• Malta to invest 700 million euros in green spaces until 2030
• Malta: At last, an affordable electric car has arrived
• Malta: Din I-Art Helwa gives government an environmental task list

• Transcendental Meditation could save you from having a heart attack

• As many as 700 migrants feared drowned in Mediterranean
• Mediterranean 'a cemetery' - Maltese Prime Minister Muscat

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Positive Trends
Short Summaries of Top Stories

Malta to invest 700 million euros in green spaces until 2030
18 January 2023 - The Newly established Project Green agency has the mandate to plant 7,500 trees and shrubs in the next 12 months. Yesterday [16 January], Maltese authorities announced the creation of the Project Green agency ... to handle one of the biggest green investments in the country. The goal of the organization will be to increase and revitalize green spaces on the island of Malta and Gozo, giving all citizens access to nature and green recreational spaces a short walk away from their homes, wherever they live. (more)

Malta: At last, an affordable electric car has arrived
27 April 2014 - The i-MiEV, which stands for intelligent Mitsubishi Electric Vehicle, is one of the first full electric vehicles to be offered in Malta that utilises Lithium-ion battery technology. Running on 100 per cent electricity for zero CO2 emissions eliminates the pollution that would have been otherwise generated by a conventional motor. (more)

Malta: Din I-Art Helwa gives government an environmental task list
23 February 2014 - Non-governmental organization Din l-Art Helwa presented the government with a 14-point environmental check list during its annual general meeting on 22 February. At the meeting, DLH executive president Simone Mizzi said the task list was intended as a constructive list for the country's culture, planning, and environmental ministries and it also set out a road map for sustainable development. (more)

Malta: Promoting a healthier environment, lifestyle
27 October 2013 - Giovanni Curmi Higher Secondary School is currently taking part in a two-year Comenius project entitled Harmony for Earth, for Life, for People (HELP) together with nine schools in Romania, Turkey, Poland, Portugal, France, Spain, Italy, and Slovenia. The project's main aim is to promote environmental conservation and appreciation, as part of a healthy and sustainable lifestyle. (more)

Malta's cultural heritage to be documented in interactive maps
9 October 2013 - A series of interactive maps will document Malta's cultural heritage as part of preparations ahead of Valletta's 2018 stint as European Capital of Culture. The Culture Parliamentary Secretary Jose Herrera said that the project would serve as a directory of significant sights, venues, and cultural curiosities across Malta and Gozo. The cultural maps are being developed by a working group of university academics and will be freely available online. (more)

World's largest solar boat in Malta
5 August 2012 - Turanor Planet Solar, the largest solar-powered boat ever built, is in Malta for a short visit while on her 'Promotion Tour'. Planet Solar is the first catamaran to enter the record books after completing -- on 4 May -- a voyage around the world powered only by solar energy without using not even a litre of fuel, and in the process breaking five records, including the fastest crossing of the Atlantic Ocean by solar boat and the longest distance ever covered by a solar electric vehicle. (more)

Malta may have world's largest floating wind farm
9 March 2012 - The tiny European island nation of Malta, which is off the coast of the Italian island Sicily, has to meet the mandate from the European Union to get 10 per cent of its energy from renewable sources by 2020.To achieve that goal, the island is considering a proposal by the Swedish company Hexicon, to build a large floating wind farm. The farm would have 36 turbines situated on a floating platform that would be anchored to the seafloor by cables. (more)

Malta: Conference held on organic agriculture and eco-Gozo
18 March 2010 - The Ministry for Gozo, an island of the Maltese archipelago in the Mediterranean Sea, organized an international conference on organic agriculture in collaboration with the Malta Organic Agriculture Movement (MOAM). The government of Gozo is focusing more on organic agriculture and sustainable development. (more)

Malta abides by EU rules to protect wildlife
12 May 2007 - The Maltese government has closed the spring bird hunting season early after the European Commission said the hunt violates EU rules on protecting wildlife. The European Commission sent a letter to Malta in 2006 saying there was a perfectly good alternative hunting season in the autumn. (more)

Malta holds seminar on protecting its environment
26 February 2006 - A seminar on protecting Malta's environment was recently held on the island and attended by government officials as well as non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and the Malta Police Force. The seminar was sponsored by the Malta Environment and Planning Authority (MEPA). (more)

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Success of Maharishi's Programmes
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Transcendental Meditation could save you from having a heart attack
21 June 2014 - 'Transcendental Meditation exercises the part of the brain that allows you to calm down. Studies have shown that people who practise Transcendental Meditation have a 50 per cent reduction of heart attack, stroke or death over a five-year period. That is amazing,' American neurologist Dr Russ Hornstein told Times of Malta. Dr Hornstein lives and works in Malta, and has been practising Transcendental Meditation for 20 years. (more)

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Flops
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As many as 700 migrants feared drowned in Mediterranean
15 September 2014 - More than 700 people fleeing Africa and the Middle East may have drowned in shipwrecks in the Mediterranean over the last week, bringing the death toll this year to almost 3,000, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said on Monday. In the worst incident, as many as 500 migrants are believed to have died after traffickers rammed their ship off Malta's coast last week, an event that only came to light this weekend in testimony from two of nine survivors. The survivors said the traffickers ordered the migrants to change vessels in the middle of the Mediterranean. The migrants refused, leading to a confrontation that ended when traffickers rammed the ship carrying the migrants, causing it to sink, IOM spokeswoman Christiane Berthiaume told Reuters in Geneva. 'Some 500 people were on board -- Syrians, Palestinians, Egyptians, and Sudanese. They were trying to reach Europe,' Berthiaume said. 'That means that 700 people perished at sea these last days in the Mediterranean, the deadliest incidents in the space of a few days,' she said. (more)

Mediterranean 'a cemetery' - Maltese Prime Minister Muscat
12 October 2013 - Malta's prime minister has said European waters close to Africa are turning into a cemetery, after another boat laden with migrants capsized. Joseph Muscat said Malta felt 'abandoned' by the rest of Europe and urged the EU to take action. Malta and Italy launched a rescue operation after a boat capsized on Friday, killing at least 30 people. It happened 120km (70 miles) off Lampedusa, the Italian island where at least 300 migrants drowned last week. On Saturday, rescuers pulled another 20 bodies from the sea, raising the toll from that shipwreck to 359. The loss of life has renewed the debate within EU member states on migration rules. The BBC's Matthew Price, on Lampedusa, says the boat was carrying Syrians and Palestinians. Mr Muscat said prompt action between Malta and Italy had saved lives, but he complained that the rest of Europe had supplied only 'empty talk'. (more)