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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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		<pubDate>Tue, 18 Jun 2013 00:00:00 +0200</pubDate>
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			<title><![CDATA[Some are more equal than others]]></title>
			<link>http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20130619/opinion/Some-are-more-equal-than-others.474459</link>
			<description><![CDATA[
								The shock revelation in The Sunday Times of Malta of Parliamentary Secretary Franco Mercieca pocketing some €3,600 in one single morning performing eye operations during ministerial duty is possibly the most memorable moment of the first 100 days of this government.

The Prime Minister has since ordered the parliamentary secretary to stop his private practice, thereby acknowledging that what was going on was wrong.
But there are still several outstanding issues.
For starters, given that the Prime Minister is now acknowledging that the whole episode was mishandled, he needs to show us that his pre-electoral pledges on political responsibility were genuine.
Who is going to carry political responsibility for the Mercieca debacle? Mercieca? Joseph Muscat? Both? Or no one?
And there are indeed many reasons why political responsibility ought to be shouldered. Let me mention some of them.
Firstly, the Prime Minister acted beyond his powers (ultra vires) when he granted Mercieca the right to defy the ministerial code of ethics and proceed with his private practice. The code gives no power to the Prime Minister to do so.
The fact that Mercieca went beyond the limits of the waiver only...				]]></description>
			<pubDate>Wed, 19 Jun 2013 00:09:00 +0200</pubDate>
						<dc:creator><![CDATA[Simon Busuttil]]></dc:creator>
						<guid>http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20130619/opinion/Some-are-more-equal-than-others.474459</guid>
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			<title><![CDATA[Neutrality is fundamental]]></title>
			<link>http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20130619/opinion/Neutrality-is-fundamental.474458</link>
			<description><![CDATA[
								Reading Michael Grech’s interesting article on neutrality (Neutrality Rocks, June 12), I would like to underline certain elements which I hope would provoke a deeper study and debate on this fundamental question. This question is not only a formal constitutional one but is a vital structural part in our socio-economic politic.

One has to debate this issue without the każin or parroċċa provincial approach. The neutrality status of Malta was chosen by the predominant parliamentary majority of the time. It gained international recognition and support throughout the global community including the United Nations and the European Community. It also achieved a guarantee relationship with several states.
Malta’s praxis during these last decades was constantly and continuously based on its status and policy of neutrality. Even during the most problematic Libyan turbulences, the Nationalist government quite correctly had to play a rather dangerous tight-rope role and thanks to our neutrality status it achieved quite a positive result, relatively speaking.
To throw out all this experience, richness and accumulated respect is worse than throwing the baby with the dirty water and the tub into...				]]></description>
			<pubDate>Wed, 19 Jun 2013 00:10:00 +0200</pubDate>
						<dc:creator><![CDATA[Giuseppe Schembri Bonaci]]></dc:creator>
						<guid>http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20130619/opinion/Neutrality-is-fundamental.474458</guid>
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			<title><![CDATA[How couples communicate]]></title>
			<link>http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20130619/opinion/How-couples-communicate.474460</link>
			<description><![CDATA[
								The world today presents us with a variety of new and more advanced technological gadgets. It seems to have become a competition who has the latest model or version of a mobile phone, computer, tablet or other device. It is very common, in fact, to notice children, from such a young age, sitting side by side, busily taken up by some form of technology and not uttering a word to each other.

These scenarios are becoming more and more common in young and adults alike.
Where is human to human, face to face communication in all this? Some individuals might say that modern technology has brought them much closer to everyone they know anywhere around the world – quite true!
People are able to keep in touch with each other over Facebook, Skype etc. The latter have become ways for individuals to broaden their network of contacts.
Nothing wrong with that! However, all this is happening behind a screen or with the use of a gadget of some sort, which is quickly replacing human contact.
So much so, it is not uncommon to hear parents comment that their teenage children are immersed in conversation through Skype, for instance, yet, when they meet the same contacts face to face, it is as though...				]]></description>
			<pubDate>Wed, 19 Jun 2013 00:08:00 +0200</pubDate>
						<dc:creator><![CDATA[Ingrid Grech Lanfranco]]></dc:creator>
						<guid>http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20130619/opinion/How-couples-communicate.474460</guid>
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			<title><![CDATA[Refugee rights and migration management]]></title>
			<link>http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20130620/opinion/refugee-rights-and-migration-management.474604</link>
			<description><![CDATA[
								This spring, the Maltese people voted for change and the pressure is on for the new Government to deliver on its promise. Asylum and migration policies have so far not made it to the top of the Government’s to-do list – relatively few asylum seekers have arrived so far this year.

