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Digital, video games popular among Maltese

June 27, 2014, 1:09 am
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Nearly three fourths of the Maltese play digital and video games, a national study has found. The report, launched this morning, was carried out by (gamED), made up of university academics from the faculties of education, ICT and science. It was funded by the Malta Communications Authority and was held in 2012. Its aim was to determine the gaming patterns and trends of the Maltese population between the ages of three and 54. Data was collected using internet and face-to-face surveys. The representative sample found that 62 per cent of the gamers were men and that at least 53 per cent of the population played digital and video games once daily. Sixty-five per cent of the children interviewed played games at least once daily, while the same percentage of teenagers and young adults played two hours or more every day. The report is available online here.
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Updated - No plans to pardon reformed drug addict

June 27, 2014, 11:07 pm
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Updated - adds video - Justice Minister Owen Bonnici does not plan to pardon the reformed drug addict whose case he used to illustrate the realities behind “exaggerated” court delays.  “I am not interested in granting individual pardons. My aim is to give new tools to the courts to assist genuine victims of drugs,”Dr Bonnici told Times of Malta. Earlier this month, Dr Bonnici read out in Parliament an e-mail sent by the reformed addict, who was locked up for six months over a crime committed nine years before. In the e-mail, the man called for a review of the system, which he felt had failed him and his family. Dr Bonnici publicly apologised to the 32-year-old, who had since rebuilt his life and was helping addicts. The man told this newspaper he feared he would be sucked back into addiction and miss the birth of his first child while in jail. He was convicted of heroin trafficking – he was found sharing a gram of the drug with a friend in 2005 – and imprisoned after having been clean for more than five years. Opposition home affairs spokesman Jason Azzopardi on Wednesday questioned why Dr Bonnici chose to read out that particular e-mail and questioned whether the minister...
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‘And don’t bite defenders!’

June 27, 2014, 10:11 am
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Photo: Darrin Zammit Lupi

Wearing matching tops of the Brazilian football team, a man and his tiny Chihuahua walked down Trejqet Sant Anna in Ħamrun, momentarily distracting supporters watching Italy and Uruguay on Tuesday. People gather in the narrow alley, which boasts the flags of all the countries taking part in the World Cup, every evening to watch the matches.
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No more space

June 27, 2014, 8:40 am
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A reserved parking space used by an ice-cream van at Dwejra Bay, in Gozo, was removed by Transport Malta after it transpired that no such permit had been ever issued. The illegality had been flagged up by Times of Malta following a tip-off from a reader.
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Three grams of cannabis found at Lyster Detention Centre

June 27, 2014, 9:12 am
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Four packets containing a total of three grams of cannabis were today found in a sock at Lyster Detention Centre, the National Security Ministry said. It said in a statement that the sock was thrown in from outside but got stuck to the barbed wire. The soldiers at the centre got suspicious when a Somali man went to collect the sock. The Somali is currently being investigated at the Zejtun police station. He is expected to be arraigned in the coming days.
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Party financing bill provides for unseating of MP making false declarations

June 27, 2014, 5:34 am
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Party financing legislation, being published in the Government Gazette today, includes a constitutional amendment so that false declarations may lead to an MP being unseated. The new legislation will not permit donations in excess of €40,000 while those over €7,000 will have to be declared by reference to their source in the party’s returns to the Electoral Commission. The bill is to be moved in Parliament in the coming days and the government would like to have it debated before the summer recess. If approved, it will come into force on next January 1. Elected MPs have to submit a statement within 10 days of being elected and the commission must carry out verifications within a month. The bill proposes that candidates may spend on their electoral campaign €20,000 for each district being contested in the case of a General Election, €50,000 in the case of a European Parliament election and €5,000 in the case of candidates of a local election. It provides for a constitutional amendment for a mechanism through which, when an elected candidate files a false declaration of electoral expenses or incurs expenses in excess of the amounts permissible by law, that candidate will be...
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Chicken farm given close to €400,000 - Maximum funding allowed is €150,000

