Catholic leaders ask forgiveness for child abuse
Catholic leaders asked God for forgiveness for the crimes of paedophile priests at a church service today after an Irish victim said the Vatican should be held accountable for destroying lives. The heads of seven religious orders intoned penitential prayers in a church in Rome on the sidelines of a first-ever Vatican summit to look at ways of rooting out child abuse from the Church after thousands of scandals. "We have sinned. We did not know how to listen to the pain of so many innocent ones," one of the bishops taking part in the service said. "We are aware that our acts of reparation can never erase the unjust things we have done or soothe the searing wound of our consciousness," he said. Victim Marie Collins earlier told the conference at the Vatican's Gregorian University: "Apologising for the actions of the abusive priests is not enough. "There must be acknowledgement and accountability for the harm and destruction that has been done to the life of victims and their families by the often deliberate cover up and mishandling of cases by their superiors." Collins said her abuse happened at the hands of a hospital ...

Raikkonen fastest as formula 1 gets going
Finland's 2007 Formula One world champion Kimi Raikkonen set the fastest time in his Lotus-Renault during the first day of pre-season testing in Jerez today. The 32-year-old Raikkonen - winner of 18 grands prix - is putting this year's model through its paces as he returns to Formula One after two years away. Raikkonen won his 2007 crown with Ferrari before switching to the World Rally Championship in 2009 followed by a spell in Nascar racing. Testing runs until Friday with further sessions at Barcelona from February 21-24 and March 1-4, before the GP opener in Melbourne, Australia on March 18. Times and laps: 1. Kimi Raikkonen (FIN/Lotus-Renault) 1min 19.670sec 75 laps 2. Paul di Resta (GBR/Force India-Mercedes) 1:19.772 101 3. Nico Rosberg (GER/Mercedes) 1:20.219 56 4. Mark Webber (AUS/Red Bull-Renault) 1:20.496 54 5. Daniel Ricciardo (AUS/Toro Rosso-Ferrari) 1:20.694 57 6. Michael Schumacher (GER/Mercedes) 1:20.794 42 7. Kamui Kobayashi (JPN/Sauber-Ferrari) 1:21.353 106 8. Jenson Button...

I'M NOT, BUT...
Lino Spiteri wrote a piece a few days ago bringing, in his own words, the current political situation into context. Referring to Joseph Muscat's canard that the situation now is comparable to 1981, which is as gross as saying that public broadcasting today is the same as it was in the Eighties (quote Franco Debono), Mr Spiteri wrote: "The comparison does not hold. On several counts. This government was elected with a relative majority, if a very slim one exceeded by the combined votes of the Labour Party and Alternattiva Demokratika. In 1981 the Nationalist Party received an absolute majority of votes, but a minority of parliamentary seats." The learned gentleman is, of course, perfectly correct. Leaving aside Labour's mass-hysteria (the poor souls are so, so disappointed that their leader's gagging enthusiasm for the keys to Castille) and poor attempts at humour (check out Helena Dalli's Facebook page for instance) we don't actually have a crisis. Sure, thanks to Labour's refusal to pair MPs, sittings are now only held when the Government's full team is in play, and there's a nagging doubt about the Government's survival in the longer term, for...

Two PN Mayors decide to step aside
Noel Formosa, Mayor of San Lawrenz and Carmelo (Charles) Saliba, Mayor of Zebbug (Gozo) have decided not to contest the forthcoming local council elections because of court proceedings they are facing. The Nationalist Party this evening published letters from the two mayors where they told PN General Secretary Paul Borg Olivier of their decision. Mr Saliba, who first contested the elections in 1994, recalled that he is facing two court cases - the first  over works on a path in the fields which, he said, Mepa had considered as illegal dumping, and the second over alleged misuse of the council's laptop for personal purposes. He said he wanted to be in the best position to prove his innocence, without in any way casting a bad light on the PN. Mr Formosa said he had taken his decision with a heavy heart because of allegations against him, but he hoped this would only be a temporary break from pubic life until the courts proved his innocence. Mr Formosa has served in the council for 18 years. Both decisions were accepted by Dr Borg Olivier.

EP economic committee adopts Scicluna's report on European statistics
Labour MEP Edward Scicluna's report on the Quality Management of European Statistics was approved with an overwhelming majority by the European Parliament's Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee. The report focused on improving the quality of European statistics by improving the independence of statistical agencies and the quality of upstream data collected especially from government sources. Prof Scicluna who is the vice-chairman of the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee said: "This report could not have come at a more opportune time in view of the critical role given by the new fiscal treaty to a number of benchmarks. The 'six pack' legislation together with the scoreboards being set up for both Eurozone and EU states require accurate and reliable statistics for their effective implementation." The report is seeking improved structures and better governance in each Member State, stronger internal and external audits and a greater commitment by governments with respect to the accuracy of public finance data. It also recommends a higher contribution of expertise from Eurostat to small countries with limited resources to ensure a better...