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Our Christmas weather forecast

The closest Malta can ever get to a Christmas-card type of ‘White Christmas’ is if we have a bout of soft hail or snow pellets – also known as graupel. “I’m dreaming of a White Christmas.” That’s what Irving Berlin sang in 1942 for the film Holiday Inn, filmed in the US. Here in Malta, his dream of “sleigh bells in the snow” would have remained just that – a dream. Will the white Christmas phenomenon ever be possible...
Voices

Youths to the forefront

It is no wonder that young people are voting less, rejecting party membership, and telling researchers that their country’s leaders aren’t working in their interests. Most young people feel the world is getting better over time and that children will be more prosperous than their parents.  But, according to a global survey of over 22,000 young people from 21 countries by The Changing Childhood Project – a project of the United...
Business & EconomicsVoices

Beyond the austerity straitjacket

Unfortunately, a core group of bureaucrats at the European Commission remain wedded to the myth of fiscal austerity. One hopes that, in the discussions on the EU’s new fiscal rules, this approach will lose out to a more flexible and progressive one. After having gone through the increase in expenditure implied by the draft budgetary plans submitted by the European Union’s Member States in early October, the European Commission issued letters to a number of countries to inform them that they were not conforming to...
European UnionVoices

EU-China Summit: red carpet or red alert?

The only way the EU can secure its place as a geopolitical interlocutor is to understand when and how to cooperate with China, even if it requires swallowing its pride. As the 7-8 December EU-China Summut approaches, all eyes will be on whether China will roll out the red carpet for the presidents of two of the European Union’s main institutions, or whether their welcome to Beijing will be a more subdued one. Should it turn out to be...
Stories

Make way for the CD’s comeback

Much like vinyl before it, the CD is enjoying a renewed interest. The younger generation is discovering the joy of old formats as it pursues the tangible appeal of owning one’s own music collection. “I got the most unexpected message from my ex-husband today,” Fiona remarked to her workmate as they strolled along Republic Street during their lunch break. “He wanted to know if I still had his old CD collection and if I’d be willing to return it to him. Back...

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