less about owning vehicles" and "more about using them" in future, said Christian Dahlheim, CEO of Volkswagen Financial Services. The car group's new platform would "respond to this trend with a highly flexible and convenient offering", Dahlheim said. The rental company's "advanced fleet management capabilities" and network of stations at airports were key to Volkswagen's plans. As of June 29, the consortium, backed by British fund Attestor and Dutch mobility platform Pon, held 93.62 per cent of shares in Europcar, Volkswagen said. The remaining shares would be purchased at €0.51 under a "squeeze out" procedure, with Europcar set to exit the Paris stock exchange on July 13. The consortium first put forward its offer for Europcar last year, valuing the company at €2.5 billion. The deal brings Europcar back into the...

In a remote, secluded valley in the Swiss Alps, a line of rusty ski lift masts scar the grassy hillside where cows lazily graze. The lifts at the once bustling Super Saint Bernard ski resort in Switzerland’s southern Wallis canton, near the Italian border, stopped running in 2010. Video: Eloi Rouyer / AFPTV / AFP Since the local company that ran the small station folded, the infrastructure and facilities have been left as a disintegrating blemish on the Alpine landscape. “Frankly, I would like to see them destroy it, raze it,” former resort director Claude Lattion acknowledged to AFP. “You arrive from Italy over the Great Saint Bernard Pass and see this,” he said, nodding towards the graffiti-covered ruins and piles of broken glass that once housed the restaurant and ski lift departure station. Former resort director Claude Lattion poses in the ruins of the departure gondola lift station of Super Saint-Bernard ski resort above Bourg-Saint-Pierre on June 20, 2022. With its spectacular mountain landscapes and pristine slopes, Switzerland draws winter sports fans and tourists from around the world. But in recent years, shortages of snow and especially of money have seen many of its...