June 28, 2014, 3:27 am
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The Ciappara family, whose produce is sold under the Hi-Grade Chick label, has received close to €400,000 from rural development funds through applications filed by different family members. Under the Rural Development Programme 2007 - 2013, Catherine Ciappara received €36,827 in 2009 and another €150,000 under the second call issued in 2011, applying under C & K Poultry Ltd. She applied under Measure 123, providing funds for “adding value to agricultural products”. From the same funding programme, her son Emmanuel Ciappara received €57,568 in 2009 to cover 50 per cent of additional investment in the farm. Under the second call, in 2011, he was allocated a further €150,000 under Measure 121 for the “modernisation of agricultural holdings”. The maximum funding allowed under the programme is €150,000. The proportion of funding is 75 per cent by the European Union and 25 per cent by the government. Farms that employ more than 50 people should not receive more than 40 per cent funding. Inaugurating the total investment at the Qrendi farm yesterday, Roderick Galdes, Parliamentary Secretary for Agriculture, defined it as a “state-of-the art” farm. More in Times of Malta and...
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‘Loved ones won’t let me face cancer battle alone’

June 27, 2014, 7:11 am
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Marco Brown lives in Malta by himself, separated by thousands of kilometres from his UK-based family, but even from afar his cousins and Maltese friends have rallied around him to support him in his battle with cancer. His cousin set up a website to raise funds to help ease Mr Brown’s financial burden, since he had to quit his job due to the excruciating back pain. The 44-year-old was born in the UK to a Maltese mother and has been living on the island for 14 years after falling in love with the relaxed Mediterranean lifestyle. However, towards the beginning of this year, Mr Brown started... This article is part of our premium content. Full story is available on Times of Malta Premium.
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'State of the art' chicken farm inaugurated

June 27, 2014, 4:22 am
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A state of the art chicken farm was inaugurated this morning by Agriculture Parliamentary Secretary Roderick Galdes. Emanuel Ciappara’s Nigma Farm at Triq Misrah s-Sinjura in Qrendi was supported by EU Rural Development funds. A total of11,600 chicks can be reared on one farm floor and another 11,600 on another. Production time is six weeks. The farm has its own slaughterhouse on the premises and 1,200 chicks can be slaughtered per hour. Mr Galdes said that support of the agricutlural sector was very important as Malta could not compete in quantity but in quality.
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Briton charged with MPs' hit and run incident

June 27, 2014, 5:07 am
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A man from Leeds was today remanded in custody after he pleaded not guilty to the hit and run incident involving two Nationalist MPs on Wednesday. Censu Galea and Frederick Azzopardi were slightly injured when their car was involved in a collision with the accused’s car, which had German number plates. The driver got out, argued with the MPs and drove off. The police arrested the man at his home yesterday morning. James Malcolm Towers, 46, who lives in Pieta, pleaded not guilty to driving a car not registered with Transport Malta carelessly and without a licence and insurance. He was also charged with speeding, breaching the peace and causing some €2,000 worth of involuntary damage to Mr Azzopardi’s car. In pleas on bail, lawyer Jason Azzopardi, who represented the MPs, told Magistrate Josette Demicoli that the victims were not after the pound of flesh but they had suffered slight injury. Since the accused was pleading not guilty, he was presenting his clients’ medical certificates to prove slight injury and would request the police to  increase the charges to include this. The accused’s lawyer Anthony Stellini said his client had been living in Malta for 19 years and would not...
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Lufthansa flight to Malta makes emergency landing in Rome to offload sick passenger

June 27, 2014, 6:07 am
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    Lufthansa’s flight to Malta from Frankfurt this afternoon was diverted to Rome where it made an emergency landing to offload a sick passenger, a spokesman for the airline said. The Airbus A320, which left Frankfurt at 1.22pm, will continue on its way to Malta after refuelling. Originally due in Malta at 3.45pm, the flight is now expected to arrive at 7.25pm  
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Heritage Malta buys Antonio Sciortino's Speed

June 28, 2014, 1:39 pm
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Heritage Malta has bought Antonio Sciortino's sculpture 'Speed' for €163,000 at auction. The work, among Sciortino's most important, was made when he was director of the Britannic Academy of Art in Rome. Justice and Culture Minister Owen Bonnici said the acquisition of this work was a gift to the Maltese people in the context of the national anniversaries currently being celebrated.
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8% of youths tried cannabis

June 28, 2014, 1:05 am
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Fewer than one in 10 Maltese youths have smoked cannabis at least once in their lifetime, the lowest in Europe, according to a recent study. A Eurobarometer study on young people and drugs, found that 92 per cent of Maltese adolescents had never smoked cannabis. Asked what future legislation could best control the substance, nearly two-thirds thought cannabis should continue to be banned while the rest felt it should be made available under strict controls. Twenty per cent thought the government should introduce tougher penalties for marijuana smokers and 17 per cent called for the plant to be made legal. The Maltese were among the most concerned when it came to the health risks of the drug. Two-thirds thought it would be very risky to smoke cannabis regularly and a quarter of respondents felt this would pose a medium level of risk. More on Times of Malta and the e-paper on timesofmalta.com Premium.
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Frenchman admits wilfully damaging door

