The legendary Times cuckoo

First cuckoo of spring may have been shot over Malta, writes Lewis Smith, Environment Reporter, in The Times(UK):

Hunters were accused yesterday of blowing the first cuckoos of spring out of the skies as the birds migrate to Britain. Cuckoos have suffered a steep decline in the number reaching Britain since 1970, with hunting and shooting in Malta held to be a significant factor. Two ornithological groups called yesterday for Malta to honour its commitment to stamp out illegal hunting and trapping, made when the island joined the European Union in 2004.

Catching birds, for sport or to make them pets, is a tradition in Malta and the adoption of the EU Birds Directive as a condition of entry to the union was a source of great controversy. The directive bans the hunting of all birds in the spring, the breeding season, and limits it to a handful of species during the autumn. More than a million birds are estimated to be killed or caged each spring and autumn as they use the island as a stopover during migrations between Europe and Africa.

A study by Birdlife International shows that at least 14 species of bird travelling to Britain are shot or trapped in Malta. Among them is the cuckoo, which from 1970 to 2004 suffered a 44 per cent drop in numbers in this country. Estimates put the British population in summer at 13,000 to 26,000 pairs, with 3,000 to 6,000 in Ireland. Other bird species shot in Malta that migrate to and from Britain include the goldfinch, spotted redshank, gannet, great skua and the short-eared owl.

A petition signed by 115,000 supporters of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds was presented yesterday to the Maltese Government. Grahame Madge, of the RSPB, said: “The shooting of cuckoos heading this way this spring is not only a crime against wild-life, it’s also robbing people of the harbinger of spring.” The species is now being considered for emergency conservation measures. Its decline has surprised birdwatchers because it is found all over Britain and adapts to a range of habitats.

Apart from its distinctive call, the bird is best known for laying its eggs in the nests of other birds so that it does not have to rear its own young. The other “fact” that everyone knows about cuckoos — that its springtime reappearance is noted on the letters page of The Times— is a myth: according to our digital archive we haven’t published a straightforward “first cuckoo” letter since 1940.

More from Birdlife International and MaltaMedia

Measuring the credibility of online journalism

As part-fulfilment of a Masters degree in Journalism, Paul Cachia & Alan Fenech of the Centre for Communication Technology at the University of Malta, are carrying out research on the credibility of online journalism in Malta. In order to carry out their study they are distributing a questionnaire to help them assess the level of credibility perceptions of internet journalism amongst the Maltese public. The questionnaire can be accessed on-line here. Responses will remain confidential.

Steamy Malta

Lynne Hyland writes of a 'chocolate massage and ensuite treats in steamy Malta' in The Sunday Mirror:

It was past 2am and a full moon hung in the sky as the tower's glass doors swung silently open. After months of overwork and overdoing it generally, the day had finally arrived... I was being taken into therapy. After being led down the long corridors and ushered into a white robe and slippers, a softlyspoken woman in a starched white uniform arrived to explain what would happen over the next few days. My body would be detoxified. My mind would be purged of poisonous thoughts and re-tuned to relaxation. And I would emerge a new woman, ready to face the world once more.

No, I hadn't checked in to the Priory, I'd taken a night flight to Malta and entered a whole other world of rehab - the spa therapy bedroom at the Fortina Hotel. It's a unique concept in the world of spas. Instead of having to share whirlpools and saunas with all and sundry, the facilities are right there in your room. Opening the bathroom door, I discovered a glass-fronted chamber billowing out aromatic steam, a sunken bath studded with jets programmed to blast away any known muscular tension and, most intriguingly of all, a gleaming white pod. Prising the lid open, I half-expected to find a green alien baby growing in there. But no. This is the detox capsule, an infra-red machine that sucks out your toxins by making you sweat like John Prescott at a secretaries' convention.

Before I could inspect it further, I was distracted by a cheer from my husband who'd come along for the jaunt. Investigating some curious wooden steps at the side of the bed, he'd discovered a whacking great hot-tub hidden away behind the headboard. Oh and a chilled bottle of champagne to enjoy amid the jacuzzi bubbles. Now that's what I call therapy. As you might have gathered from the champers on ice, the Fortina Spa is anything but a celebrity drying-out clinic. However, you might well spot some stars drying off after a dip in the pool. This five-star adults-only resort is a firm favourite among soap stars, particularly ex-EastEnder Wendy Richard..

..It's also worth visiting Malta's neighbouring islands. For our last day, we boarded a beautiful wooden sailing boat for a day cruise past Gozo and on to Comino, a tiny rocky island with a year-round population of three. This is where Madonna filmed the ghastly Swept Away, and it's also where the producers of Malta's Big Brother stranded last year's contestants (now there's an idea).

Back at the Fortina, there was just time to fit in a bit of last-minute pampering at the resort's luxurious spa complex before heading home. Leaving the husband happily watching Sky Sports from our jacuzzi, I submitted to a masseuse who smothered on a warm, dark cocoa potion until I'd been turned into a human chocolate. By the end of that hour, I'd decided that having chocolate on my skin was as good as having it in my mouth. Now I'm no therapy expert, but that sounds like a miraculous bit of rehabilitation to me.

Christopher Hitchens on Malta - Part 2

continued from yesterday, Christopher Hitchens writes:

..Libya, which is the largest Arab neighbor, gave Malta a great deal of economic help in the brave days when oil was expensive. In return, Qaddafi received various privileges, such as the right to broadcast his implausible propaganda from transmitters on the islands. But as the Maltese never tire of saying, they did not expel one master in order to acquire another. When Qaddafi turned nasty over the matter of Malta's right to explore for oil on the continental shelf, Prime Minister Dom Mintoff did not hesitate to condemn him, publicly and roundly, for his arrogance. Malta has appealed to The Hague to uphold its rights and maritime boundaries, and has suspended Libyan broadcasting permits in the meantime. This is an exercise of independence that would have been impossible under colonial rule.

The Soviet fleet in the Mediterranean is, like all other military forces, prevented from using Valletta as a base. There is, however, a "bunkering" arrangement, whereby Soviet commercial vessels may refuel here. It is said that this fuel is often transferred to the Soviet Navy once the ship is outside Malta's territorial waters, and no spokeperson for the government will deny that this is the case. As I was told: "We cannot control end-users--any more than Mr. Reagan can insure that American wheat does not feed the Red Army. But we have offered the very same refueling facilities to the United States, and could not prevent them from benefitting the Sixth Fleet." The Maltese press, which is still predominantly controlled by extreme conservative interests, can fog this distinction but it cannot completely obscure it.

