25 years ago - The Times

Tuesday, April 12, 1994

Magistrate lifts ban on publication in Olaf Cini bigamy case

The magistrate hearing the case against bigamy defendant Olaf. A. Cini yesterday retracted a previous ban on publication of the names in the case and spoke out in favour of the right to freedom of expression and the public’s right to information.

But the magistrate called on journalists to maintain the necessary balance between the right to information and the individual’s right to a fair trial.

Rare plant growing at Dingli

The General’s Root, thought to be somewhat of a rarity in the Maltese islands, has been discovered growing in two colonies down Dingli cliffs. It is a flowering plant, going by the botanical name of Cynomorium Coccineum and is known in Maltese as the Għerq Sinjur or Għerq il-Ġeneral.

Used because of claimed medicinal properties, the knights protected it in its habitat in the General’s Rock in Gozo, which was thought to be the only place where it grew, anyone caught taking it being punished by service on the order’s galleys according to Guido Lanfranco, writing in Heritage.

Half a century ago - Times of Malta

Saturday, April 12, 1969

Boys to help sail ketch to England

The 48-ton Bermudian ketch Dodo IV, which is at present moored at the Yacht Marina at Gżira, facing Manoel Island, will leave for Britain tomorrow with a party of army officers and young trainee sailors on board.

The Dodo has been acquired in Malta by the London Sailing Project and will add to their fleet of five boats, which give sail training to boys who live in England.

A party of seven boys aged 17 to 19, including a civil servant, a legal clerk, a tailor, and an apprentice chef, will be acting as Dodo’s crew.

In command will be retired Royal Artiller officer Capt. John Hamilton and three officers from the Gunners Training Regiment at Woolwich.

Lord Airedale interviewed

Lord Airedale, the fourth Baron Airedale, who is on holiday on the island as the guest of Lt. Col. and Mrs J. Ramsay-Fairfax at Casa Ramsay, Lija, said yesterday that he held no hopes of another Labour victory in the next general elections in Britain.

“The Conservatives will win,” he said, adding “Mr Wilson has got too much ground to cover in a short space of time to enable him to make amends in time.”