News

Israel behind air strikes on Iranian controlled sites in Syria – NBC

The NBC has reported that three American officials confirmed to the newsroom that Israel, using F-15 fighter jets, conducted the airstrike on an allegedly Iranian-controlled military base in northern Syria…

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Malta – Newspaper analysis 1st May 2018

Good morning, Today's Newspapers focuses on the revelations made in Parliament by the Nationalist MP Jason Azzopardi on who alerted the three suspects of Daphne Caruana Galizia's murder about the…

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Pyongyang to forward its time to match that of South Korea.

Thirty minutes. Yes, that's the time difference between the official time in North Korea and South Korea. Thirty minutes away from peace. But this might be a thing of the…

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US extends deadline for trade tariffs to June 1st

U.S. President Donald Trump has postponed the imposition of steel and aluminium tariffs on Canada, the European Union and Mexico until June 1, and has reached agreements for permanent exemptions…

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Netanyahu’s revelations on Iran – Trump’s Reaction

Following Benjamin Netanyahu's revelations, where he accused Iran of lying about its nuclear activity, US President Donald Trump said that these revelations proved he was ‘100% right’ about Iran. US President…

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Netanyahu : Iran lied about not pursuing nuclear weapons

“A few weeks ago, in a great intelligence achievement Israel obtained half a ton of materials” that had been housed in a vault in Tehran, Netanyahu said in a dramatic…

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10 journalists killed in suicide bombings in Kabul

Shah Maria, well-known photo-journalist who had depicted and written about the dangers of reporting in the Afghan capital of Kabul, was among 31 people, including 10 journalists, who were killed…

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US President deserves the Nobel Peace Prize – South Korean President

South Korean President Moon Jae-in said that the US President should be recognised for his efforts to bring together the two Koreas and be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. According…

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BREXIT- The Lords deal another blow to May

The House of Lords has voted for an amendment to the Brexit withdrawal bill which gives the Parliament the final say on what the UK government should do if the deal…

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Fresh elections in Italy are more than just a probability

Centre-left Democratic Party (PD) caretaker leader Maurizio Martina said Monday it was "impossible to lead the party" after former leader Matteo Renzi on Sunday scotched the idea of a government…

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Significant development on Iran to be announced by Israel’s Netanyahu

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will make a televised announcement later on today (Monday) in what his office said would be a “significant development” regarding the nuclear agreement with Iran.…

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Fresh missile attacks on Syria

There are fresh reports of missile attacks on Syria. The Syrian news agency SANA, reports that material damage was caused due to terrorist rocket attacks that hit Baba Amro neighbourhood and…

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News Paper Review – Monday 30th April 2018

Good morning What follows is today's newspaper analysis, prepared by Jesmond Saliba. The Times of Malta leads with a story entitled <<Thousands demand ‘truth and justice’>>. The story refers to…

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May, Merkel and Macron discuss the Iranian nuclear deal, US trade tariffs and the E3

A series of phone calls between German Chancellor Angela Merkel, English Prime Minister Theresa May and French President Emmanuel Macron, over the weekend, ended with an agreement about the importance…

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Italy – Renzi rules out coalition with Di Maio

Matteo Renzi while interviewed on TV programme "Che tempo che fa" said "Those who lost the election can not go to the government. We can not pass the message that…

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UK – Amber Rudd resigns as Home Secretary over Windrush scandal

UK Home Secretary Amber Rudd, who was due to make a statement in Parliament on Monday, resigned under growing pressure to quit over the Windrush scandal. A statement from Downing…

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UK – The Sunday Times reveals study showing Russian bots influencing the General Election by promoting Jeremy Corbyn

The Sunday Times said an investigation it conducted in conjunction with Swansea University had identified 6,500 Russian accounts tweeting supportive messages for Labour and denigrating the Conservatives. It said that many of…

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Malta needs to depart from the myopic 5-year political cycle – Part 2

In the first part of this series, we argued how both the International Monetary Fund and the European Commission identified certain aspects of the labour market as key challenges to…

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Malta | Sunday NewsPapers Review – April 29th

Sunday Paper's Review prepared by Jesmond Saliba Malta Today - MaltaToday reports that <<Alert of risk Pilatus posed to Malta came in May 2016>>. Matthew Vella reports that 'a stark warning…

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Di Maio calls for a German style coalition agreement

There's something fascinating about the Italian way of doing politics. This applies especially to the narrative and the way it is expressed. There are the mass meetings, there are the…

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UK to debate Vote16 – The Guardian

A private members bill to extend the voting age for 16- and 17-year-olds in parliamentary and other elections will have its second reading in the Commons on May 11th. This…

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Fresh tweet controversy for Trump. This time it’s about football. FIFA reacts.