During my stay, a British warship paid a courtesy call--the first since the eviction of the Royal Navy, in 1979. Large crowds turned out to greet it, causing ecstasies of sentimentality and Churchillian reminiscence among the English tax exile community and the Maltese conservatives. (And, to be honest, in my own breast: boyhood glories are hard to shake.) Among the enthusiasts was an old worker who told me, with an equal measure of pride, "We used to need their permission to use our harbors. Now they have to ask ours."

In a sane world, Malta's desire for self-determination would not be an occasion for hysteria. But the Reaganites and their clones among the European Christian Democrats are incapable of seeing the point of nonalignment. To them neutrality is a debased product of the theory of moral equivalence. I'm reminded of a famous "cultural freedom" conference held in New Delhi at the height of the first cold war. An American speaker, inveighing against Indian even-handedness, said that it was senseless to be neutral between the shepherd and the wolf. This thunderous righteousness was punctured by an Indian who pointed out mildly enough that his country had experienced many wolves in its time, and it needed no lectures on the subject. Did the American, he inquired, wish to liken the United States to the shepherd? After all, shepherds existed not to protect sheep from wolves but to arrange for their regular fleecing and butchering.

Christopher Hitchens on Malta - Part 1

Few people know that the controversial journalist and author Christopher Hitchens was raised in Malta. His father was a lifetime naval officer who served on the island and Christopher's brother Peter (also a journalist now employed by The Mail on Sunday) was actually born here. Christopher Hitchens, a prolific writer who is often in the headlines for his political commentaries and biographical writings ( Paine, Jefferson, Mother Teresa, Orwell..), once wrote an article about the politics of Malta. It was published in The Nation ( Sept 6, 1986), America's oldest weekly journal of progressive political and cultural news and analysis. The article is not freely available online but I bring it to you here courtesy of Hitchens. The second part will be posted here tomorrow. Cristopher Hitchens writes:

My earliest childhood memory is of the Grand Harbor of this city, a magnificent Baroque and Renaissance fortress which still testifies to the wealth and skill of the Knights of Malta (who did, indeed, use to pay an annual rent of one falcon to Charles V of Spain). In my boyhood the entire island was a British naval and military base, secured by a colonial form of rule and used as an impregnable aircraft carrier against the emergence of Arab nationalism. The NATO powers treated Malta as if it were an uninhabited rock, instead of the home of an ancient and tenacious culture with a distinctive language--Maltese is the only Semitic tongue to be written in Latin script--and a vivid history.

In spite of their matchless resistance to an attempted Nazi invasion from 1940 to 1942, the Maltese were denied self-government in the postwar years, and shared with the Cypriots the sad distinction of being the only Europeans to live under European colonialism. Attempts to alter this state of affairs were met with every kind of repression. In 1961 the Catholic Church, which here makes its Nicaraguan counterpart appear enlightened, actually excommunicated the entire Maltese Labor Party. It became a mortal sin even to buy a Labor newspaper, and children were asked in the confessional to report on parents if they voted the wrong way.

In 1971, after an arduous struggle, the Labor Party triumphed at the polls over this version of Christian Democracy. In the intervening fifteen years it has closed the British bases, removed NATO headquarters and declared Malta a nonaligned republic. For the first time in its history the archipelago is not under the rule of foreign powers. Internally, the church's monopoly on education has been broken, and efforts toward the socialization of medicine have been made. The Maltese are no longer faced with the old choice between stultification and emigration.

Of course, all this has earned the Maltese government considerable slander and calumny. The ruling socialists are accused of being dictatorial, of selling Malta to the Russians and of being puppets of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi. The last two allegations in particular have led a campaign of abuse in ultraright American newspapers and to a falloff in foreign investment in Malta, which has no natural resources to speak of and must live or die on trade and tourism. In effect, "strategic" Malta is being blamed for its very geography by the sort of people who regard nations as bargaining chips. Being blamed for your geography is, incidentally, no joke. Whenever you read some new piece of grandiose buffoonery about maneuvers off the Libyan coast, try to imagine how it feels to be the citizen of a tiny archipelago, anchored between Sicily and Tripoli, with no air force, navy or army worthy of note. You barely show up as "collateral damage" in the calculations of the superpowers, who are habituated to being the subject rather than the object in the pompous sentences they shout...

Part 2

Immigration solutions

Malta needs tailor-made solutions on immigration, says the popular UK immigration advice site, workpermit.com:

European Union solutions for immigration problems must take into account Malta's size, its limited resources and the fact that it is responsible for a vast search and rescue area disproportionate to its territory, German Ambassador Karl Andreas von Stenglin said last week. The Ambassador was outlining the plans of the forthcoming EU Presidency, currently held by his country, at a public dialogue meeting organized by the German embassy and Forum Malta fl-Ewropa. "Support by Frontex and other member states has to be tailor-made," he said. "In the case of Malta, it has to take account of the smallness of the country ... Malta has the largest per capita influx of immigrants."

Immigration with all its multifaceted issues is a key item on the presidency's agenda, which will be dealing with developing a coherent European solution to immigration. Foreign Minister Michael Frendo thanked Germany for its support, adding that the diplomatic work carried out last year, especially, had paid off as the issue of immigration was now embedded in the EU agenda. "Malta wants a stronger Frontex to which more resources are allocated and it will keep fighting for this," he said.

However, at the same time, thanks to the recent meeting in Tripoli between the EU member states and the bloc's African counterparts, the root of the problem was being addressed. "We now expect the Tripoli declaration to be pursued." The main issue stressed at the forum, however, by both by Mr. von Stenglin and Dr. Frendo, dealt with the botched EU Constitution. Two years ago referenda in France and Holland on the treaty establishing the Constitution were rejected casting the ratification of the document into limbo. The Berlin declaration, which EU member states are preparing to make on the 50th anniversary since the Treaties of Rome was signed, will be a defining moment in this respect, Dr. Frendo said.

In the background of increasing concerns about globalization, climate change and a deteriorating situation in the Middle East, Mr. von Stenglin said, the EU needs to renew the European idea. Dr. Frendo carried forward this theme, pointing out that a united Europe had brought both peace and prosperity. "If we forget this, we will be forgetting the spirit of what we are doing," he said. The Berlin declaration needs to have within it an indication of the solutions to the EU Constitution impasse, he added.

MaltaMedia feature: Malta and its Migrations

Paul's miracle shipwreck

Over the past year and a half, BASE Institute has been involved in painstaking research into Luke's amazingly detailed account of Paul's voyage and shipwreck off the coast of Malta, as recorded in Acts 27, writes Bob Cornuke:

From the very beginning, I have felt that with enough research, Biblical investigation, and on-site observation, we would stand a good chance of finding what no one to date has been able to find - the precise location of Paul's shipwreck along the coast of Malta. Like many other traditions relating to Biblical events, there is a traditionally held site for the location of Paul's shipwreck. This place is on the island of Malta in a body of water called "St. Paul's Bay," a tradition started by a priest in the 1500s but not supported in any way by historical evidence.

