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		<title>timesofmalta.com</title> 
		<description>General, sporting, and business news for Malta and the surrounding region</description>
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			<title>timesofmalta.com</title>
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		<language>en</language>
		<pubDate>Wed, 22 May 2013 00:00:00 +0200</pubDate>
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			<title><![CDATA[Rogues and pariahs of this world]]></title>
			<link>http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20130524/opinion/Rogues-and-pariahs-of-this-world.471003</link>
			<description><![CDATA[
								A number of states in the international system are diplomatically isolated because of their political system or political leaders. Such states often defy international law and diplomatic convention.
Analysts usually refer to such entities as ‘pariah’ or ‘rogue’ states. Although there is a distinction between the two, these terms are often used interchangeably.

Rogues states have a political leadership that is perceived to be irrational, corrupt or troublesome. Pariah states are nations whose legitimacy, ideology and political system are questioned by the international community. These states often have a weak rule of law, thus eroding the democratic process, independent audit institutions and public service delivery. An arbitrary and unjust execution of governance often leads to the establishment of authoritarian regimes.
Citizens are the first to be adversely affected. Stories emerging following the downfall of a regime often reveal extensive human rights abuses and unmask the sheer brutality of the ruling elite. This is often followed by a period of instability and a long path to recovery.
Dictatorships often leave an indelible mark on the national psyche. Such situations are...				]]></description>
			<pubDate>Fri, 24 May 2013 00:01:00 +0200</pubDate>
						<dc:creator><![CDATA[André DeBattista]]></dc:creator>
						<guid>http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20130524/opinion/Rogues-and-pariahs-of-this-world.471003</guid>
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			<title><![CDATA[A matter of human dignity]]></title>
			<link>http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20130524/opinion/A-matter-of-human-dignity.471002</link>
			<description><![CDATA[
								Hatred, violence, suppression and denial of basic human rights are poisonous substances that can destroy the peace and tranquillity of an entire society. Moreover, they attack human values, so much so that people become so very cruel and hard-hearted that they even fail to understand the basics of what it means being a human.
The situation in Syria is worsening every day. Thousands people have been slain and thousands have been injured.
The tyrannical rulers have no compassion for their citizens and, instead, they are mercilessly killing their own people and forcing others to leave the country in a desperate attempt to save their lives.

The rebels are armed as they stand up to their rulers, fighting for their rights and freedom.
These are very cruel acts and finding a solution to save the Syrian nation, now on the brink of disaster, is crucial.
An incident that took place recently must have surely disturbed every sane person around the world. A video on the internet featured a rebel leader tearing open the chest of a dead Syrian soldier, cutting out his heart and biting it, shouting Allahu Akbar (God is the Greatest). Not even a trace of decency and this in the name of God the...				]]></description>
			<pubDate>Fri, 24 May 2013 00:01:00 +0200</pubDate>
						<dc:creator><![CDATA[Laiq Ahmed Atif]]></dc:creator>
						<guid>http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20130524/opinion/A-matter-of-human-dignity.471002</guid>
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			<title><![CDATA[Comparisons are shameful]]></title>
			<link>http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20130524/opinion/Comparisons-are-shameful.471001</link>
			<description><![CDATA[
								The Reuters report underlining that Malta “is unlikely to follow Cyprus into crisis” should be welcomed by all Maltese citizens. It does justice to our healthy economy and to the robust bank regulatory framework. Moreover, it should be considered to be a great relief as the government and its agencies toil further to attract the much-needed new foreign direct investment towards Malta.
While the country continues to widen its financial services horizons, Cyprus is struggling to retain its financial sector! Analysts blame Cyprus’s dysfunctional state system, human error and the 2011 ‘haircut’ as being the root causes of such a struggle.
Malta and Cyprus have similar banking sector sizes, roughly eight times their respective GDP. Just to put things into perspective, Luxembourg has a banking sector which is 20 times its GDP. Such a statistic does not, however, preclude Malta and Luxembourg from any future financial shocks.