The US President Donald Trump's fascination and ease to use twitter landed him a new controversy and a reprimand from football's governing body FIFA. FIFA told Donald Trump to refer…

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“Our son grew his wings” – Alfie Evans’ father announces death of his son

Alfie Evans, the toddler who stole the hearts of many, has died after his parents lost their legal fight to continue his life support. Tom Evans and Kate James launched…

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Malta Institute of Accountants to hold SME Forum

The Malta Institute of Accountants will be holding the annual SME Forum on 25th May 2018. The focus of this year’s SME Forum will be the sustainability and growth prospects…

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Merkel and Trump meet in Washington

No much glamour accompanied the meeting between German Chancellor Angela Merkel and US President Donald Trump. The meeting, was significantly labelled as a working meeting, indicating the 'essence' of…

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Libya: General Khalifa Haftar returns to Benghazi

Khalifa Haftar, a veteran general and the most powerful figure in eastern Libya, has returned to the eastern city of Benghazi following an extended absence, including reported treatment in a hospital…

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Reactions after the Korean summit outcome – Updated

China China, considered to be North Korea’s key international ally welcomed the summit and described the outcome as helpful for inter-Korean reconciliation. China's foreign ministry spokesman, Lu Kang said that…

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Express Trailers launch Road Safety Campaign

Today, Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Capital Projects Ian Borg launched the Express Road Safety Campaign, which is being led by Express Trailers, aimed at promoting more responsible road sharing.…

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And they called him Louis

Kensington Palace announced that Prince William and his wife Kate have named their newborn son Louis Arthur Charles. He will be known as His Royal Highness Prince Louis of Cambridge.…

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It’s time for peace in the Korean peninsula

At a historic summit between the leaders of the two Koreas, Kim Jong-Un and Moon Jae-in, the neighbouring countries agreed they would work towards peace on the peninsula with a formal end to the conflict set to be…

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A step towards peace

The world gave witness to scenes of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in joking and walking together across one of the most difficult borderlines…

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Russian, Turkish and Iranian Foreign Ministers to meet on April 28

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will hold bilateral talks with the Iranian and Turkish counterparts, Javad Zarif and Mevlut Cavusoglu, as well as three-party talks in Moscow on April 28,…

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Political adverts to be clearly labelled as such on Facebook

Reuters reports that Micke Schroepfer, the Facebook's chief technical officer announced that the company will introduce new measures with the aim of improving transparency around adverts in Britain by June…

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Unprecedented threats to unprecedented growth

The IMF released its World Economic Outlook in January 2018, where it expressed satisfaction with global economic growth in 2017, where the world economy expanded by 3.7%. Looking ahead, the…

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Macron’s evolution towards becoming a global leader

There was a lot of anticipation for the visit of the French President to the United States. A lot of column inches and words have been said on what was…

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Alfie Evans still breathing despite termination of life support.

SKY News reports that the father of Alfie Evans, Tom said doctors were "gobsmacked" his 23-month-old son was still breathing eleven hours after his life support ended. Mr Evans said…

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10 dead, over 17 operations as migrant journeys restart from North Africa

With the good weather and the calm sea, the departures of refugees from North Africa to Italy have resumed. Unfortunately, so did the tragedies and the need for rescue operations.…

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EU Commission opens in-depth investigation into Italian State loan to Alitalia

The European Commission has opened an in-depth investigation to assess whether Italy's bridge loan to Alitalia totalling €900 million constitutes State aid and whether it complies with EU rules for…

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Former US President George H.W. Bush in intensive care – CNN