The Bible, however, places the location of Paul's shipwreck in a different area than the traditional site. As other research efforts of the BASE Institute have proven in the past, Bible history and tradition are often completely opposite from one another. As it turns out, Luke's careful record of the voyage and shipwreck argue convincingly against the traditional "St. Paul's Bay," where no artifacts have ever been found, though professionals have searched for them.

As I began to investigate Luke's account more carefully, one detail kept jumping off the pages of Scripture at me: after all the horror and travail of the storm at sea, and the ship's narrow escape by putting out four stern anchors in the middle of the night, the next morning ". . . casting off the anchors, they left them in the sea . . ." (Acts 27:40). A quick check of the original language let me know that the sailors did, indeed, cut loose the four anchors and did not bring them on board. And research into sailing ships of the day informed me that the anchors in question would have been huge, lead-and-wooden Roman-style anchors common on huge freighters like the one Paul sailed on.

As I correlated all these facts, I realized that the four stern anchors of Paul's prisoner-laden cargo ship may well represent the best possibility in the world today of recovering an actual, physical object specifically mentioned in the pages of the Bible. Spurred on by the potential impact such a discovery could have on the issue of the Bible's historical accuracy, we at BASE drew on as many experts as possible in analyzing all the weather patterns, maritime lore, sailing equipment and techniques, and details in Luke's account that could possibly lead us to the real wreck site of Paul's voyage - and, hopefully, to the massive lead anchor stocks I believed must be in the sea off one particular bay along the Maltese coast, just as Luke described it.

As more and more facts emerged from our investigation, the possible search areas became fewer and fewer, until by the time our search team made our most recent trip to Malta, we had narrowed down our target sites to just two relatively small areas. Once on-site in Malta, our multiplied hours of research really began to pay off. Through an amazing series of "coincidences" on Malta, we located, interviewed, and went diving on-site with a local spear fisherman who several years ago stumbled across four lead anchor stocks in the precise location, and at the precise depth, our research had already predicted. Even more amazing, because he had no idea what he had found, the diver passed along one of the anchor stocks to a friend of the family - who now kept it on display in her local villa!...

Man raises doubts on locatiosn of St Paul’s shipwreck, by MaltaMedia News; Bible-based Indiana Jones: Mark Pinsky on Bob Cornute.

Israel calls for balance

In this exclusive interview with MaltaMedia, Israeli Ambassador Gideon Meir tells Ruth Alice Davies that Malta should play a "more balanced role" in the Middle East conflict:

In an exclusive interview with MaltaMedia Online News, Israeli Ambassador to Italy Gideon Meir said that he wishes to see enhanced cooperation between Malta and his country, especially where economy is concerned. While stating that Malta and Israel share a very good relationship, he stated that “it is missing more economic and cultural ties”. Ambassador Gideon Meir also said that Israel has much to offer Malta, particularly in the field of solar energy. The two countries share very similar weather patterns, however, whereas Israel is generating energy the cheaper way from the sun, Malta’s progress in this regard lags behind..

..Speaking of Malta in the context of a member of the EU he added that the country “has evolved because it has a vote as any other state”. In this light he furthermore added that “We are counting on Malta to have a more balanced role in the Middle East conflict,” mainly because of Malta’s balanced geopolitical position. The Ambassador also stated that through the EU “Europe has changed for the better and there is a much better dialogue between Israel and the Union. In this light, Malta, as a part of Europe has a very important role.”...

Gideon Meir interview on CNN

Link-up

Claire Truscott in today's Argus (Brighton & Hove, Sussex) writes about a European joint venture with Malta:

One is known for its blazing sun, idyllic coastline and troubled political history - the other is an industrial Sussex port. But Malta, an island in the heart of the Mediterranean, is joining forces with Newhaven in a bid for EU cash. Malta is one of the poorest members of the European Union, but as a new arrival in the EU club, experts believe it is ripe for investment deals.

And officials at East Sussex County Council are working with their European friends to secure redevelopment funding. Together with the South East England Development Agency (SEEDA), they are planning a partnership between Cottonera in Malta, Newhaven in East Sussex and Dieppe in France. The three towns are to submit joint funding bids for economic, transport and tourism development projects, including a programme called Marco Polo, which aims to transport freight goods by railway from the countries' ports, and a skills development plan to attract larger employers to the areas.

Kieran McNamara, the county council's economic development officer, said: "As an accession country to the EU, Malta can access bigger funding pots, which is an advantage of working with it." East Sussex council leader Peter Jones said people should not be surprised by a potential link with Malta. He said: "If we believe a partnership with another EU area has the prospect of bringing in millions of pounds to help our residents then we will look at it."

Some links already exist between the two areas, with students from Sussex Downs College, with bases in Lewes, Newhaven and Eastbourne, maintaining a partnership with its counterpart in Malta. A SEEDA spokeswoman said partnership negotiations were in the early stages. Malta's location, between Europe and North Africa, has seen its ports suffer numerous battles, with various nations having fought over it.

Malta Study Weekend in Australia

Malta will be the focus of the '37th Annual CWA Weekend Country of Study School' at the University of New England, New South Wales, Australia in February. From UNE News:

More than 200 members of the Country Women's Association (CWA) of NSW will take part in the three days of lectures, discussions and cultural events at the University of New England from Friday 2 February to Sunday 4 February. They will travel to UNE from all parts of the State. Hosted by UNE's Earle Page College and organised by the UNE Conference Company, the Study School takes a deep and informative look at a different country each year. (Last year's country was Denmark.) Sharon Gallen, Manager of the Conference Company, said the Country of Study Weekend was one of the longest-running annual events hosted by UNE. It is one expression of a long-standing relationship between the University and the CWA.

Ms Joanna Pisani, the Maltese Consul General for NSW, will present an "Introduction to Malta" to begin the lecture program in UNE's Wright Centre on the Saturday. Among the other talks that day will be studies of Maltese politics and Maltese settlement in Australia, as well as a talk by Mr Lino Vella, Editor of The Maltese Herald, titled "The Malta news". (The Maltese Herald is the only national bi-lingual Maltese/English newspaper in Australia.)

The talks on the Sunday morning will include one on the language and literature of Malta by the linguist Roderick Bovingdon. (Mr Bovingdon is an authority on the Maltese language of Australia – "Maltraljan".) During a formal dinner in the Earle Page College Dining Hall on the Friday evening, the Vice-Chancellor of UNE, Professor Alan Pettigrew, will welcome the delegates to UNE, the Mayor, Councillor Peter Ducat, will welcome them to Armidale, and Ms Pisani will present a "Welcome to Malta". The multicultural band "Skorba" will give a performance on the Saturday evening that will focus on the culture of the Maltese islands and their beauty, as well as on the Neolithic temples of Malta that are between 6,000 and 8,000 years old.

