US denounces burning of Koran copies by US pastor

The US State Department has denounced the burning of copies of the Koran and a depiction of the prophet Mohammed by a Florida pastor, saying the acts did not reflect American values. "We find such action deplorable. We find it disrespectful. I, frankly, don't want to give this issue or that individual any more air time here," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters. "This is the act of one individual and in no way reflects the values of the American people or of the US government," Nuland said. The burning, attended by 20 people and streamed live over the Internet, was carried out by pastor Terry Jones at his church in Gainesville, Florida on Saturday, The Gainesville Sun said. Video of the burning was uploaded to YouTube by the pastor's supporting group "Stand Up America Now." The actions were taken to protest the imprisonment in Iran of a Christian clergyman, Youcef Nadarkhani. The Pentagon had urged Jones to reconsider, expressing concern that US forces in Afghanistan and elsewhere could be put at greater risk because of the act, the newspaper said, but Jones insisted on going ahead with the protest. Nadarkhani was arrested in October 2009 and...

Read More

City down United to go top

Manchester City seized control of the English Premier League title race tonight after Vincent Kompany's first-half header powered them to a 1-0 win over bitter rivals Manchester United. Kompany headed home from a corner on the stroke of half-time to settle a highly-charged title duel at Eastlands which saw City go top of the table by virtue of their superior goal difference. The victory means that wins over Newcastle and Queens Park Rangers in their remaining games will almost certainly see City claim their first league crown in 44 years while United would finish the season without a trophy. The win also capped a remarkable comeback in the league race by City, who appeared to have blown their title chances in early April after falling eight points behind United. Kompany's winner settled an at times ill-tempered duel which in terms of quality failed to live up to its pre-match hype. The pressure-cooker nature of the occasion was reflected by an ugly touchline bust-up involving United manager Sir Alex Ferguson and his City counterpart Roberto Mancini on 76 minutes. A visibly enraged Ferguson had to be restrained from confronting Mancini after the Italian had marched into...

Read More

Huge consignment of cocaine found at Malta Freeport

The police said today that a huge consignment of suspected cocaine was discovered at Malta Freeport today. The consignment is believed to have been destined for another country. It was found on a container on land. Tests are being carried out. Informed sources said the haul is 'well over 100 kilos, possibly close to 200 kilos'. The discovery was made by the police assisted by Customs and the AFM's Bomb Disposal Unit. This was one of the biggest drug funds ever made in Malta, the police said. Magistrate Edwina Grima is holding an inquiry.

Read More

Government, Opposition tentatively agree on May 23 date for justice debate – Debono in sharp criticism of government

The government and the opposition this evening appeared to agree that a debate on the Opposition motion censuring Carm Mifsud Bonnici over his running of the Ministry of Justice and Home Affairs will start being debated on May 23. The issue was hotly discussed at a meeting of the House Business Committee this evening. A final decision will be taken on Wednesday at another meeting of the House Business Committee which will discuss when the debate will end. Deputy Prime Minister Tonio Borg has already promised that the debate will not stretch beyond May 31. Earlier, there were sharp exchanges when the government proposed that the debate on the justice motion would start on June 4. The Opposition and Nationalist MP Franco Debono disagreed and called for the debate to be held immediately. The government also proposed that the debate on an Opposition motion on Richard Cachia Caruana would be held soon after a meeting of the Foreign Affairs Committee, where Mr Cachia Caruana could reply to questions. The Foreign Affairs Committee debate was tentatively set for May 14 and 15, to be followed by a vote in the House on May 16. The suggestions were made during a meeting of the House Business...

Read More

Government, Opposition try to agree parliamentary timetable

The government and the opposition were this afternoon engaged in eleventh hour talks for possible agreement on a timetable of business in parliament, removing the need for a ruling by the Speaker on an adjournment motion proposed by the opposition. The two sides are trying to reach agreement before the House Business Committee meets this evening. Last week, the opposition gave notice of amendments to the adjournment motions, saying that debate on the pending Opposition motions to censure Home Affairs Minister Carm Mifsud Bonnici and the permanent representative  to the EU, Richard Cachia Caruana should be held 'tomorrow'. However, in announcing the adjournment motion last week, Labour leader Joseph Muscat had held open the possibility of agreement with the government over a timetable. Last week, Nationalist MP Franco Debono said it was unacceptable for him that the vote on the Budget Measures Bill (on May 9) came before the debate on his own motion on the justice and home affairs sector, as well as the opposition motion on the same subject. PL representatives explained, however, that the most important thing for them was to have a date for debate on their motions especially since...

Read More