Zach Muscat has decided to continue his career in Portugal as the Malta international has decided to join second-tier side SC Farense for the 2022/2023 season. Muscat is at the back of a successful campaign at Casa Pia after contributing to the team’s first promotion to the top-tier in 83 years. The Malta international played 28 league games during which they obtained 23 positive results including 15 clean sheets as well. SC Farense will be Muscat’s third Portuguese club after playing for Casa Pia and S.C. Olhanense. Thus at Faraense he will bring with him plenty of domestic experience into a team that was relegated from the top-flight in the 2020-21 season. Muscat’s new club opened the new campaign with a win and two draws so far. Click here for full story

Arsenal swept to the top of the Premier League with a 3-0 win at Bournemouth that extended their perfect start to the season, while Harry Kane made history in Tottenham’s 1-0 victory over Wolves on Saturday. Just 12 months ago, Arsenal lost their first three league games in the club’s worst start to a season for 67 years. This year the Gunners sit in pole position after opening the campaign with a third successive victory. It is too soon to declare Arsenal the finished article, but the derision that accompanied Mikel Arteta’s men when they squandered a golden opportunity to qualify for last season’s Champions League has been erased by their strong start this term. After scoring four against Leicester last weekend, this was another swashbuckling display from the north Londoners. Arsenal went ahead after five minutes as Gabriel Jesus’s superb run and pass found Gabriel Martinelli whose shot was pushed into the path of Martin Odegaard for a simple finish. Click here for full story

GŻIRA UNITED  3 Maxuell 14; Jefferson 24, 38 SANTA LUCIA   1 Alba 31 GŻIRA UNITED D. Zarkov-6, G. Bohrer-6, N. Muscat-7, Z. Scerri-6 (90 A. Borg), M. Dias-5.5, L. Riascos-7, C. Gauci-6 (66 S. Pisani), R. Duarte Correa-7, M. Cosic-6, M. Maxuell-6.5, Jefferson-6 (90 B. Borg). SANTA LUCIA M. Calleja Cremona-4, L. Fonseca-5 (60 F. Rodrigues), S. Rier-5, N. Pulis (36 E. Camilleri-4) (60 B. Agius), R. Bairam-5, D. Valpoort-5, L. Bah-5, D. Xuereb-6, J. Pisani-6, E. Serna-4 (54 R. Saito), M. Alba-6. Referee: Matthew DeGabriele Yellow cards: Alba, Valpoort, Rodrigues. BOV player of the match: Jefferson da Assis (Gzira United) The Maroons took just 38 minutes to brush aside the feeble challenge of Santa Lucia and chalk up the first win of the season. Gżira, in great physical shape after their European endeavours, dominated the match from the outset, surging into a two-goal lead inside the first 25 minutes before Santa Lucia goalkeeper Matthew Calleja Cremona gifted the Maroons the third goal to leave coach Pablo Cortes Sanchez reflecting on the size of the task he faces. The Yellows had spent most of the summer preparing for life in the second tier of the Maltese game before they leapt at...

MOSTA                    1          Acheampong 50 GUDJA UNITED       2          Gomes 14, Plut 78 MOSTA I. Akpan-5.5, P. Mensah-5.5, R. Briffa-5.5 (68 G. Sciberras), C. Ememe-6, J. Nsumoh-6, T. Farrugia-6, J Akrong-5.5, G. Acheampong-6.5, J. Vassallo-5.5 (82 D Bonnici), Z. Brincat-5.5 (56 P. Tenebe), J. Ekani-5.5. GUDJA UNITED G. Zammit-6, J. Bolanos-6.5, A. Prates-6, V. Plut-6 (90=3’ F. Romero), A. Selemani-6, J. Arthur-6, N. Micallef-6, H. Vella-6 (73 L. Cremona), N. Tabone-6, S. Gomes-6.5 (84 J. Bezzina), M. Muchardi-6.5. Referee: Emanuel Grech. Yellow cards: R. Briffa, P. Mensah, N. Tabone, J. Vassallo. BOV Player of the Match: Juan Bolanos (Gudja). Gudja United earned their first three points of the season thanks to a. 2-1 win over Mosta. Led by new coach Andrea Agostinelli, Gudja created the better chances throughout the first half, taking a narrow lead. Mosta levelled matters early in the second half as they showed considerable improvement. However, Gudja regained the lead late in the game to secure victory. Both sides had three new faces in their starting line-up. Agostinelli awarded Andre Prates, Vito Plut and Samuel Gomes a starting berth for...