World wind band

World Wind Band at the Manoel Theatre, by MaltaMedia News:

Combining traditional wind instruments from various parts of the world in an interesting and unusual way the World Wind Band offers a new musical experience. Dirk Campbell and Jan Hendrickse, joined by bass flute player Nathan Thompson and percussionist Tim Garside will be doing just that for audiences at the Manoel Theatre on Tuesday January 23rd at 7.30pm , in a performance courtesy of the British Council.

As a performing group the World Wind Band presents arrangements of ethnic wind traditions encompassing Asia , Europe , Africa and the Middle East , illustrating the immense range of sonorities produced by these instruments and demonstrating the connections between different traditions as in the case of Europe and Asia which have always exerted a strong influence on each other. The World Wind Band’s repertoire employes numerous wind instruments most of which are excitingly new to our ears: folk flutes such as the bansuri and the sareva – transverse flutes from India and West Africa; reed pipes such as the arghoul and zummara from Egypt and the Levant; and bagpipes such as the zampogna from Calabria/Sicily and the tulum from Turkey..

Visiting lecturer at Goldsmith College London and Bath Spa University, Dirk Campbell has studied traditional wind instruments with Theodoros Kekes in Athens and with Djivan Gasparian in Armenia as well as with musicians from the Kurdish, Iranian, Albanian and Greek communities in London. He absorbed a good deal of tribal music during his childhood years spent in Kenya . He has composed award winning music for television, films and documentaries after having studied composition at the Royal College of Music. The World Wind Band is partly a vehicle for the demonstration of traditional musical skills and partly a vehicle for new combinations; it is also a medium for broader collaborative and educational projects, enjoying enthusiastic receptions wherever it performs.

Valletta plays Jerusalem

Valletta's East Street was draped in Israeli flags last week, playing the part of a Jerusalem road on a public holiday, for the shooting of the movie Eichmann, an $8 million-budget movie by Peter Bevan and Michael Frenchkowski based on the final confession of Adolf Eichmann before his execution in Israel . The Hamrun police station is acting as Eichmann's prison cell. As a high ranking German Nazi, Eichmann was responsible for the transportation of Jews to the death camps. Fiona Galea Debono writes:

.."We needed something that was convincing," said Mr Bevan. And they found that in Malta. The "untouched" architecture, still in a pristine state and unmarred by modern interventions - as many producers somehow seem to view it - was the main attraction: Eichmann is set in Jerusalem, and Malta did not need much of a make-over to play that role. "There isn't the modern stuff that often gets in the way, especially when doing a period movie," comments Mr Bevans, squinting in the sun..

"People know what Jerusalem looks like and you cannot cheat. We looked at Spain and all around the world really... Of course, the political situation excluded Israel from the options, with the whole Israeli-Hizbollah war going on when they were putting everything together. Agents and insurances would not have it!"

And Steven Spielberg's Munich, shot here in the summer of 2005, has certainly served its purpose. It was through this movie that the producers knew Malta would work as a Middle Eastern country. They came over to scout for locations and see with their own eyes a couple of months ago, but it did not take them too long to decide..

A fledgling production company, the UK outfit E-Motion has already come a long way in its first year of life - Eichmann is its second movie since its inception. Plans for the immediate future include a movie about the Vatican, starring Peter O'Toole and Albert Finney, and the possibility of other projects heading for Malta, depending on the story. After all, their experience here has been positive...The Malta Film Commission was also especially helpful, particularly in the early stages. They are very straightforward and made our work easy. It is very clear how you can get a tax rebate on what you spend in Malta."...

The turning point of early modern history

The latest edition of History Today features an article about the Great Siege of Malta by Tony Rothman, a physics lecturer at Princeton University who has recently completed a novel about the subject. Rothman describes it as one of the turning points of early modern history, when a heroic defence prevented the rampant Ottoman forces from gaining a strategic foothold in the central Mediterranean. From History Today:

At dawn on May 18th, 1565, one of the largest armadas ever assembled appeared off the Mediterranean island of Malta. Its 200 ships had been sent by Suleiman the Magnificent, sultan of the vast Ottoman empire to destroy the Knights of Malta who had long been a thorn in his side. Aboard were crammed some 40,000 fighting men, including 6,000 of Suleiman’s elite infantry, the Janissaries, not to mention another 9,000 cavalry and seventy huge siege cannon, one or two of which were capable of hurling 600lb stones a mile and a half. Opposing this force were just 600 knights, a few thousand mercenaries and a few thousand Maltese irregulars – in all between 6,000 and 9,000 men. Once Malta fell, which Suleiman’s commanders thought should take a week, the Turks would evict the Spanish from Tunis and then invade Sicily and Italy.

Rarely in military history have the odds been so unequal and the stakes so high. Yet in dealing the first true defeat to the Ottomans in over a century, the Knights of Malta became the heroes of the age and the siege one of the most celebrated events of the sixteenth century. Nearly 200 years later Voltaire could write, ‘Nothing is more well known than the siege of Malta’. Yet, three centuries on and the events of 1565 have receded from the minds of even most military historians. No longer do you find it on lists of the ‘seventy most decisive battles in history’. Nevertheless, the siege captures the imagination of anyone who stumbles across it.

At the time the Ottoman empire was the most powerful in the European and Mediterranean world. Its slaving operations – and those of its vassals, the Barbary corsairs based on the coast of North Africa – were integral to its naval operations, although the empire itself allowed its citizens more freedom than many Christian states at the time. Religious refugees from Christendom made their way to the capital (and the world’s largest city) Constantinople, where they could worship as they pleased. Suleiman himself was intelligent, highly educated, an accomplished poet and determined. He was also a highly experienced campaigner.

The stronghold of Suleiman’s adversaries was decidedly not the setting of Christopher Marlow’s Jew of Malta (c.1589-90), in which a rich Jew and the son of the Turkish Sultan could scheme against an unwitting governor. The island had been taken by Muslims in the ninth century, but reconquered by Norman Christians in the eleventh, and became part of the Kingdom of Sicily in 1127; it became part of the Spanish empire in the mid-fourteenth century. Malta was a rocky limestone island that had been deforested over the previous century by the demand for ship- and fire-wood, so that the inhabitants had to resort to burning cow dung for fuel. ‘There was no such thing as any spring water, nor indeed, any well, and the inhabitants were forced to supply that defect by cisterns’, in the words of one eighteenth-century historian.

The population of Malta, and its neighbouring island of Gozo, totalled about 20,000, almost all of them poor, illiterate farmers or peasants who came to the small harbour town of Birgu – the Borgo – to labour at the docks. Such was the poverty that perhaps two-thirds of the women, whether married or not, worked openly as prostitutes. The main saving grace were two large harbours which could provide ‘proper’ anchorage for any fleet..

