Labour MP Karl Chircop has been declared clinically dead on,The 43-year-old MP had suffered a cerebral haemorrhage in August and has remained in a coma ever since. He had recently been been transferred for treatment at London's National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery. A Labour Party press release said that while the MP is clinically dead, he is being kept alive on a life support machine whilst tests are carried out to determine which of his organs may be donated. This decision was taken considering Dr Chircop's altruistic nature and the Labour Party said it was publishing the information with his family's permission. The Department of Information has also issued a statement expressing ... Read more...

BirdLife Malta today congratulated MEPA on the recent declaration of protection areas in the Maltese islands under the European Natura 2000 network (1). "MEPA's recent decision to designate 11 Important Bird Areas (2) in the Maltese Islands as Special Protection Areas (SPA) and the important Ta' Cenc habitat as Special Area for Conservation is an excellent move to safeguard Malta's wildlife and will surely be beneficial for people and tourism. We congratulate all MEPA staff for all the hard work they put in to realize these designations." said Tolga Temuge, BirdLife Malta's Executive Director. To date, BirdLife Malta has designated 11 Important Bird Areas (IBAs), the majority of which were designated for internationally important seabird colonies. Initially, only four of these were given ... Read more...

With reference to the current global financial crisis, Alternattiva Demokratika - The Green Party said that it welcomed attempts to protect savings of banks clients and jobs of bank workers. Arnold Cassola, AD Chairperson, said: "AD welcomes attempts taken by Governments and Central Banks to protect savings of bank clients and jobs of bank workers. We also welcome the fact that Malta's Government is reassuring Maltese customers and workers on their situation, whilst preparing itself for the worst. At the same time however, we appeal to banks in Malta to be more transparent and thus inform clients and workers what measures are being taken to safueguard their interests." Michael Briguglio, spokesperson for Social and Economic Development, added: "The current situation shows that it would be unwise and ... Read more...

The EUPA-financed Leonardo Da Vinci Project "NGOs EXPERIENCING EUROPE - illustrating it at home" organized by the Gozo NGOs Association will be concluded next Saturday the 18th of October at 9.30am. This final seminar is open to all NGOs and is taking place at the NGO Centre, Triq il-Madonna tar-Rummiena, Xewkija. The six beneficiaries will disseminate their experience during NGO-hosted visits to Greece and Italy and officers from the national agency will give an overview of the support offered to participate in similar programmes. Further information is also available at llp.eupa.org... and www.gozo-ngos.org....

Enemalta have advised that there will be power suspensions in Gharb tomorrow, Monday the 13th of October, between the hours of 8.00am and 3.30pm. The following areas will be affected by these scheduled power suspensions: Triq L-Isqof Mikiel Molina and Triq ta' Sdieri.

Heritage Malta refers to media reports that "the Labour Party has criticised the Government for not protecting the Tarxien Temples and ignoring advice to build a shelter to protect the heritage site from harsh weather conditions." While welcoming the support of the Labour Party for the protective strategy that is being adopted, Heritage Malta would like to make some factual clarifications for the sake of accuracy. During its meeting of the 17th of August 2007, the Scientific Committee for the Conservation of the Megalithic Temples concluded that a protective shelter should be installed over the Tarxien Temples. Heritage Malta submitted an application for 2.2 ... Read more...

For the second time, Victoria local council had the opportunity to participate in an International Fair and promote the island's rich historical and cultural identity, together with promoting some of the local products. During the three days Victoria Mayor, Robert Tabone attended various meetings and events in Nichelino including the inauguration of a new childcare facility built with the latest systems in energy saving and alternative energy, and the signing of friendship pacts with another two Italian cities. A meeting on the forthcoming twinning between the localities was also set where a number of important issues on the actual exchange were raised and settled. Other stands at the Fair were set up by different Italian regions. ... Read more...