After the failed threats, the mountain of legal cases and the denunciations from the prime minister downwards, it took a bomb to finally silence the forthright Maltese blogger Daphne Caruana Galizia.
Driven, demanding and judgmental, Ms Caruana Galizia – killed on Monday by a car bomb close to her home in northern Malta - was not a woman to hold back in her skewering of members of Malta’s elite.
The Politico website described her as “The Blogging Fury” and a “One-woman WikiLeaks” who used her blog Running Commentary to denounce cronyism within the police, bureaucracy and the political leadership of the European Union’s smallest member. “Alibaba will have no problem finding 40 thieves in Malta,” ran one typical headline.
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Her reporting had a direct impact. Her sustained criticism of Joseph Muscat, the current prime minister, over his links to shell companies exposed by the so-called Panama Papers prompted him to call a general election to end uncertainty and preserve the island’s economy.
Mr Muscat won the election in June but she has not relented in her opposition on her influential blog, which was read by 400,000 people on a good day, according to Politico. She gave evidence to the inquiry investigating her claims about Mr Muscat and her final message on Twitter referred to a senior member of his staff as “that crook”.
Her campaign against political corruption spanned the political divide. Since the election, she turned her fire on the new leader of the opposition, Adrian Delia, with a new series of scandalous stories that resulted in four new libel cases. They will be dropped following her death.
Both Mr Muscat and Mr Delia denounced the killing. “Everyone knows Caruana Galizia was a harsh critic of mine, both politically and personally, but nobody can justify this barbaric act in any way,” said Mr Muscat.
The 51-year-old had previously reported threats made against her, according to local media. Burning tyres were left against the door of her house 11 years ago in an unsuccessful murder attempt, her former newspaper reported on Tuesday.
“The capacity of chippy Maltese men to bear grudges against women for a life time never fails to amaze me,” she said in one typically forthright exchange with one former senior minister. “Join the queue.”
Ms Caruana Galizia’s death led to protests for justice outside the country’s law courts. Her last words on her blog – “There are crooks everywhere you look now. The situation is desperate” – were daubed on the side of a road. In a sign of the contrasting emotions that she provoked, one police officer who posted a message on Facebook saying that “Everyone gets what they deserve” was suspended from his post.
“Now what was many times foretold, threatened, wished for by people who despised her has finally happened,” the Malta Independent, a former employer, wrote in an editorial, adding that “no one was safe from her barbs”.
“There is a sort of inevitability in what happened. It makes Malta resemble all the more a Central or Latin American country where journalists are kidnapped, killed or just disappear.”
Even when her targets had employed expensive lawyers to push back against her claims, she refused to be cowed. She posted emails online from an exchange with one of the world’s leading libel firms Mishcon de Reya after its client took exception to stories about corruption over the government-sanctioned sale of Maltese passports to foreigners.
She gave evidence to EU lawmakers during a year-long investigation into the Panama Papers and the use of offshore jurisdictions to launder money and avoid taxation. Malta was the only EU country with a serving minister named in records leaked from the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca.
Her son Matthew, a journalist and a witness to the aftermath of the blast, worked as part of the international team that published the leaked documents. In an emotional Facebook post, he blamed the failure of the country’s institutions for the death of his mother.
This is what war looks like, he wrote. “We are a people at war against the state and organised crime, which have become indistinguishable,” he wrote.
The original magistrate investigating the murder was replaced on Tuesday after the family pointed out that Ms Caruana Galizia had criticised him in one of her blogs. The WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has offered a 20,000 euro reward for help in bringing her killer to justice.
Despite offers of assistance from the Dutch police and the FBI, the investigation will test a Maltese government blamed by Mr Caruana Galizia along with a “long list of police commissioners” for encouraging a “culture of impunity”.
On her blog, Ms Caruana Galizia shared that scepticism. When one supporter encouraged her to keep working and as the truth “always” prevailed, she responded: “It doesn’t you know, not really.”
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Dengue%20fever%20symptoms
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Company%20Profile
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UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
The National Archives, Abu Dhabi
Founded over 50 years ago, the National Archives collects valuable historical material relating to the UAE, and is the oldest and richest archive relating to the Arabian Gulf.