Fernand Braudel, whose Mediterranean World in the Age of Philip II (1949) is the standard history of the period, begins his discussion of the siege of Malta by asking, ‘Was it a surprise?’ No one has ever claimed it was. The Turks had sent spies disguised as fishermen to Malta the previous summer to survey the fortifications, later building a scale model of the island in Constantinople. The Grand Master Jean de Valette, meanwhile, had his own network of agents in place in Constantinople, headed by Giovan Barelli, which kept him informed of Suleiman’s intentions. A master of languages, Barelli pulled off one of the greatest espionage coups of the age: to smuggle out a complete report of the Turkish invasion plans as they were being decided...

Read an excerpt here of Rothman's novel; Tony Rothman's homepage

Europe Without the Angst

"Malta Is Easy; No Crowds, No Hassles: It's Europe Without the Angst" is an article about Malta written by Jonh Deiner and published in the The Washington Post Jun 15, 2003. It is no longer available online but here are some excerpts courtesy of John Deiner:

So how small is Malta, anyhow? You can see most of the country, about twice the size of D.C., from its citadels just by arcing your neck. You'll bump into that couple from Muskogee you met at Customs so often you'll be old friends by trip's end. And after a day or so, once you've gotten a handle on this secluded outcropping 60 miles south of Sicily, you may feel something you haven't felt for a while. Malta, cocooned by the Mediterranean and an infrequent topic on CNN, is Europe for scaredy-cats. As travelers grapple with the code du jour (is it orange or yellow today?) and second-guess plans to visit perceived targets like Paris or London, Malta is a low-key way to get your annual Euro-fix.

Relatively few Americans go there, and for no good reason. English (along with Maltese) is the official language, getting around is simple and cheap, there's little crime, and everything you'll want to do -from snorkeling and museum-hopping to touring ruins and tchotchke-hunting - is in close proximity...For now, though, it's a gloriously isolated place, where conversation drifts more toward local politics and soccer than Basra and al Qaeda -- and where size really does matter.

"Oh, thank God . . . Americans!" I'd actually had the opposite reaction to the five other Yanks on my coach tour, but Brian Melton was ecstatic. The New Yorker, whose would-be companions refused to make the trip because of security concerns, was reluctantly traveling solo. "Nobody wanted to come. They were afraid to get on a plane," he said. "But I wanted to get away, and Malta is so far removed from everyplace else, it's easy for me to forget about the rest of the world."

If only Malta had been so lucky. With a history predating the pyramids, it has been occupied by one uninvited guest after another, including the Phoenicians, Romans, Arabs, Normans, French and British (from whom it gained independence in 1964). Each left its mark, none more so than the Knights of St. John, the European noblemen who ruled starting in 1530. Driven away by Napoleon in 1798, the group lives on as the Order of Malta, a Christian organization that provides humanitarian aid around the globe.

Today, Malta is a smorgasbord of cultures, from the Arab names of many towns to the British phone booths on street corners. Italian trattorias and English pubs vie for diners tired after a day of exploring walled cities, baroque churches and ancient monoliths...It's one of Europe's most densely populated nations, but it's not another Hong Kong. Just minutes outside the busy capital of Valletta and its suburbs, I was surprised to see miles of empty fields and terraced gardens roll by my tour bus windows. The Maltese are so laid back you may think your plane took a wrong turn and landed in Jamaica. And like other Mediterranean countries, Malta rolls over and takes a nap every afternoon, with many shops and churches, markets and even some restaurants shuttered for a few hours.

By the time the bus deposited me in Valletta, it was perilously close to siesta, but at least the driver apologized for the delay. Having survived the war with most of its treasures intact, the city today is a splendid, hilly maze concealing open-air markets, museums, forts and, of course, churches. Before the "closed" signs made their midday appearance, I squeezed in a visit to the Co-Cathedral of St. John. Considered the piece de resistance of the islands' 360-plus churches, it doesn't impress from the street, but inside -- with its intricate carved walls and lavish paintings -- it's a knockout. In the adjoining museum, the Caravaggio masterpiece "The Beheading of St. John the Baptist" is one of the first works encountered.

Another brush with greatness awaited at the Grand Masters Palace, begun in 1571 for the knights and now the seat of Malta's parliament. Having gone through security, I assumed I'd have to go into do-not- touch mode. For the most part, that held true. But not always. After a quick look at a few rooms in the palace, a guide led me and 10 others into a chamber used by the Maltese president to greet guests. He pointed to two ornate red velvet chairs. "These, my friends, are the chairs that the president used when Queen Elizabeth and Pope John Paul II visited our country. Very important chairs," he told us. "Feel free to sit in them and take a picture." Was this guy serious? That'd be like putting your feet up on the Oval Office coffee table. I was the second person to take a seat..

As congenial as the Maltese are, I found Gozitans (as they're called) even more eager to please, and always with a spot of humor. I'd arrived that day on a morning ferry, one of the few tourists who wouldn't be catching a boat back for the night. Most of the other passengers were day-trippers bound for a flurry of sightseeing; some were booked on Jeep safaris of the island, while others planned to bus from one attraction to another. Bad idea. As I learned the easy way, Gozo can't be rushed. Market vendors are more eager to chat than move merchandise, and getting a check at the end of a meal takes longer than the time it took to consume it. Even cars move slower, though there are few stoplights to impede them..

In Victoria, the hub of island life, I wandered the ramparts of the Citadel, dating to the Middle Ages and housing museums, a cathedral (naturally) and shops, including one cubbyhole occupied by the same family of lacemakers for generations. (Lacemaking is common throughout Malta, but in Gozo, the craft reaches its zenith. If you ask nice, or at all, you can get a demonstration.) ...But all too soon it was time for me to ferry back to the main island, and eventually the flight home and a return to security alerts and news bulletins...

John Deiner discusses his article with readers

Audacity

Simon Maudsley's comedy-thriller 'Audacity' produced by MADC at St. James Cavalier (first night 26thJanuary) will be directed by Coryse Borg who guestblogged here last year:

..Embittered and struggling to make ends meet while going through a messy divorce, Phil schemes up an audacious plan to hold up a popular department store of their pre-Christmas takings with the reluctant help of two fellow salesmen. With the reluctant help of two fellow salesmen who are also facing financial problems, the unlikely trio meet in a run-down bed-sit to rehearse and plan the most exciting thing they've done in their lives. Problems develop however, when the wives of two of the men get together to investigate their husbands' unusual behaviour. Tension and laughs run high as the play comes to an unpredictable end.

