Mr Incorvaja also claimed that, despite being in the eurozone, Malta offers good value for money.

‘This has really helped us in 2009 and we believe it will still be a big draw in 2010 as belts are still tight and the credit crunch is far from over,’ he added.

Source: Opodo Travel News

The Championships were held in Tournai, Belgium and a total of 32 teams participated in this event. In the group stage of the competition, the teams were split into four groups of eight teams from which the top four teams qualified from each group for the knockout phase. Hamrun were drawn in group D where they faced Reggio Emilia (ITA), SMV Delft (NED), Cardiff (WAL), Sparta Spreeathen (GER), SC Rochefort (BEL), Olympia (GRE) and FTC Reincy (FRA).

In the group stage of the competition Hamrun remained unbeaten, winning 5 matches and drawing 2. The most notable results during this stage were the wins against top Belgian club SC Rochefort and Dutch champions SMV Delft and the 1-1 draw against the group seeds Italian champions Reggio Emilia who have three of their four players ranked among the World’s top 10 players.

Having finished second in their group, Hamrun faced Italian giants Napoli in the knock-out phase. In this match Napoli beat Hamrun with a 2-0 score line and went on to eventually win the Championship in an intensive final match against TFC Mattersburg of Austria.

The Maltese club finished in the 11th place of the competition after beating TSC Royal of Austria and Cardiff and losing to Milano by sudden death in the matches for the final placing. This was a great achievement for the Maltese club and a remarkable improvement on the 18th place obtained in 2007. For this competition the Hamrun TFC team was composed of Kenneth Attard, Mario Camilleri, Stefan Pace and Ilai Zammit Marmara’.

A mascot called Guginu was enthusiastically welcomed in each primary school visited in this programme.

Favourite Channel News reports in more detail:

Speaking on the occasion, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi said that the €10.7 million investment will further enhance Malta’s potential in this sector and is indeed “the culmination of a success story which shows that the private sector is not only a participant in government’s vision but also a protagonist in turning it into reality.”

Since the privatisation of Tug Malta Ltd in 2007, Rimorchiatori Riuniti of Genova have invested €30 million in acquiring the shareholding and an additional €70 million in three new vessels, one of which is the Spinola. The other two vessels are expected to be delivered early next year.

PM Gonzi said that this need to invest further and upgrade its fleet is a spill-over of another successful privatisation story in the maritime sector, the Malta Freeport.

“Since its privatisation five years ago, the operators have invested over €92 million in infrastructure and equipment resulting in more than 200 new jobs.  This investment has allowed it to further increase its capacity and is expected to reach the 3 million container mark in the coming years further increasing Malta’s potential as a regional maritime and transhipment hub,” he said.

Tribali and No Bling Show lead the pack with five nominations each, closely followed by Carrie with four, and Airport Impressions and Christabelle with three nominations each.

Some of the top local artists will be performing on the night, including Tribali, Scar, Carrie and Joseph Armani with Steve Edwards. Half the proceeds from ticket sales will go to the Malta Community Chest Fund. H.E. The President of Malta and Mrs Abela have confirmed their attendance on the night.

The presenters of the evening are Gianni and Angie Laus.

The nominees are:
Best Songwriter – Carrie, Errol from Airport Impressions, No Bling show, Forsaken
Best New Artist – Bletchley Park, No Bling Show, Red Electrick, Skimmed
Best Website – www.iralosco.com, www.tribalimusic.com, www.pureruby.com, www.saltband.net
Best Album – Letter to Bernie (Paul Giordmaina), Thrill Me (Fire), The Elephants of Lanka (Tribali), First Light (Nomad Son)
Best Band – Forsaken, The Riffs, Airport Impressions, Tribali
Best Song – Me Oh My (Carrie), Borderline (Airport impressions), Thrill Me (Fire), Mind the Gap (Scar), Everytime I Bleed (Christabelle)
Best Video – Joseph Armani (Sunshine of Your Love), Miriam Christine (Alone Today), Carrie (Me Oh My), No Bling Show (Lucija u Samwel)
Best Dance Production – Joseph Armani (I want magic), Ruby (What’s the matter with your cabrio?), Tenishia (feat.Winter Moods’s Marigold), U-Bahn (Beautiful eyes)
Best  Image – Klinsman, No Bling Show, Tribali, Sophie
Best Hip Hop / R’n’B Artist – Brooke, Christabelle, Muxu, No Bling Show
Best Heavy Metal Band – Kartridge, Forsaken, Fire, Nomad Son
Best CD Cover – Fire, Nomad Son, Tribali, Forsaken
Best Female Artist – Ally, Christabelle, Carrie, Indigo
Best Male Artist – Thomas Hedley, Jean Claude Vancell, Kevin Borg, Glen Vella