FLORIANA                     2 Veselji 12; El Hasni 25 pen PIETÀ HOTSPURS         0 FLORIANA G. Kitanov-6, A. Magri Overend-6 (72 A. Garzia), C. Rutjens-6, O. El Hasni-6, M. Veselji-6.5 (62 C. Zammit Lonardelli), K. Reid-6.5 (72 E. Hershkovich), J. Arias-6 (62 A. Ciolacu), M. Garcia-6, L. Trillo-7.5, E. Callegari-6, J. Busuttil-6.5 (82 J. Scicluna). PIETÀ HOTSPURS S. Alampasu-5, S. Okoh-5, Y.Ito-4, J. Ghio-5 (58 G. Xuereb), T. Agius-5.5 (75 S. Mizzi), A. Schembri Wismayer-4 (46 K. Briffa-6), Z. Leonardi-4, A. Ogungbe-5, A. Sekou-5.5, A. Belibi-5 (46 K. Leonardi-6), T. Yamaguchi (15 N Scerri-5). Referee: Alex Johnson. Yellow cards: Agius, Ghio, Alampasu. BOV Player of the match: Mattia Veselji (Floriana) Floriana got off to the perfect start as they beat Pietà Hotspurs in an entertaining match. The Greens maintained their good pre-season form with an energetic performance that was rewarded when Mattia Veselji nodded in a 12th-minute opener with Oualid El Hasni doubling the lead 13 minutes later from the spot kick. Gianluca Atzori’s team started the campaign on the right footing. It took the Hotspurs most of the first half to adapt to the Greens’ tempo and once they did, they...

Inter made it two from two in Serie A with Saturday’s comfortable 3-0 win over Spezia on Romelu Lukaku’s return to the San Siro, while Domenico Berardi fired Sassuolo to a 1-0 win over Lecce. Lautaro Martinez, Hakan Calhanoglu and Joaquin Correa struck in front of a large and enthusiastic home crowd to ensure a perfect six points for Simone Inzaghi’s Inter as they bid to reclaim the league title from local rivals AC Milan. Champions Milan make the short trip to Atalanta on Sunday in the weekend’s headline match. Lukaku might not have scored in front of his adoring fans before being substituted in the 68th minute, but he was key to Inter’s first two goals. His perfect knock-down from Nicolo Barella’s clipped pass allowed Martinez to break the deadlock 10 minutes before half-time, lashing home his opening goal of the season. It was the first sign of the rebirth of a partnership which devastated Serie A during Lukaku’s first spell at Inter before his disastrous big-money move to Chelsea last summer. Click here for full story

In two weeks we will know who will be Britain’s next prime minister. The question will not be answered by general elections, but by approximately 150,000 members of the UK’s Conservative Party. For the past two months we had to listen to the remaining two candidates, ex-chancellor Rishi Sunak and Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, trying to ingratiate themselves with a crowd guided in their thinking by Daily Mail and Daily Telegraph editorials and always ready to prioritise myths over facts. The showdown between the lead candidates on TV and at party hustings was an unedifying affair. Real world problems concerning the UK and the world were either studiously avoided or addressed in meaningless posturing. To be ‘tough’ on Russia and China is meaningless, or even counter-productive, when we have an intricately difficult situation to tackle. To compete for plebeian credentials seemed funny when both contenders grad­uated in philosophy, politics and economics from Oxford colleges, and tragic when neither is ready to alleviate a cost of living crisis, or to turn ‘levelling up’, the Tories’ lofty promise to tackle class privilege and inequality, into a reality. Both prime minister hopefuls...

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Collis Williams Pharmacy, 15, Republic Street, Valletta (2123 4567) St Gaetan Pharmacy, Parish Priest Mifsud Street, Ħamrun (2123 4570) Plaza Pharmacy, 86, Main Street, Żebbuġ (2146 7459) Ħerba Pharmacy, 166, Salvu Psaila Street, Birkirkara (2144 3406) St Matthew’s Pharmacy, 213, The Strand, Gżira (2131 1797) Potter Chemists Ltd, Wilga Street, Paċeville (2136 3244) Wales Pharmacy, 183, Manwel Dimech Street, Sliema (2133 5492) Brown’s Chemists, St Paul Street, Naxxar (2141 7652) M4 Pharmacy, Old Railway Track, Attard (2143 6531) Qawra Pharmacy, Earl’s Court/1, Imħar Street, Qawra (2158 0881) Sta Lucia Pharmacy, 1, Dorell Square, Santa Luċija (2189 0111) Vittoriosa Pharmacy, 9, Main Gate Street, Vittoriosa (2180 7529) Mediatrix Plus Pharmacy, 7, Sanctuary Street, Żabbar (2782 6685) Fisherman’s Cove Pharmacy, 11, Tas-Silġ Street, Marsaxlokk (2165 1873) Qrendi Pharmacy, 6, Main Street, Qrendi (2168 3781) Regal Pharmacy, 39B, Antonio Bosio Street, Msida (2131 3115) White’s Pharmacy, Blk A, Town Centre HOS, Mtarfa (2145 2833) Azzopardi Pharmacy, Capuchins Street, Victoria (2156 3233) Xagħra Pharmacy, 55, Church Street, Xagħra (2755 1140).   Pharmacy at Arrivals Lounge, MIA (2369...

