Following the decision taken by the European Central Bank to lower its refinancing rate by 50 basis points, the Bank of Valletta has announced that it will be changing its interest rates with effect from this Friday the 14th of November, 2008. With effect from this date, the savings accounts rate will be reduced by 0.25% resulting in an effective interest rate of 1% per annum. Interest rates on all other deposit accounts denominated in euro will also be revised downwards. In addition, the mortgages base rate will be reduced by 0.50% per annum to 3.25% while the base rate for commercial loans, overdrafts, personal loans and credit card accounts is being reduced to 3.45%. Further details ... Read more...

Gozo Channel has announced that the M.V. Malita will be out-of-service at Malta Shipyards undergoing repairs until Saturday. To compensate for the decrease in vehicle capacity, the morning trips are to be made every 30 minutes at 6.00am, 6.30am, 7.00am and 7.30am from both Mgarr and Cirkewwa, and those in the afternoon will be performed every 45 minutes, at 12.00 noon, 12.45pm and 1.30pm. Other trips will be performed according to the published schedule.

A shot Stone-curlew, another rare protected species, was passed on to BirdLife Malta with gunshot injuries on Monday, bringing the total number of shot protected birds received by BirdLife this autumn alone to 64. The Stone-curlew is a scarce visitor to the Maltese islands and it is given extra protection under Annex 1 of the Birds Directive. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) lists the Stone-curlew as 'Vulnerable' under the European Red List (1). Throughout Europe it has suffered extensive declines in recent decades. It has already become extinct in Slovenia and is one of England's rarest breeding birds with ... Read more...

Outbound Maltese residents for September are estimated at 30,443, implying an increase of 3.8 per cent over the same month in 2007. Of these, 88.2 per cent travelled by air. September 2008 - In the month under review, Maltese residents departing by air and sea are estimated at 30,443. Of these, 26,308 travelled to EU destinations, the most popular being Italy and the UK. The majority of outbound Maltese tourists were in the 25 to 44 age bracket. January-September 2008 - In the period under review, the number of Maltese passengers departing by air and sea amounted to 229,271, an increase of 5.4 per cent over the corresponding period last year. Of these, 85.7 per cent travelled to EU destinations, ... Read more...

Tomorrow, Thursday, MEPA's DCC Board is to decide the Full Permit planning application to build a block of flats in Windsor Terrace, Sliema. This part of Windsor Terrace has a strict two-floor Local Plan Height Limitation; a fact which has blocked several other applicants from building higher. It had came as a great shock when MEPA's Planning "Development Control Committee" granted the developers of this site an Outline Permit to build five floors. This would create illegal high party walls on either side, as the flats are to be built right in the middle of a row of seven identical, fine old two-storey Sliema townhouses. This ... Read more...

The Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Gozo will be presenting Il-Mera, a social play in three acts originally written in Italian by Roberto Franco and translated into Maltese by Mgr Salv Borg. The first representation will take place on Christ the King Sunday, the 23rd of November 2008 at 6.30pm. There will be two other shows, one on Saturday the 29th of November at 7.00pm and the last one on Sunday the 30th of November at 6.30pm. Tickets for this event are available from all of the local parishes in Gozo as well as from the Seminary in Victoria and on telephone number 2155 6479, or mobile telephone number ... Read more...

Having just returned from a two week holiday on Gozo I have found that the Eco-island concept is alive and well in at least one part of the island. Whilst visiting friends in Qala they told me about the major problem they had in their back garden with snails and slugs. Now the people in question could have gone down the well trodden path of using pesticides or some such poison to bring the problem under control. However, being people after my own heart who care a lot for the environment they came up with an Eco-island solution. They hired a pair of ducks for a month. Nothing gets rid of snails like a pair ... Read more...

The Parliamentary Secretary for Public Dialogue and Information, Chris Said recently addressed the second international conference on Common Agricultural Policy organised by the Gozitano Agri Co-op in Gozo. The focal point of this conference was "CAP and sustainability for the future of European Agriculture." Dr Said said that rural development covers all the aspects of integrated and sustainable development. It does not only include agricultural and environmental activities, but also the diversification of these activities, the development of non-agricultural activities in the rural areas and the services to the residents. The Parliamentary Secretary spoke about the relationship between the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and rural development, and the role of sustainable development in agriculture and the rural World. Dr Said ... Read more...

Heritage Malta is embarking on a project funded by the EEA/ Norwegian Financial Mechanisms to carry out a detailed documentation of the Hal Saflieni Hypogeum. The study will provide an interpretative and analytical tool that will ensure that this UNESCO World Heritage Site is preserved on behalf of the community and will identify and address threats through an innovative and long-term approach. The project will see the creation of a 3D digital model of the site recording all its features in high detail, together with extensive monitoring of the environment within the site. The Hypogeum was first opened to the public in 1908. By 1910 concerns were being expressed regarding the infiltration of water within the site. In ... Read more...

Melita has launched new offers on fixed-line telephony. For only €5.99 (VAT included) per month, Melita said it is offering the cheapest fixed-line call rate and 100 free minutes of talk-time with every new fixed-line subscription. The company said that customers can also benefit from great offers when switching 21 numbers to Melita. New customers switching to Melita's fixed-line telephony can keep their existing 21 numbers for free. At just €0.01c2 per minute for calls to any fixed line network and €0.23c per minute for calls to mobile networks, Melita's per-second billing structure provides the best value ever, the company added. Since launching in November 2006, Melita said ... Read more...