Apart from seeing the top local acts performing and receiving awards, those attending the show will be able to witness one of the music world’s legends, Robin Gibb of the Bee Gees, live on stage for a very reasonable ticket price, of which half the proceeds will be donated to the Malta Community Chest Fund. The Awards organisers have also promised a further surprise on the night.

Robin Gibb is best known as one of the three Bee Gees brothers, who have sold more than a 100 million records since their career began in the 1960s. Their many memorable hits have included ‘Staying Alive’, ‘Night Fever’ and ‘How Deep is your Love. The Gibb brothers have also written numerous international hits for other artists.

The Malta Music Awards were first held in 1995.

General admission tickets are at €10 while VIP tickets are €30.

Until the end of October, Vodafone Mobile Customers can benefit from a free general standing ticket when purchasing another one by sending an SMS with the words Vodafone MMA09 to 50611020 and redeem the reply text at Springfield Outlet in Valletta.

Tickets can also be purchased from TicketLine at www.ticketline.com.mt, the MFCC and from Springfield, South Street, Valletta.

More information is available on the website: www.musicawards.com.mt.

He was charged with living off the prostitutes’ earnings and of engaging in sexual activity with minors as well as of threatening and insulting the victims verbally.

The 17-year-old was also accused of driving a vehicle without a driving license and an insurance cover. In addition, he was accused of offending public morals and relapsing.

The name of the accused cannot be published due to a court order. He is being remanded in custody.

Meanwhile a Libyan who resides in Victoria, Gozo was also charged in court on Saturday.

Abdussalam Essalhi Eliftouri was accused of robbing a person from Swieqi. He was also charged of being in possession of a pointed and sharp weapon without a licence and of using this weapon on the victim.

The man pleaded not guilty. The man is being held at Corradino Correctional Facility.

The discovery was made at an apartment in the Gzira/Sliema area belonging to two of the arrested. More than a kilo of cannabis resin together with 21 pieces of cannabis resin which were ready to be sold, as well as about 100 ecstasy pills and twelve packets of cocaine were found.

A search was also held in other places, including a garage in Gzira where a number of objects including tools and musical equipment, which were thought to be stolen, were found.

The third man arrested resides in Msida.

The police are still investigating.

The man was doing some work in the airport car park when he fell a height of around 2 storeys from the cherry picker. An ambulance took the man to hospital where he was certified to be in danger of dying. He died five days later.

Favourite News reports:

The Pope will be visiting in Malta on the occasion of the 1950th anniversary of the shipwreck of St Paul in Malta. The Pope had been invited to visit Malta by both the Archbishop and President George Abela.

Favourite News reports in more detail:

The Times of Malta said that in less than a week, Mr Falzon’s actions were harshly condemned and criticised by both Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi, who accused him of jumping to conclusions on Sunday, and, four days later, by the Malta Environment and Planning Authority itself.

MEPA also heavily criticised its own auditor over a report he made that was investigating a development permit in Qala, saying he should never even have investigated or published the report because the matter was still before the appeals board. It said Mr Falzon’s actions contradicted the Ombudsman decision, a higher institution.

Mr Falzon said. “Whenever I criticise something, everyone goes on the defensive. If the authorities don’t want an auditing process then why don’t they scrap it, after all it’s costing the country millions of euros?”

MEPA’s criticism and the Prime Minister’s comments led Mr Falzon to describe his situation as “intolerable”. “The role of an auditor is there for a reason: to point out an organisation’s shortcomings,” he said.

The Times of Malta reported that Dr Gonzi described Mr Falzon’s comments on a court ruling as “shameful” because he had not asked for explanations but just jumped to conclusions. However, when contacted earlier this week, Dr Gonzi said he would not be demanding Mr Falzon’s resignation.