But in view of recent reports from Libya, the slump in boat arrivals may have more to do with sirocco winds rather than a change in the situation. With summer arriving, we are seeing further desperate attempts to cross the Mediterranean.
Asylum and migration issues may soon rise prominently on the agenda in Malta’s new political landscape.
And there is plenty to discuss, although, judging by the Labour Party’s electoral programme, there will not be a sharp turn in policy direction regarding asylum in Malta.
To be fair, there have been new developments. The Minister for Social Dialogue, Consumer Affairs and Civil Liberties, Helena Dalli, has taken on a portfolio that includes integration for people granted international protection. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees welcomes this approach. The important integration issue needs a clearly defined ‘home’.
Malta has made important progress in...				]]></description>
			<pubDate>Thu, 20 Jun 2013 00:10:00 +0200</pubDate>
						<dc:creator><![CDATA[Jon Hoisaeter]]></dc:creator>
						<guid>http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20130620/opinion/refugee-rights-and-migration-management.474604</guid>
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			<title><![CDATA[Pope Francis’ first 100 days]]></title>
			<link>http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20130620/opinion/Pope-Francis-first-100-days.474600</link>
			<description><![CDATA[
								June 20 marks the first 100 days of the election of Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio as Pope Francis. The Argentinian-born Pontiff is the 266th Bishop of Rome and Vicar of Christ on earth. As the Successor of Saint Peter, it would be interesting to value his challenging, yet, enlightening Pontificate during this critical time of contemporary Church history.

Pope Francis’ closeness to the people is shown in his fatherly concern for the poor and the marginalised. It is clearly the Holy Father’s resolve to restore the Church’s credibility by portraying what the authentic life of poverty and simplicity is all about.
For the Bishop of Rome “money has to serve, not to rule”. Poverty and marginalisation are eradicated if “the rich… help the poor, to respect them, to promote them”. The Pope appeals for disinterested solidarity and for a return to person-centred ethics in the world of finance and economics.
But before preaching to others, the Holy Father, like Saint Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of his Petrine ministry, started living out austerity and honesty in his personal life.
In fact, he boldly decided to stay in the Domus Sanctae Marthae house instead of moving into the...				]]></description>
			<pubDate>Thu, 20 Jun 2013 00:08:00 +0200</pubDate>
						<dc:creator><![CDATA[Fr Mario Attard, OFM Cap]]></dc:creator>
						<guid>http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20130620/opinion/Pope-Francis-first-100-days.474600</guid>
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			<title><![CDATA[A volley from the past]]></title>
			<link>http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20130620/opinion/A-volley-from-the-past.474599</link>
			<description><![CDATA[
								Just under 40 years before the Maltese Parliament discussed the case of Joanne Cassar, and whether at law she could marry a man, the US Tennis Association had to confront the case of Renee Richards, born as Richard Raskind, who wanted to participate in the women’s section of the 1976 US Open. Despite the differences between the decades and what was at stake, a comparison is useful.

Raskind was born in 1934 to an upper-middle class family and displayed all the characteristics of a high-achieving alpha male. He was a talented tennis junior at the East Coast and national level. Six feet two inches tall as an adult, he attended Yale, captained the tennis team aged 20 and graduated from the University of Rochester medical school. He joined the US Navy and reached the rank of Lt. Commander while also becoming a distinguished eye surgeon.
Although not a tennis professional, he reached the over-35 national tennis (men’s) final in 1972.
He was distinguished enough for the Raskind serve to be recognisable – something a friend correctly predicted would give away his true identity when Raskind – or rather Renee (‘reborn’ in French) Richards, as she became after a surgically successful...				]]></description>
			<pubDate>Thu, 20 Jun 2013 00:09:00 +0200</pubDate>
						<dc:creator><![CDATA[Ranier Fsadni]]></dc:creator>
						<guid>http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20130620/opinion/A-volley-from-the-past.474599</guid>
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			<title><![CDATA[Online criminals and spies]]></title>
			<link>http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20130620/opinion/Online-criminals-and-spies.474601</link>
			<description><![CDATA[
								The rapid development of the internet and associated technology has brought numerous advantages and disadvantages. Some have found a relief in expedited communication with their families, friends and loved ones over any distance. Others have taken advantage of online shopping or reading the news and keeping themselves informed with a level of detail, timeliness and variety that was impossible decades ago.

However, the internet has a dark side. Many users have been victim of successful cybercrime and almost every internet user has been the victim of attempted cybercrime, whether or not they are aware of it.
Cybercrime takes many forms, commonly fraud, and has tricked millions of people into allowing access to their bank accounts or revealing personal financial information. The EU and many governments treat cybercrime as a serious legal concern. The EU has passed laws specific to cyber attacks, given the unique nature of the internet.
The actions of governments add another layer of complexity to this law enforcement challenge. The world was recently exposed to new revelations about the US data surveillance programme, Prism.
A number of MEPs participated in a debate on the recent...				]]></description>
			<pubDate>Thu, 20 Jun 2013 00:07:00 +0200</pubDate>
						<dc:creator><![CDATA[David Casa]]></dc:creator>
						<guid>http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20130620/opinion/Online-criminals-and-spies.474601</guid>
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