‘Audacity’ is directed by Coryse Borg and the cast is made up of Michael Zammit Maempel, Malcolm Galea, Jean-Marc Agius, Julia Calvert and Greta Agius. Tickets at Lm 5.00, except first night at Lm 3.50, may be purchased from the St James Cavalier Booking Office, tel. no: 21 223200 and email boxoffice@sjcav.org.

Toni Sant's Music Podcasts

Toni Sant has completed the 50th in a series of ground breaking music podcasts featuring original music from Malta and/or by Maltese performers. Toni Sant writes:

..There are two special elements in the 50th Mużika Mod Ieħor podcast. The first is that it I've chosen to only play music by singers and musicians who have never appeared on the series before. The other element is the availability of an enhanced edition of this podcast, following last week's debut release in that format.

I'm somewhat surprised with the return of the enhanced version of Mużika Mod Ieħor this week because I've received no feedback about it yet. It's about half an hour worth of extra work for me to produce it. Feedback or no feedback I still find it rewarding. I thought I would just create it for special editions, such as last week's Listeners' Pick for 2006 or this week's 50th podcast. I may keep producing it regularly anyway, but I'd still like to hear from you if you download it.

RSS feed for the Mużika Mod Ieħor podcast

Imaginative statecraft

In this paper, Professor Godfrey Baldacchino suggests that Malta has become “a nationless state”:

Primordial and secondary elements of identity include ethnicity, language, religion, cultural values and customs, a distinct historical self-view and a sense of territorial bonding. Malta would certainly appear to qualify on all these counts to the untested eye. With a strong history of colonisation of at least five millennia, the Maltese come across today as a people with no internal racial tensions, united by the Catholic faith, speaking a unique language and living on definitively precise limestone blocks comprising just 316 square kilometres..

..It is easy to condone references to a monolithic “Maltese society”. Such a definitive term fails to render justice to sub-cultural traits among the Maltese and fails to take account of the existence of – albeit very small – minority groups, such as Indian entrepreneurs or retired British pensioners. But history, acute population density and the pervasive socialising powers of Catholicism have tended to erode many cultural differences over time. It would therefore be fair to define Malta as a “cross-roads island” with a “cosmopolitan and polyglot” population reflecting the “ethnic and linguistic mixtures of Phoenician, Arab, Sicilian and British colonial influences”. Other than in extreme cases, ethnicity is not a relevant analytical category to contemporary Malta.

The Maltese Islands certainly qualify as pioneers in imaginative statecraft, having been held as a distinct fiefdom by Aragonese and castellan landlords in the late Middle Ages and subsequently having spent a long period (1530-1798) as the seat of the Knights of St John of Jerusalem, a theocracy that ruled over Malta in an interesting chivalric and pioneering version of the European Union. Specific nation-building initiatives were not, however, encouraged by the ruling elite, including the Maltese aristocracy of lawyers, medics and priests, a comprador bourgeoisie even in a cultural sense that traditionally and linguistically associated itself readily with Italy..

..In this incessant, internal struggle for loyalty and support, Maltese nationalism has not lost out. The notion of the nation as an “imagined community” becomes relevant. National symbols remain significant in their absence and, where identified, are quickly taken over and co-opted by partisan and/or religious motifs. A brace of poets and writers have struggled for some years to raise the spirit of nationalism, but their message has fallen on deaf ears and reads strangely hollow. Some academics have sought to emphatically announce the cultural maturation of Maltese nationalism, much like a natural development, particularly with the onset of political independence: “Malteseness came of age… The new State was, after all, an old nation.”..

..Finally, the assessment of the past and the present continues to be dominated by contradictory interpretations of the relevance of historical events. As reported by an expatriate living in Malta: “the Maltese are very proud of their (past) history, but apparently not of their present”. The analyses converge: only the members of the troika – the two main political parties and the Catholic Church – loom large as anchors of identity. The “national interest” has been sabotaged, imploded into frenzied partisanship internally, replaced by integrationism externally.

Looking forward to looking back

Here's a look ahead at anniversaries of Maltese events and deaths that will be commemorated during 2007:

- 100th anniversary of the death of Manwel Magri, Archaeologist/Folklorist, aged 56 (Mar 29, 1907).

- 70th anniversary of the formal recognition of Maltese as the official language of Malta (Jan 01, 1937).

- 60th anniversary of the death of Antonio Scortino, Sculptor, aged 68 (Aug 10, 1947).

- 50th anniversary of Malta's first international soccer match. Final score: Malta 2 - Austria 3 (Feb 24, 1957).

- 50th anniversary of the first Mother's Day celebration in Malta (May 12, 1957).

- 30th anniversary of the death of 15-year-old Karen Grech, daughter of Professor Edwin Grech, killed by a bomb hidden in posted parcel(Dec 28, 1977).

- 25th anniversary of the appointment of Agatha Barbara as the first female President of the Republic of Malta (Feb 16, 1982).

- 25th anniversary of the death of Gino Muscat Azzopardi, Politician/Writer, aged 83 (Mar 07, 1982).

- 25th anniversary of the death of Danny Cremona, MLP Government Minister, aged 58 (Jul 07, 1982).

- 20th anniversary of the Nationalist Party election victory following 16 years of MLP administrations (May 11, 1987).

- 10th anniversary of the death of Johnny Navarro, Actor, aged 84 (Aug 5, 1997).

- 10th anniversary of the death of Joseph Aquilina, Writer/Professor of Maltese/Lexicographer, aged 86 (Aug 08, 1997).

The data is compiled from the Today in Maltese History archives.

Maltese language survey

Kirsti Berghäuser is a student of International Information Management at the University of Hildesheim, Germany and is writing her final thesis on the Maltese language, the language situation in Malta and the status of the Maltese language within the European Union. For the empiric part of her thesis, she designed a questionnaire and is inviting readers of this blog to participate (anonymously). It will only take a few minutes of your time but it will be a big help for Kirsti. Go to the questionnaire here.

Note: This survey is unrelated to the other Maltese language questionnaire conducted by Iris Weihrauch of the University of Vienna.

No passport for Calleja

Maltese tenor Joseph Calleja, who will sing in Mdina this summer, explains to Steve Mallia of the Times why he feels let down and 'incredibly humiliated' by the Maltese authorities. From today's Times:

Though he loves Malta, and wears its heart on his sleeve, he feels let down that his wife was denied Maltese nationality (because they have not yet been married for five years). "We had incredibly humiliating and many times devastating problems because we couldn't solve the issue of her passport. My wish was never to create a controversy, but simply to enable my wife to exercise her right to do her job without hindrance. The fact is she lost contracts because of this situation and was often forced to spend time waiting for visas to be issued instead of spending time with the rest of the family, not to mention the time we were denied entry to the UK at Heathrow airport."