In Memoriam BONELLO. Treasured memories of MAY, a beloved wife, mother and grandmother, today the fifth anniversary of her demise. Forever in our thoughts and prayers. Her husband Ronald, her children Christine and Gordon, Andrew and Aisling, grandchildren Jamie, Robyn and Maggie. May she rest in peace. BORG MALLIA – PAUL and GIUSA. In loving memory of our dearest parents on the anniversary of their demise. Fondly remembered by their family. Lord, grant them eternal rest. BUHAGIAR. Cherished and unfading memories of SPIRIDIONE, a dear husband and father, today the 23rd anniversary of his demise. Always remembered and never forgotten by his wife Mary and his sons Colin and Mario. Today’s, 8.30am Mass, at Balzan parish church, will be offered for the repose of his soul. Lord, grant him eternal rest. CASSAR – MARIA. Cherished and unfading memories of a most beloved mother, grandmother and great-grandmother, on the anniversary of her demise. So sadly missed and forever in our hearts. Her children Minnie, Edgar and Julie, grandchildren David and Angie, in-laws, relatives and friends. Lord, grant her eternal rest. Bless the Lord, Oh my soul. All that is within me, bless His Holy...

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Robert Abela has repeatedly travelled out of the country on holiday without appointing a replacement, according to government sources who raised concerns about the prime minister’s prolonged absence from the country.  Multiple high-level government sources said that over the past two years, Abela has travelled out of the country for weekend getaways on a number of occasions without appointing an acting prime minister. This has left the administration vulnerable to constitutional dilemmas as certain high-level orders can only be signed off by the prime minister. These include executive orders linked to matters of national security.  Abela was abroad repeatedly this month, but no acting prime minister was ever appointed, according to the Government Gazette.   The constitution says the president “may” authorise another member of cabinet to assume the role of acting prime minister “whenever the prime minister is absent from Malta or on vacation or is unable by reason of illness to perform the functions of his office”. This is not a hard and fast obligation, but rather a longstanding practice. “The issue isn’t that the PM hasn’t appointed an acting prime minister during his summer...

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Castle not fort For many years, I have been arguing and insisting that what we have at the end of Vittoriosa is a castle and not a fort. It was originally known as Castellum Maris. One may ask: what is the difference? The reply is simple. They are both fortified buildings but a castle was the residence of a noble person. In fact, one can still find the palace where such noble knights used to live.  Reading the article by David Dandria (August 7) entitled ‘Theirs not to reason why’, there is a reproduction of a letter sent by the chief secretary’s office in Valletta, signed by H. Greig A.C.S. and C. Bayley M.S. to the officer commanding the Royal Artillery, dated August 4, 1823, which “grants salutes on the 9th Instant at noon and on the day following at half past ten A.M. and in the evening during the procession, from Castle St Angelo, accompanied by the tolling of the Castle bell”. It seems that in later years St Angelo was demoted to a fort and later to a ship, namely HMS St Angelo.  Now so many years later and after having restored the building, I think it is high time for us to give it back to its former glory and start calling it Kastell Sant’Anġlu. This is our...

The recent foray by the Gozo Tourist Association, an umbrella organisation which represents tourism operators on the sister island, denouncing the upsurge in construction activity on the island of Gozo and its deleterious impacts on the charm and appeal of the island to visitors, had all the trappings of crocodile tears. For years, all those advocating the preservation of the Gozitan milieu were shot down by tourist operators on the islands, being accused of mothballing Gozo in a sort of perpetual ‘crib’ (presepju) through their calls. The former have always been called out for supposedly opposing the economic development of Gozo, with statistics on the flow of young Gozitans going to Malta for employment purposes being bandied about. The same tourist operators who have suddenly discovered their green credentials were swift to lobby with successive administrations for more concessions, including extra floors being added to existing hotels in Gozo as height limitations were relaxed. Similarly, as catering establishments around the island are sprawling and cluttering their facilities (tables, chairs, etc.) over public promenades and the foreshore, not a single whimper of protest...

