Jason Azzopardi case: Malta will not be allowed to continue sliding down authoritarian route - EPP

The EPP group has condemned "in the strongest possible terms" the recent decision to arraign shadow minister Jason Azzopardi for comments he had made on former police commissioner Peter Paul Zammit Group chairman Manfred Weber said: "This is simply not on. As an EU member state, there are limits as to how far this Maltese Labour government can go in its insatiable quest for power with complete disregard to human rights. "In a fully fledged democracy, dragging the shadow minister of justice to court for something he had said in his capacity as shadow minister is unheard of. Lines will be drawn and Malta will not be allowed to continue sliding down the authoritarian route. "We will stick our necks for the Maltese citizens against this increasingly erratic government. "Since when has a shadow justice minister been tried in Europe for something he said with a jail term of up to three months hanging over his head? And let's not fool ourselves, this is indeed the Maltese government acting behind its hendchman. "We will not be fooled and we will not surrender. "Against the backdrop of the looming Maltese Presidency of the EU Council, we take note of how the Labour Prime Minister has...

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Ira Losco's Walk on Water to be released by Warner Music Sweden internationally

Ira Losco's Eurovision entry Walk on Water is to be released internationally by Warner Music Sweden, organisers PBS said. The song will be released on iTunes, Spotify, and other digital sources today week. The song was officially submitted to the European Broadcast Union before last weekend's deadline. Warner Music Sweden are no strangers to the Eurovision Song Contest, having been the record label for both Loreen and Mans when they won the competition in 2012 and 2015 respectively. Walk on Water will be the only song taking part in this year's contest that is being released by Warner Sweden. "Ira is an exceptional singer, and we think this is a very strong song not only for Eurovision but also for commercial release. We look forward to working with her over the next months, and of course to her visiting Stockholm for Eurovision itself," said Robert Skowronski, A&R and Product Manager at Warner Music Sweden. PBS CEO Anton Attard added "Ira is one of Malta's best-known artists, and to have a major label like Warner Sweden on board for our entry opens a lot of doors for us internationally as we prepare for Eurovision. For them to choose our song as their only act in the...

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People from Luxembourg pay less for fuel, despite having higher wages – Marthese Portelli

PN MP Marthese Portelli said today that people in Luxembourg are paying far less for fuel than families and businesses in Malta, despite having higher wages.

"Aside from misleading propaganda by the Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, his Chief of Staff Keith Schembri and Energy Minister Konrad Mizzi regarding petrol and diesel prices, families and businesses have not only been robbed for 15 months, however were now given a guarantee that they will be robbed every time they go to refuel their vehicles for at least three more months," PN MP Marthese Portelli said.

She was speaking during a press conference, and said that families and businesses are paying for this government's corruption. "While fuel prices in other EU countries reflect the drastic decrease in the international oil price, in Malta and Gozo, prices have remained high, despite yesterday's revision".

She mentioned Dr Muscat's budget speech. "The Prime Minister said that he wants Malta and Gozo to be like Luxembourg. Today, people in Luxembourg pay 88c per litre of diesel and €1.02 per litre of petrol. This is 26c less for petrol and 27c less for diesel. This, aside from the fact that wages in Luxembourg are three times higher than those in Malta".

She explained that while Energy Minister Konrad Mizzi and Chief of Staff Keith Schembri were opening secret companies in Panama (a scandal which began just prior to Dr Mizzi's appointment as PL Deputy Leader), Maltese businesses and families were and are paying the highest prices for fuel.

The PN MP said that one of the deals by the aforementioned two people, along with the Prime Minister was that with an Azerbaijan company, "which resulted in a €14 million loss for the Maltese people. This deal occurred during the same period that Minister Mizzi and Mr Schembri opened their Panama companies".

PN candidate Liam Sciberras said the PN will continue to insist that fuel prices in Malta reduce substantially.

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Zidane knows only winning matters for Real Madrid against Barcelona

Facing his first "clasico," Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane knows nothing other than victory at Barcelona will be enough.

The former midfield great replaced Rafa Benitez three months ago, but his star-studded team is virtually out of the Spanish league title race, 10 points adrift of Barcelona in third place.

"I know how things are at this club," Zidane said Friday, a day before his takes his team to Camp Nou. "The important thing is to win, we all know it. I was here as a player. I know the demands that this job comes with."

Zidane has a lot riding on how well his team performs on Saturday following an irregular managing debut that has swung between blowouts of small teams, costly draws on the road, and a disappointing loss to second-place Atletico Madrid at home.

Despite Madrid's best chances at a trophy resting in the Champions League, where it is set to play German club Wolfsburg on Wednesday in the quarterfinals, Zidane said his team is focused on Saturday's match.

