Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1244022
8 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 6 MAY 2020 NEWS INTERNATIONAL Today 100 best recipes Today 100 best recipes FOOD Saying it aS it iS SAVIOUR BALZAN Volume I In volume 1 of 'Saying it as it is', Saviour Balzan tells the story of his journey from being an active environmentalist, to becoming a teacher, a politician, a journalist and finally, the owner of a media house. In his uncouth and abrasive style, he speaks frankly about the thankless job of being an investigative reporter and what running a media house truly entails. But perhaps more interesting, however, are the anecdotes and inside stories also embedded in the narrative, which pick up on key happenings over the past few years. The book also has a semi-autobiographical streak, as Balzan reminisces over the incidents that ended up having an effect on his writings. He uncovers the political networks and the friends and foes of the politicians who dominated the Maltese political scene for the past 35 years. Zoning in on events which he believes left a lasting impact on readers, Balzan expands on the background behind important news stories. In 'Saying it as it is', what emerges most clearly is that scandals have no political boundaries. Saviour Balzan takes us through a brief journey of his journalistic work. He also underscores the influence of politics and politicians in Malta, and the challenges of independent journalism. MediaToday Co. Ltd. Vjal ir-Rihan, San Gwann. SGN 9016, Malta www.maltatoday.com.mt Saying it aS it iS Volume I SAVIOUR BALZAN SAVIOUR BALZAN was born in Birkirkara, Malta in 1963. He was a biology and environmental science teacher for eight years and a part-time journalist during that time. He was active in the environmental lobby and later co-founded the Green Party in 1989 but left politics altogether in 1997. He worked for the newspapers il-Fehma, Alternattiva, The People, and The Independent. He was appointed editor of MaltaToday in 1999 and today co-owns that same newspaper, as well as the independent media company MediaToday based in San Gwann. At MaltaToday he built a reputation for running the most daring, investigative and independent newsroom. He hosted the TV discussion programme Reporter for seven years on PBS until his programme was stopped in 2009. He now hosts the same daily discussion programme on Favourite Channel. He lives in Naxxar with his wife and two children. €30 ISBN 978-99957-0-427-8 20mm All round Bleed DRAGONFLIES AND DAMSELFLIES OF THE MALTESE ISLANDS DRAGONFLIES AND DAMSELFLIES OF THE MALTESE ISLANDS Charles Gauci Dragonflies are large, oen brightly coloured, insects which few people would not notice actively flying over water, whether it is while walking along water reservoirs in valleys or while visiting gardens where water features are present. However, these are only one stage in their life cycle aer having spent a much longer period living under water as larvae. Most species of dragonflies and damselflies are highly habitat specific in both their larval and adult stages. e Maltese Islands lack most types of riparian habitats and as a result the number of species found locally is very small. is is compensated for by the high concentration of these insects at most water bodies. is book describes each of the nineteen species recorded in the Maltese Islands and each species is amply illustrated by photographs which, for the commoner species, illustrate most or all the stages in their life cycle. It is hoped that besides being of help and interest to nature lovers, it will also raise a much needed awareness among the general public about biodiversity and nature conservation,. e author spent fourteen years teaching Integrated Science and Biology at secondary State schools before moving to the Għadira Nature Reserve where he was Managing Warden until his retirement twenty four years later. He has been interested in dragonflies for the last ten years. Having been an avid bird watcher since his early teens, he co-authored a number of ornithological books – Bird Studies on Filfla, L-Agħsafar, A Guide to the Birds of Malta, A New Guide to the Birds of Malta and e Breeding Birds of Malta. He also co-authored several ornithological papers and was the editor of BirdLife Malta's scientific journal 'il- Merill' from 1986 to 1994. Since his initial interest in dragonflies in 2008 he has been so fascinated by these wonderful insects to the extent that they now oen take precedence over birds. ISBN: 978-99957-894-0-4 CHURCHES IN MALTA maltatoday PART 1 TOWERS, FORTS & BATTERIES IN MALTA maltatoday MALTATODAY ©2017 in collaboration with the MTA TOWERS, FORTS & BATTERIES IN MALTA maltatoday CHURCHES PART 2 maltatoday MALTATODAY ©2019 in collaboration with the MTA IN GOZO maltatoday CHURCHES IN GOZO THE European Union's top court faced the most stinging at- tack in its 68-year history - not from Brexiteers, but from its German counterpart. In a long-awaited ruling on the European Central Bank's quan- titative easing programme, Ger- many's constitutional court in Karlsruhe accused the European Court of Justice of overstepping its powers when it backed the ECB's controversial policy. The German court said the EU judges' December 2018 ruling that QE was in line with EU rules was "objectively arbitrary" and is "methodologically no longer jus- tifiable." It gave the ECB a three- month ultimatum to fix flaws in the measure. "This is a declaration of war on the ECJ, and it will have conse- quences," said Joachim Wieland, a law professor at the University of Administrative Sciences, who sees the real challenge in the fu- ture relationship between the EU court and national constitution- al tribunals. "It's an invitation for other countries to simply ignore decisions that they don't like." The ruling is a direct challenge to the supremacy of the EU judges, whose rulings are bind- ing across the 27-nation bloc. The German court said this no longer applies in extreme exam- ples when the EU tribunal fails in its duties. It's not only the toughest criti- cism the Luxembourg-based EU judges have faced by one of the bloc's most senior courts, it also creates a risk that other nations will start to doubt their author- ity. "One of the most reputable constitutional courts in the world called the EU judges' ac- tion blatantly arbitrary," said Pe- ter Gauweiler, a former lawmak- er and one of the plaintiffs in the German case. The EU court "now has to cope" with that. The German clash comes as the EU court has traded blows with Poland's nationalist gov- ernment over reforms to the legal system. The institution has also long been contentious among the ranks of Brexiteers, who won the UK's 2016 referen- dum campaign. "We reaffirm the primacy of EU law and the fact that rulings by the EU Court of Justice are binding on all national courts," Eric Mamer, spokesman of the European Commission said at a regular press briefing. The EU tribunal doesn't com- ment on rulings from national courts, Juan-Carlos Gonzalez, head of the court's press service, said by phone. The ECB's asset-purchase pro- gram has been a concern for the German court since its incep- tion. In 2017, its judges asked the EU court for an interim decision aimed at limiting the ECB's lee- way, but the EU tribunal reject- ed the restrictive reading of the law suggested by their German counterparts. EU court faces 'declaration of war' from Germany's top judges