Mr Calleja believes the law should be changed to make allowances for honest and genuine cases: "I didn't expect this to happen because she was Joseph Calleja's wife, but out of common sense and reason. This is possible practically everywhere else in Europe; for example, the Austrians did it with Russian soprano Anna Netrebko and she wasn't even married to an Austrian! And any argument that this would have set a precedent are nullified because ours is one of the only professions in the world that requires a person to be employed by 14 to 15 employers per year in several different countries. Thankfully, the Romanian authorities have now granted Tatiana citizenship and she should finally have an EU passport by the middle of 2007." It has also meant that Malta lost out on having another top opera singer...

'Maltese Falcon to the rescue'

Michael Mifsud is expected to be a hit with the fans of his new club Coventry City where he has just moved. In this interview with Andy Turner of the Coventry Telegraph, Mifsud speaks of fulfilling his lifelong ambition to play in England:

..Short in stature, Mifsud's muscular thighs resemble those of a powerful sprinter, and the player insists he is fit and ready to go after training with his home town club Sliema Wanderers. "I am the type of player who can give a lot of energy and never gives up, and hopefully create options for my team-mates," said the forward, who is fulfilling a lifetime ambition by plying his trade in England.

"I have always wanted to play here - it has been a dream of mine since I was a kid. "Obviously I wanted to play at a higher level, so this is a big step in my career. "It is always good to have a challenge in life. English football is very popular in Malta and, actually, I have a friend who has a best friend who supports Coventry, so he is very happy that I have signed.

"I had other options, of course, but the manager came to see me in Norway and I came over and watched Coventry. "I like everything about the club, so I think I can really settle here. I just want to do my best and play well for Coventry. "I have been to the beautiful stadium and watched the game against Derby. "So I am looking forward to making my debut and seeing all the fans and the great atmosphere.

"I am sure the club will get through this bad patch because there is a good team here. "My last match was two months ago but I have been training with my local club back home in Malta so I am still fit and ready to play." Palace boss Peter Taylor confirmed that the Eagles had checked out Mifsud as a possible recruite. "We had him looked at," said Taylor - "I didn't see him myself, but our European scout told me about him. "We decided not to pursue it because of the forwards we already have here, but I've been told that he's dangerous - small and quick like a whippet - so we'll have to watch him carefully should he play."

Coventry play Crystal Palace tomorrow. Update: Unhappy debut for Mifsud as Coventry lose 2-4 at home to Palace.

Projects in Africa

The Third World Group and the Global Education Network for Young Europeans (GLEN) are offering three places for Maltese youths to work in Africa for three months in small international teams involved in development education projects. GLEN is a network of 11 NGOs from the EU engaged in development issues and development cooperation policies. The Third World Group is participating in three GLEN projects: one in South Africa on early childhood development, one in Uganda with disadvantaged children, and one in Kenya on HIV awareness. Following their return, the participants will be enabled by GLEN to share their experience and raise awareness about global development issues. The deadline has been extended to 26th January. Application form here.

Morrissey for Europe

The Maltese entry for this year's Eurovision song contest may have to face competition from a best selling heavyweight if BBC talks with Morrissey are successful. Last year, the video for the You Have Killed Me single featured a pastiche of the kitsch Eurovision competitions of the 1970s. The participation of Rome-based Morrissey would give a totally new dimension to the European festival that is widely followed in Malta. From MaltaMedia:

..The Mancunian musician, who has numerous Maltese fans, first expressed an interest in taking part after UK’s song “Teenage Life”, interpreted by Daz Sampson's, came fifth from last in the 2006 contest. Although a spokeswoman for the corporation warned that "nothing is confirmed at the moment", the BBC said it is in talks with the singer to write and possibly perform a track for this year's contest in May. The BBC has also approached several other high-profile acts in a bid to "up the ante on the calibre of artists" taking part in the annual competition, according to the spokesperson.

Speaking of Daz Sampson's song Morrissey said "I was horrified but not surprised to see the UK fail. Why didn't they ask me?" In turn, with less than a month to go for the Malta Song for Europe 2007, many are eagerly awaiting the Song for Europe final on the 3rd of February. Audio clips of this year’s 16 Malta Song for Europe songs are available on its MaltaMedia Online Network’s Eurovision website. The audio clips can be previewed here. For more detailed information about Malta's participation in the Eurovision Song Contest see EurovisionMalta.com.

Read Toni Sant's views here

Continuing education for pharmacists

The Malta College of Pharmacy Practice (MCPP) is an autonomous academic institution supported by the University of Malta. It is led by Dr Maria Cordina who ensures that the organisation remains dedicated to promoting the highest standards of pharmacy practice in Malta via continuing education. From the MCCP website:

..The College was founded in 1995 to facilitate the participation of pharmacists in life-long learning, thereby contributing to their professional development. The establishment of the MCPP has provided the profession with an organisation that provides structured, consistant, postgraduate pharmacy education courses.

Over the past few years the MCPP has evolved and improved its services in order to meet the current needs of pharmacists’. The events organised require active involvement from the participants. The strength of these meeting lies in the interaction between practitioners in community, hospital, academia, industry and government and therefore provide an excellent forum for exchange of ideas and networking. While the Malta College of Pharmacy Practice is an autonomous institution it enjoys the support of the University of Malta and the other pharmacy institutions in Malta.

The Year of Russian

The Year of the Russian Language was launched in Malta on the Orthodox Christmas Eve, from ITAR-TASS:

..The ceremony took place at the Russian chapel of the San Anton Presidential Palace in La Valletta, head of the Russian science and culture center in Malta Sergei Medvedev said. Maltese President Edward Fenech Adami congratulated Orthodox believers on Christmas and affirmed a big interest of Malta in the Russian culture and present day. He explained the interest with Christian values shared by both nations. Russian Ambassador to Malta Andrei Granovsky stressed the role of the Russian language in the spread of Christianity and inter-ethnic communication in Eurasia.

The choice of the Russian chapel was not accidental, as Maria Alexandrovna, daughter of Russian Emperor Alexander II, and her husband, Duke of Edinburgh and son of British Queen Victoria, lived in the San Anton Palace in the middle of the 19th century. Dowager Empress of Russia Maria Feodorovna, mother of Russia’s last tsar Nicholas II, visited the chapel for praying in 1919. Former Maltese Presidents Ugo Mifsud Bonnici and Guido de Marco, about 200 guests, representatives of the Russian community and local public attended the ceremony.