"Maybe the game has a different role, but that won't change anything for us," he said. "We will do our best and start strong. For me the most important game is tomorrow. We will play tomorrow's game and then look toward Wednesday."

Zidane played his last "clasico" 10 years ago, and he said that the clash between the fierce rivals is "the most beautiful game that exists for a player."

"Now I get to experience it as a coach and I am happy for that," he said. "I want to make the most of it and have a great match."

Zidane's challenge, however, is daunting.

Under second-year coach Luis Enrique, Barcelona is on a Spanish record streak of 39 matches without a loss across all competitions. That run has kept the team on course to repeating its rare treble of Spanish league, Champions League and Copa del Rey titles from last season.

Barcelona, which hasn't lost at home to Madrid since 2013, crushed Madrid 4-0 in their first meeting this season, a humiliation that went a long way to the eventual firing of Benitez.

"(My players) know what happened, but we have to think only about what is coming now," Zidane said. "Tomorrow's game is a different match, and as far as getting revenge, we will see. It's a game we have to win."

In order to get a much-needed victory, Madrid will have to stop Barcelona's trio of forwards. Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar have combined for 107 goals in all competitions this season, far ahead of the 80 goals tallied by Madrid players Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Gareth Bale.

"We hope the game will be one for our strikers," Madrid defender Sergio Ramos said.

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MFA to request to form part of proceedings against Seyble Zammit

The Malta Football Association will be requesting to be part of the criminal proceedings against Seyble Zammit regarding match fixing as an aggrieved party in the case, it said today. Mr Zammit, 21, was on Monday charged with a number of match fixing charges relating to the UEFA U-21 Championship Group One qualifiers. The MFA also said it will be embarking on a sports disciplinary process as soon as the case was concluded so as not to interfere with the good work being carried out by the police.

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EU funded PE & Sports equipment distributed to all State Schools

Brand new equipment to be used by students in all State Schools has been distributed over the past weeks. This equipment, worth over €60, 000, was purchased through EU funds.

When visiting Tarxien Middle School on Friday afternoon, Minister for Education & Employment, Evarist Bartolo stated that this was yet another initiative over the past 15 months to strengthen the basis of Physical Education in our schools in Government's bold attempt to reduce the high percentage of adolescent obesity in our country through a healthy diet as well as physical activity.

The equipment, mainly used indoors so that in case of schools having no indoor facility PE lessons will still go ahead in case of inclement weather, also caters for new disciplines being introduced to the secondary curriculum such a table tennis, snooker and table soccer. Other equipment related to badminton, gymnastics, swimming, athletics and fitness was also distributed in nearly 100 State Schools.

Parliamentary Secretary for Research, Innovation, Youth and Sports Chris Agius said that since day one, the Government has been committed to promoting sports regarded as minor. Indeed, there was a chain of initiatives to promote diverse sport.  He mentioned that several associations were organising innovative sessions in schools, in collaboration with physical education teachers.  These sessions, covering rugby, golf and other pursuits, had been well received by children.

Physical Education Officer Kevin Azzopardi explained that such an initiative was positively welcomed by all stakeholders as this has brought about a diversification from the traditional syllabus with the main focus still being of emphasizing the importance of a healthy lifestyle through physical activity rather than the end product of whether a student is able to perform competitively in one discipline or another.

Meanwhile, Minister Bartolo also unveiled a new publication related to Cross Curricular Physical Education that has been distributed to all State Primary School teachers. This reference guide gives a detailed outlook of how various parts of the syllabi of all academic subjects may be taught through physical activity, hence giving the students an innovative and creative opportunity to learn through play.

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US April Fools' pranks include football robots, black eye for Google

Bogus ad campaigns, a failed prank by Google, Ivy League football robots and an attempt at humor on the fraught presidential campaign trail competed for attention in the United States on Friday, traditionally a day of hoaxes and spoofs. The trick on April Fools' Day is to be outlandish yet somewhat plausible. "It gets more and more challenging to stand out," said Rachael King, spokeswoman for ThirdLove, a lingerie maker that partnered with DogVacay, a pet sitting service, to unveil a fake line of dog brassieres. The online campaign features photographs of dogs wearing bras and gazing off into the distance. New Hampshire's Dartmouth College, which last year began using a robotic tackling dummy it called "MVP" in an effort to reduce the number of hits its players absorb during practice, said the robots would be used in games from next season. "In the future, we'll line up 11 MVPs and they'll compete in the games for us. It's a wonderful opportunity. Our players will execute their responsibilities by remote control," Head Football Coach Buddy Teevens said in a tongue-in-cheek video. The film showed a robot failing at football drills including running stairs and catching...

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