At least 34 people were killed and dozens injured in two separate road accidents Saturday, each in places where collisions had taken place shortly before, local media reported. A first crash involving a bus and an ambulance killed 15 people and injured 31 more on a motorway in Gaziantep province, said local officials, revising an earlier toll of 16. Governor Davut Gul said earlier the accident had involved "a bus, an emergency team and an ambulance" on the route between provincial capital Gaziantep and Nizip. The DHA news agency said a passenger bus had crashed into an ambulance, a firefighting truck and a vehicle carrying journalists at the site of a previous crash. Three paramedics, three firefighters and two journalists from Turkey's Ilhas news agency were among those killed, local media reported. Photos on DHA showed the back of the ambulance ripped out and damage to the bus. Gendarmes are currently questioning the driver of the bus to try to establish what happened, DHA reported. Investigations opened Prosecutors are already investigating a second deadly accident a few hours earlier, 250 kilometres away, which also happened as the emergency services were attending an...

Comino is an EU Natura 2000 site. Locally, this has been described as the “most ambitious initiative ever undertaken to conserve nature”, where “a close and constant cooperation and integration of local actors and stakeholders will be absolutely necessary”. Natura 2000 sites are an EU-wide network of nature conservation areas, established to ensure the survival of Europe’s most valuable and threatened terrestrial and marine species and habitats for present and future generations. EU obligations were transposed by Legal Notice 257 of 2003. One such obligation is the drawing up of management plans, which “should include management, planning, supervision and monitoring measures…” EU obligations do not aim to stop economic activities altogether but, rather, to set the parameters by which these can take place while safeguarding Europe’s biodiversity. But it must be ensured “that activities are avoided that could disturb the species or deteriorate the habitats for which the site was designated”. The competent authority, the Environment and Resources Authority (ERA), has obtained funds from the EU, the Council of Europe and also from the UK in connection with drawing up such management...

It is now very clear what a rotten road map Joseph Muscat laid out for Malta way back in 2013. It is also very clear how, through the Labour Party, he managed to rubbish Malta and its inhabitants. The plan rested on three wobbly legs: the sale of passports, a loosening of surveillance of Malta’s decent and thriving financial and gaming services sectors and a disgusting sell-out to so-called developers, inviting them to make hay under a sun kept perpetually shining. An enabling environment, consisting of tolerance of corruption, with guaranteed impunity, and risible law enforcement, allowed a successful achievement of this nefarious road map. It was an evil and ill-conceived map but, as expected, an economic expansion occurred. All the negative effects of the plan are now catching up with us. Belatedly, the authorities are assessing a disproportionate and disruptive resident population increase. This misunderstood and unmanaged resident population explosion is proving unsustainable, causing a drastic fall in the quality of life on the island. Evidently built into the road map, an incredible leap in the spread, types and gravity of corruption has occurred. Shrewd local and...

Other than a casual, unplanned stop this summer, I can’t remember the last time I went to Comino. Or, perhaps, it would be more accurate for me to say that I have a recollection of the last time I visited it, which I conveniently blocked out for a long time. I remember that it was a stiflingly hot day and that we were taken there by a particularly disgruntled fisherman. As we approached our drop-off point, he told us not to be late back and cursed not-so-softly as he saw a swarm of people approaching him. We were left to make our way through the abandoned, wilting pineapple cocktails, confetti of plastic cups and mounds of writhing bodies. It was overcrowded, noisy and dirty. There was nothing pleasant or relaxing about being there. When the angry fisherman eventually turned up in the late afternoon, we practically leapt back on to the boat and into his arms. A short stop this summer reminded me that, however bad things can appear, they can always get worse. I stayed on board the boat this time. Last weekend, the war for Comino took yet another turn with activists returning to the small rock for the second time this summer in an attempt to free it from the grubby, greedy hands...

George Vella refused to divulge to the court information given to him by Ġanni Psaila, il-Pupa, about incidents linked to Raymond Caruana’s murder. His excuse was that he was bound by professional secrecy. Of course, that’s utter nonsense. Vella was not bound by professional secrecy. This was not a professional confidentiality issue. That same day, February 3, 1997, Psaila testified that, on December 1, 1986, he was in a Land Rover with Anthony Carabott, it-Totò. They met Minister Karmenu Vella’s driver, Karmenu Farrugia, in the ministerial car and drove to Tarxien. Farrugia produced a submachine gun and fired at the Nationalist Party club. Forensic investigations revealed that the very same weapon killed Caruana in Gudja, four days later. The police got hold of that weapon. Instead of using it to identify who shot at the PN club in Tarxien and later killed Caruana in Gudja, they planted it in the farm of an innocent man. Pietru Pawl Busuttil was framed for Caruana’s murder. Another man’s life was destroyed. That submachine gun belonged to Nicholas Ellul, iċ-Ċaqwes, one of Minister Wistin Abela’s thugs. Ellul was arrested and charged with Caruana’s murder on Christmas Eve of 1990.