The Russian Centre for Science and Culture was set up in Malta in 1990

Di nuovo a Malta

AC Milan return to Malta for the second part of their training camp. The match against Birkirkara is tomorrow. From the AC Milan website:

Il giorno dopo il 16° Trofeo Luigi Berlusconi - Polymer Cup, i rossoneri tornano a Malta. E' un ritiro piacevole quello del Milan, seguito da numerosi tifosi. Il prossimo impegno amichevole contro il Birkirkara, il 9 gennaio ...Breve tappa milanese durante il ritiro invernale del Milan: tornati a Milano nella mattinata del 6 gennaio, per disputare il 16° Trofeo Luigi Berlusconi - Polymer Cup, i rossoneri sono ripartiti per Malta già domenica mattina, per concludere la preparazione invernale. Un altro impegno amichevole per i rossoneri sarà quello di martedì 9 gennaio contro il Birkirkara, squadra maltese che ospita il Milan...Non sono partiti domenica i cinque rossoneri Campioni del Mondo, che verranno ricevuti lunedì dal Presidente della Repubblica Giorgio Napolitano; raggiungeranno i compagni a Malta in serata.

Ed è un soggiorno piacevole, anche se di lavoro, quello della squadra rossonera a Malta: l'ha detto Carlo Ancelotti in conferenza stampa: "Se il prossimo anno dovessimo ripetere l'esperienza del ritiro invernale, sicuramente Malta sarà la nostra prima scelta". E lo hanno confermato i tanti tifosi milanisti maltesi, che hanno prima accolto numerosi (erano circa tremila all'areoporto) i campioni rossoneri, e poi hanno seguito con entusiasmo ma disciplina gli allenamenti svolti dalla squadra di Ancelotti a La Valletta. Il Milan tornerà poi definitivamente a Milano il 10 gennaio, la partenza da Malta è prevista per le 15.30. Il giorno dopo, infatti, i rossoneri saranno impegnati a San Siro contro l'Arezzo, nella gara valida per l'andata dei quarti di finale di Coppa Italia. Per il programma completo del Milan a Malta clicca qui.

Update: AC Milan play with 21 players to beat B'kara 5-0

Cheap flights, expensive property

Nic Cicutti, MSN Special Correspondent, argues that low cost airlines are fuelling rises in property prices:

Everywhere a Brit goes, expect a house and rental price boom to follow – even abroad. That, at least, appears to be the impression given by a succession of statistics published in the past year or so. The latest, by Savills, a UK estate agent and rental firm which acts on behalf of overseas property owners, has found that second homes abroad which are located near airports served by low-cost airlines are nearly 40% more valuable than others.

The survey questioned 12,000 owners of overseas property and found that the average price of a property located within 10 miles of an airport served by a low-cost airline is 39% higher than those near an airport without a low-cost airline carrier. Prices fell as the distance from the airport increased - there was only a 2% difference in the average price of properties situated over 80 miles from an airport. The survey also found that properties served by low-cost airlines also had higher average rents than those without. The additional rent was as much as 30% for properties within 10-20 miles of airports.

At one level, the figures quoted above are hardly contentious. They back research earlier last year by a foreign currency exchange firm, which found that homes in south west France near Bergerac Airport – a popular Ryanair and Flybe destination - had risen by 157% since 2001. Nor should we be too surprised by what we are seeing: a quick trawl through the web shows scores of overseas property websites all trumpeting the desirability of buying homes in a range of increasingly exotic and distant destinations. The key attraction, it is emphasized again and again, is the availability of cheap regular flights from the UK, offering the potential for significant rental yield and capital appreciation as a result. But of course, figures like this also raise a series of potential questions..

There is a long-running myth that the availability of low-cost flights has somehow democratised the cost of taking a holiday abroad. Instead of just the rich few being able to head off into the sun more than once a year, now that fares start as low as 99p (plus airport taxes) we can all afford to go. As with all these myths, this is highly beguiling – but equally untrue. The most recent statistics on airport use from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), published in November last year, show that it is the wealthy and not the poor who are benefitting from cheap air travel...

Why the end for cheap flights could be nigh

Matter of trust

The editorial in today's Times dicusses the latest Malta Eurobarometer survey:

Even though surveys and polls may sometimes be taken with a pinch of salt, it is hard dismissing them altogether, especially when they indicate significant shifts in behaviour or in confidence in the administration or institutions. The latest Eurobarometer survey, published by the European Commission, shows little or no surprises in Maltese trends, with the major finding, that about trust in trade unions, being perhaps the most obvious one..

It comes as no surprise either that trust in political parties has continued to drop, down to 26 per cent from 29 per cent. As the two main political parties continue to build up their organisations, more and more voters grow disenchanted over the way they handle national politics. Their workload in Parliament may have grown, but the quality of their contribution is low, at times incredibly so. What the growing number of uncommitted voters would wish to see is less blatant partisanship in matters of national interest. They argue, quite correctly, that the island is far too small to afford the kind of political games some politicians play. The problem is that those mostly at fault do not even care to listen attentively enough to the grassroot disappointment at their antics.

Trust in the press appears to be declining too. Again, it is not too difficult to pinpoint shortcomings, particularly in the media controlled by the political parties. Pluralism in broadcasting was not meant to bring down standards to the low level they have reached today. Luckily, more and more have become discerning listeners, but again the parties do not appear to have their ears to the ground close enough to realise that in the end they may be losing, rather than gaining, credibility. This is not to exclude altogether the chinks in the armour of the print media. What stands out a mile in the survey is the high level of trust placed in the police (72 per cent) and in the army (77 per cent). Well done indeed.

This is Lancashire

Malta’s Prime Minister will be watching Blackburn Rovers play Arsenal next week during a visit to East Lancashire, writes Ben Hewes. He will also open the new head offices of a Padiham-based transport firm:

..Dr Lawrence Gonzi is to visit East Lancashire on Friday, January 12, when he will officially open the new Fraser Eagle offices, Pendle Court, Shuttleworth Mead Business Park. The event, to open the £1.8million facility, is part of a three-day visit to Lancashire for the prime minister. He will also attend an assembly at Hapton Primary School and watch Blackburn Rovers play Arsenal in the Premiership on January 13.

Fraser Eagle were able to attract Dr Gonzi to East Lancashire thanks to their links to Malta, where they have a control centre, opened by the dignitary last July. Kevin Dean, Fraser Eagle's group managing director, said: "We are delighted to be welcoming Dr Lawrence Gonzi to perform the official opening of our Padiham home. "This visit will further improve the relationship we have established with Malta over the last 12 months and bolster the international profile enjoyed by our business community here in East Lancashire.

"We hope the Prime Minister will enjoy his stay in the county and we will certainly be showing him the best of what Lancashire has to offer." Fraser Eagle Group moved into the state-of-the-art building during December from property it had been renting elsewhere on the business park following its relocation from Accrington in 2005. It is the final part of over £4million investment by the firm in property at Shuttleworth Mead and puts all of the 180 head-office staff on one site. Fraser Eagle Group opened a second control centre in the Maltese city of Mosta to give it dual control of its UK transport operations...