June 28, 2014, 6:06 am
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Karl Henrick Huillier, a 26-year-old Frenchman, was today conditionally discharged for three years after admitting to wilfully damaging the door of his rented house in Valley Road, Msida, during an argument on Thursday evening. He also agreed to pay damages of €450 to the owner, Michael Zahra. The Frenchman was arrested at the airport.
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Illegal billboards’ deadline ignored

June 29, 2014, 2:01 am
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A June 20 deadline imposed by the planning authority for the removal of illegal billboards has been largely ignored. A warning had been issued after the European elections stipulating that all illegal structures on public land without a permit had to be removed by last week or daily fines would be imposed. However, according to Mepa sources, only a few billboards were actually removed and the majority are still displaying various adverts, including some paid by the government. Furthermore, no fines have been imposed. Despite the deadline expiry, Mepa only issued a new warning giving owners of illegal billboards another three days to remove the structures. The Sunday Times of Malta is informed that Mepa’s second warning, in which it stated that it would remove the billboards itself if the warning was ignored, at the expense of the owners and the advertisers, was also ignored. More on the e-paper on timesofmalta.com Premium.
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Muscat promised Enemalta employees ‘no privatisation’

June 29, 2014, 12:01 am
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Prime Minister Joseph Muscat had categorically ruled out any sort of privatisation for Enemalta before the general election, a secret recording obtained by The Sunday Times of Malta from corporation employees reveals. Dr Muscat is heard explaining Labour’s plans for Enemalta to start buying electricity from the private sector while assuring employees that the corporation will not be privatised. The audio recording was taken during a closed-doors meeting organised by the Labour Party for all Enemalta employees at the Rialto theatre in Cospicua a few weeks before the March 2013 election. “Our... This article is part of our premium content. Full story is available on Times of Malta Premium.
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Mellieha bypass closed

June 28, 2014, 10:29 pm
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Mellieha bypass has been closed because of cycling races, the police said. Motorists were advised to seek an alternate route.
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Photos of the week - Times of Malta

June 28, 2014, 12:24 am
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A selection of the best pictures taken over the past week by Times of Malta photographers.
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105 youngsters treated at Isle of MTV

June 28, 2014, 11:01 pm
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Seven emergency physicians, 10 nurses and 70 first aid personnel were deployed during last Wednesday’s Isle of MTV event. Photo: Darrin Zammit Lupi

As a crowd of some 50,000 people thronged the Granaries on Wednesday for the Isle of MTV festival, a total of 105 youngsters had their fun somewhat dampened after having had to be treated for alcohol intoxication and dehydration.Six of these, aged between 15 and 20, required further treatment in hospital. A member of the audience noticed a “steady stream” of casualties being taken to the medical posts set up at the Granaries. The most common medical problems were alcohol intoxication, exhaustion and dehydration as well as minor trauma. A spokesman for St John Ambulance explained that dehydration was a common ailment among foreigners who were not used to the heat. The concert kicked off at 7pm but a number of keen fans queued for hours outside the barriers in the scorching sun to position themselves in a prime spot right beneath the stage. Excessive alcohol consumption also causes dehydration, as well as dizziness, nausea, vomiting, slurred speech, slower reflexes, aggressiveness and bad judgement. A spokeswoman from the Health Ministry explained that there were three advanced medical posts with a total capacity of 40 patients at any point in time. They were equipped with...
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Darryl Luke Borg loses compensation claim for wrongful arrest

June 29, 2014, 12:56 am
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A man who claimed he was illegally arrested and arraigned over a  hold-up in Birkirkara has lost a claim for compensation. Daryl Luke Borg was arrested on August 7 last year and subsequently accused of carrying out a hold-up at The Convenience Shop in Birkirkara. The magistrates' court had turned down a request for bail. He was released on August 9, the same day that another man, Roderick Grech, was arraigned and pleaded guilty. In his application, Borg said his arrest and arraignment were illegal because they were not based on reasonable suspicion. He argued that he should have been granted bail by the court, and he should have been released as soon as the police knew that another man had committed the crime. He therefore requested compensation. The Attorney General, the Director-General of the Courts and the Commissioner of Police denied that the arrest was not based on reasonable suspicion, pointing out that the police had received a tip-off. They had looked at CCTV, investigated the whereabouts of the accused and also noted his previous record, including involvement in theft. In its deliberations, the court regretted that the man most involved in the investigations,...
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