Much of the material can be viewed on line at the Arabian Gulf Digital Archive - https://www.agda.ae/en
Meydan racecard:
6.30pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round 2 (PA) Group 1 | US$75,000 (Dirt) | 2,200 metres
7.05pm: UAE 1000 Guineas (TB) Listed | $250,000 (D) | 1,600m
7.40pm: Meydan Classic Trial (TB) Conditions | $100,000 (Turf) | 1,400m
8.15pm: Al Shindagha Sprint (TB) Group 3 | $200,000 (D) | 1,200m
8.50pm: Handicap (TB) | $175,000 (D) | 1,600m
9.25pm: Handicap (TB) | $175,000 (T) | 2,000m
10pm: Handicap (TB) | $135,000 (T) | 1,600m
LILO & STITCH
Starring: Sydney Elizebeth Agudong, Maia Kealoha, Chris Sanders
Director: Dean Fleischer Camp
Rating: 4.5/5
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm
Price: From Dh1,700,000
Available: Now
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Key findings
- Over a period of seven years, a team of scientists analysed dietary data from 50,000 North American adults.
- Eating one or two meals a day was associated with a relative decrease in BMI, compared with three meals. Snacks count as a meal. Likewise, participants who ate more than three meals a day experienced an increase in BMI: the more meals a day, the greater the increase.
- People who ate breakfast experienced a relative decrease in their BMI compared with “breakfast-skippers”.
- Those who turned the eating day on its head to make breakfast the biggest meal of the day, did even better.
- But scrapping dinner altogether gave the best results. The study found that the BMI of subjects who had a long overnight fast (of 18 hours or more) decreased when compared even with those who had a medium overnight fast, of between 12 and 17 hours.
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
MATCH INFO
Real Madrid 2 (Benzema 13', Kroos 28')
Barcelona 1 (Mingueza 60')
Red card: Casemiro (Real Madrid)
Kill%20Bill%20Volume%201
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Expert input
If you had all the money in the world, what’s the one sneaker you would buy or create?
“There are a few shoes that have ‘grail’ status for me. But the one I have always wanted is the Nike x Patta x Parra Air Max 1 - Cherrywood. To get a pair in my size brand new is would cost me between Dh8,000 and Dh 10,000.” Jack Brett
“If I had all the money, I would approach Nike and ask them to do my own Air Force 1, that’s one of my dreams.” Yaseen Benchouche
“There’s nothing out there yet that I’d pay an insane amount for, but I’d love to create my own shoe with Tinker Hatfield and Jordan.” Joshua Cox
“I think I’d buy a defunct footwear brand; I’d like the challenge of reinterpreting a brand’s history and changing options.” Kris Balerite
“I’d stir up a creative collaboration with designers Martin Margiela of the mixed patchwork sneakers, and Yohji Yamamoto.” Hussain Moloobhoy
“If I had all the money in the world, I’d live somewhere where I’d never have to wear shoes again.” Raj Malhotra
Teaching your child to save
Pre-school (three - five years)
You can’t yet talk about investing or borrowing, but introduce a “classic” money bank and start putting gifts and allowances away. When the child wants a specific toy, have them save for it and help them track their progress.
Early childhood (six - eight years)
Replace the money bank with three jars labelled ‘saving’, ‘spending’ and ‘sharing’. Have the child divide their allowance into the three jars each week and explain their choices in splitting their pocket money. A guide could be 25 per cent saving, 50 per cent spending, 25 per cent for charity and gift-giving.
Middle childhood (nine - 11 years)
Open a bank savings account and help your child establish a budget and set a savings goal. Introduce the notion of ‘paying yourself first’ by putting away savings as soon as your allowance is paid.
Young teens (12 - 14 years)
Change your child’s allowance from weekly to monthly and help them pinpoint long-range goals such as a trip, so they can start longer-term saving and find new ways to increase their saving.
Teenage (15 - 18 years)
Discuss mutual expectations about university costs and identify what they can help fund and set goals. Don’t pay for everything, so they can experience the pride of contributing.
Young adulthood (19 - 22 years)
Discuss post-graduation plans and future life goals, quantify expenses such as first apartment, work wardrobe, holidays and help them continue to save towards these goals.
* JP Morgan Private Bank