CNN reports that Former President George H.W. Bush, who just buried his wife first lady Barbara Bush on Saturday, is in intensive care. “President Bush was admitted to the Houston…

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Developing Story – Van strikes number of pedestrians in Toronto – UPDATED

Update: According to CBC News, the number of death people is nine and 16 others are injured after a white van struck a number of pedestrians Monday in the Yonge Street…

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Roberto Fico (M5s) given the mandate to explore the formation of a government in Italy

Italian President Sergio Mattarella handed Lower House Speaker Roberto Fico an exploratory mandate to explore the possibility of a government-formation deal between his anti-establishment 5-Star Movement (M5S) and the centre-left…

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The Guardian : Azeri ruling families linked to secret investments via Maltese bank

As part of 'The Daphne Project', The Guardian reveals that Azerbaijan’s ruling families are the alleged beneficiaries of dozens of anonymously owned companies that have been used to invest in…

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Alfie Evans granted Italian citizenship

Italy on Monday gave Italian citizenship to terminally ill British toddler Alfie Evans so that he can hopefully be "immediately" moved to Italy from Liverpool, where doctors are set to…

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Armenian Prime Minister resigns

Armenian Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan has resigned after days of large-scale street protests against him. Opposition supporters accused Mr Sargsyan of clinging to power when he was appointed prime minister…

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Duchess of Cambridge gives birth to third child

The Duchess of Cambridge has given birth to her third child. The boy, was born at 11:01am at St Mary’s hospital, Paddington. The baby weighed in at 8lbs 7ozs. The…

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Italy – Centre right takes lead in Molise

Centre-right governor candidate Donato Toma looks set to win Sunday's regional election in the southern region of Molise, the first major test of voter sentiment since last month's inconclusive general…

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What’s next for Italy after links between politicians and mafia were confirmed in court?

On Friday, a Palermo court found guilty former heads of the ROS security police Mario Mori, Giuseppe De Donno and Antonio Subranni, former Forza Italia Senator and Berlusconi aide Marcello…

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Andrea Nahles elected as Germany’s SPD leader

Andrea Nahles is the new leader of the German Social Democrat Party. Her election on Sunday, also means the election of the first female leader in the party’s 155-year history.…

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Journalist killed while reporting Nicaragua protests

Journalist Angel Gahona was shot dead while presenting a live broadcast on protests in Bluefields, Nicaragua. The country is currently the theatre of anti-government protests. According to human rights groups,…

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ISIS claims responsibility for bombing in Afghanistan

The Islamic State claimed responsibility for a suicide attack on ID cards queue that killed at least 57 people. The attacker detonated his explosives as the Afghan authorities distributed national…

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Inspectors visit site of suspected chemical attack in Syria

International chemical weapons experts have finally inspected the site of a suspected attack near Damascus which caused an international crisis. The team from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical…

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Oil prices are artificially Very High! – Trump

"Looks like OPEC is at it again," he wrote. "With record amounts of oil all over the place, including the fully loaded ships at sea, Oil prices are artificially Very…

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Northern Ireland’s Border remains an issue in BREXIT talks

The U.K.’s two post-Brexit customs proposals to solve the Northern Ireland border issue have been rejected by the EU. Earlier this week, a report on The Telegraph, indicated that the…

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MiFID II – Burdens, Challenges or Opportunities?

This year, Europe saw the update to the Markets in Financial Instrument Directive (MiFID II) come into force. Focusing on core principles of the creation of fairer, safer and more…

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North Korea will suspend nuclear and missile tests

North Korea will suspend nuclear and missile tests effective immediately and abolish a nuclear test site in the northern part of the country in a bid to pursue economic growth…

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US: Democrats file a lawsuit against Russian government, WikiLeaks and Donald Trump’s presidential campaign

The Democratic Party in the USA has filed a lawsuit against the Russian government, WikiLeaks and Donald Trump's presidential campaign that says they conspired to interfere with the 2016 U.S.…

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The UN must examine its conscience on Syria – Nobel Peace prize winner Maartti Ahtisaari

Nobel Peace Prize Winner Martti Ahtisaari in a piece written for The Guardian, argues that "the alarming events of the past week have reminded us of the severe costs of inaction.…

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