Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/612918
22 maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 9 DECEMBER 2015 Sport VOLLEYBALL ATHLETICS 22 Sport PUBLIC BROADCASTING SERVICES LIMITED is inviting you to an OPEN DAY at the PBS CREATIVITY HUB in St. Luke's Road, G'Mangia Meet the Junior Eurovision Song Contest Malta participants Meet the casts of popular drama Visit the Public Broadcasting Services facilities SUNDAY 13 TH DECEMBER BETWEEN 9.00AM AND 3.00PM Milestone for international Volleyball referee MR. Nello Calleja has been ap- pointed by the European Vol- leyball Confederation (CEV) as second referee for the match between Trabzon Idman Oca- gi and C.S.M. Targoviste from Romania, which will be played in Trabzon, Turkey during this week. This will be Mr. Calleja's 60th international match as an international volleyball ref- eree. This match will be the first leg from the Ladies' Vol- leyball Challenge Cup 16th fi- nals round. Mr. Calleja will be assisting Mr. Globacnik from Slovenia for this match. Trabzon Idman Ocagi have qualified for this round by beating Greek outfit AON Pan- naxiakos Naxos in the previ- ous qualif ying round, however they are currently finding it difficult in the Turkish Wom- en's 1st League, considered as one of the toughest leagues in European volleyball. On the other hand, C.S.M. Targoviste currently stands in the third place in the Romani- an Divizia 1 Women's League after playing 10 matches. They have proceeded to this round after being eliminated from the CEV Cup by Azerbai- jani set-up Azeryol Baku. PHOTOGRAPHY BY MARK SOLER MSFOTOGRAPHY.NET Oscar Pistorius granted bail after murder conviction OSCAR Pistorius, who murdered his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp on Valentine's Day 2013, was granted bail on Tuesday and has the free- dom of South Africa's capital Pre- toria as he waits to appeal his con- viction in April. The Paralympic champion, nick- named "Blade Runner" because of the prosthetic legs he uses to race, was granted bail of 10,000 rand (£456), after spending the last two months under house arrest at his uncle's home in a wealthy Pretoria suburb. Pistorius had been meant to serve the rest of a five-year sen- tence there but the Supreme Court upgraded the 29-year-old's con- viction to murder from culpable homicide last week. He will appear in court on April 18 to give an up- date on his appeal at the constitu- tional court. He faces a minimum 15-year sen- tence for shooting Steenkamp in a case that has fascinated and divid- ed South Africa, a country beset by high levels of violent crime. Rights groups say the white track star has received preferential treat- ment. On Tuesday, South African High Court Judge Aubrey Ledwaba said Pistorius could leave the house between 7 a.m. (0500 GMT)and noon and, with permission from the authorities, travel within a ra- dius of 20km (12 miles). Pistorius has been ordered to hand in his passport and wear an electronic tag. When he was arrested in 2013, Pistorius had to set aside bail of 1 million rand, but on Tuesday he argued for a reduced amount, say- ing his means had diminished. "I have lost all my assets and only possess my personal assets," he said in his written bail application. "I have no income, but will con- tinue to seek employment ... It was difficult to obtain employment due to my conviction and correctional supervision conditions." Pistorius lost millions of dollars in endorsements and sponsorships, after reaching the pinnacle of his fame in London 2012 when he be- came the first double amputee to run in the Olympics, reaching the 400-metres semi-finals. Pistoruis, who also said in his ap- plication that he had enrolled in a correspondence course for a de- gree at the London School of Eco- nomics, was dressed in a black suit and tie and appeared calm during the proceedings. There was no immediate com- ment from Steenkamp's family. Barry Steenkamp, Reeva's father, welcomed the murder conviction last week, saying "it was a fair de- cision". Pistorius' lawyer Barry Roux said the appeal would cite grounds in- cluding the appeal court recon- sidering a trial court finding that Pistorius felt his and Steenkamp's life were in danger when he fired the shots. Nello Calleja