So where did Cyprus go wrong?
Analysts agree that the turning point for the Cypriot bank collapse was the so-called ‘haircut’ imposed in 2011 on Greek bonds, with the objective of making theGreek debt more manageable.
Banks in Cyprus, especially the two collapsing...				]]></description>
			<pubDate>Fri, 24 May 2013 00:01:00 +0200</pubDate>
						<dc:creator><![CDATA[Ivan Grixti]]></dc:creator>
						<guid>http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20130524/opinion/Comparisons-are-shameful.471001</guid>
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			<title><![CDATA[Why a new Constitution]]></title>
			<link>http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20130524/opinion/Why-a-new-Constitution.471000</link>
			<description><![CDATA[
								The commentary on the Bangalore Principles of Judicial Conduct (judiciarymalta.gov.mt under Code of Ethics) quotes the “forbidden zones upon which authority may not trespass” for there to be “the enjoyment of individual liberty”.
This is the essence of constitutional justice, a most important phenomenon in the post-World-War-II evolution of western states, which allows certain tribunals, usually Constitutional Courts, to ensure that laws (and public authority acts) conform not only to the law but to the lex superior - the Constitution.

It is an age-old notion.
In Ancient Greece, psephisma (regulations) could not contravene the nomos (‘constitutional law’). Laws of the Holy Roman Empire in 1180AD point at constitutional justice.
In pre-Glorious Revolution (1688) England, Lord Coke proclaimed the nullity of laws repugnant to ‘common law and reason’. In pre-Revolutionary France too, the Parlements ensured that laws and ordonnances conformedto the (unwritten) lois fondamentales du royaume.
But France grew weary of the abuses of the Parlements and the 1789 Revolution proclaimed the ideal of a rigid separation of powers, whereby the judiciary was forbidden from intervening in the...				]]></description>
			<pubDate>Fri, 24 May 2013 00:01:00 +0200</pubDate>
						<dc:creator><![CDATA[Mark Sammut]]></dc:creator>
						<guid>http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20130524/opinion/Why-a-new-Constitution.471000</guid>
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			<title><![CDATA[Danger to vulnerable road users]]></title>
			<link>http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20130523/opinion/Danger-to-vulnerable-road-users.470876</link>
			<description><![CDATA[
								Times of Malta reported the case of a cyclist who was severely injured in a road accident (Motorist Fined €200 After Hitting Cyclist, Breaking His Legs, May 13).

The driver, who eventually admitted responsibility for the accident, was awarded a derisory penalty. According to the transcript of court proceedings, the driver of the car was arraigned on charges that included driving without due care and attention, driving in a negligent and dangerous manner, driving without due regard of traffic regulations, causing injuries of a serious nature to a cyclist, driving away from the scene of the accident, failing to give personal particulars and failing to report the incident to the police or local wardens.
The penalty of €200 and a two-week licence suspension, as awarded by the court, is derisory and shows shameful disregard for a severely injured legitimate road user.
Given the seriousness of the charges, fining the driver only €200 and suspending her driving licence for two weeks is disgraceful and an insult to the victim.
In civilised countries, even minor accidents involving vulnerable road users are taken very seriously. In a case like this, even with mitigation through admission...				]]></description>
			<pubDate>Thu, 23 May 2013 00:15:00 +0200</pubDate>
						<dc:creator><![CDATA[George Debono]]></dc:creator>
						<guid>http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20130523/opinion/Danger-to-vulnerable-road-users.470876</guid>
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			<title><![CDATA[The Syrian blowback]]></title>
			<link>http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20130523/opinion/The-Syrian-blowback.470877</link>
			<description><![CDATA[
								The law of unintended consequences is taking its toll on every major actor in Syria. It was Bashar al-Assad who reaped the whirlwind given the way he brutally reacted to largely peaceful demonstrators two years ago. But the rebels and their international patrons have not been immune.

If ever there was a macabre adaptation of the famous Arab verse that speaks of Syria as the heart of the Arabs, then it is the video obtained by Time magazine in April and released by a Syrian pro-regime group 11 days ago.
Time journalists have not yet been able to confirm the integrity of the footage, although there is some circumstantial evidence to suggest it’s authentic. In it, an Islamist rebel fighter carves out the heart of a loyalist dead soldier and, after addressing the camera and warning all loyalists that the rebels will eat their hearts and livers, takes a bite of the heart – to the sound of fellow fighters saying “Allahu akbar”.
We should resist the temptation to use this episode to draw conclusions about Islam as such. Videos like these indicate the brutal frenzy into which Syria has descended. Rebels who two years ago were able to sympathise with the conscripts in the loyalist forces...				]]></description>
			<pubDate>Thu, 23 May 2013 00:14:00 +0200</pubDate>
						<dc:creator><![CDATA[Ranier Fsadni]]></dc:creator>
						<guid>http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20130523/opinion/The-Syrian-blowback.470877</guid>
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			<title><![CDATA[Let’s focus on the cause]]></title>
			<link>http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20130523/opinion/Let-s-focus-on-the-cause.470878</link>
			<description><![CDATA[
								I have followed closely the ‘hullabaloo’-turned-‘controversy’ of Darleen Zerafa being offered a bursary following a unanimous decision by the Malta Community Chest Fund board (and offer that she immediately declined as evidenced, among other, in the management accounts and minutes), to specialise in an area of studies that complements a €2 million project benefiting people with eating disorders originated by the MCCF in association with the government.

Let’s be clear on what we are talking about here.
“Eating disorders frequently appear during the teen years or young adulthood but may also develop during childhood or later in life. Common eating disorders include anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and binge-eating disorder” (NSO-MCCF study, 2012). Fact one: the project was discussed in a number of MCCF board meetings. I should know, I am a board member even though I am writing on my own steam.
Board members, myself included, asked all the pertinent questions and we got all the germane answers. There was agreement that this project is a priority that has been placed on the back-burner for too long.
Fact two: there was unanimous concord, by the MCCF board, that before embarking on...				]]></description>
			<pubDate>Thu, 23 May 2013 00:13:00 +0200</pubDate>
						<dc:creator><![CDATA[Andrew Azzopardi]]></dc:creator>
						<guid>http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20130523/opinion/Let-s-focus-on-the-cause.470878</guid>
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			<title><![CDATA[EU arms embargo on Syria]]></title>
			<link>http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20130523/opinion/EU-arms-embargo-on-Syria.470879</link>
			<description><![CDATA[
								Two years after the conflict in Syria, which claimed about 70,000 lives so far, the European Union still has an arms embargo in place against that country. However, the arms embargo is due to expire on June 1. Therefore, a debate is taking place as to whether the EU should renew the embargo, relax it or get rid of it completely.

Since late 2012, both the UK and France have pushed other EU member states to relax the embargo.
The UK feels that a more flexible approach is necessary to assist the peace talks as it would put extra pressure on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. In addition, the UK feels that by providing rebels with arms they will be in a better position to response should the Syrian regime engage in a chemical attack.
The UK has also stated there is the threat of a regional catastrophe in Syria as conflict increases with neither the Syrian regime nor the Syrian rebels looking likely to engage in the peace talks.
The US and Russia are leading the Syrian peace talks initiative. The initiative was based on a decision taken in Geneva in 2012. The decision also sought the creation of a transitional Syrian government. However, this aspect of the decision was never...				]]></description>
			<pubDate>Thu, 23 May 2013 00:12:00 +0200</pubDate>
						<dc:creator><![CDATA[David Casa]]></dc:creator>
						<guid>http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20130523/opinion/EU-arms-embargo-on-Syria.470879</guid>
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