At the age of 13 he started playing with Football Basketball Nursery, however he’s incentives to start playing basketball began way before.

Both Dirk’s father, Felix Schembri, and older brother Steve Schembri were great influences and put the ball in his hands. At time progressed both his physical structure and skill-set grew and by the age of 15 was playing with both Loyola in the under 16 and 19 league, as well as the under 19 national team. At the age of 16 he started playing in the 1st division, and by the age of 18 was selected to participate with the senior Maltese national team were he competed in such competitions as the FIBA promotional cups and Small Nations games, even playing against best NBA players such as Pat Burke and Thabo Sefolosha.

Through he’s 1st division career he spend 1 year with Siggiewi Basketball and 6 years with Luxol Basketball club, where he was part of the team who broke the record by winning 9 of the 10 cups in a 2 year period, in the same time winning the Most Valuable Player of the Year of award.

Back in 2007 Dirk was part of 3 top Maltese players selected to be sponsored by Gatarode too. Dirk Schembri is also a webmaster working for Uniblue. Samples of his work can be found at www.dirkschembri.com.

He hails from Ghaxaq and has strong roots in this deeply Labour constituency and is held to be quite popular amongst voters when he managed to oust an established minister and PN stalwart Louis Galea who had been in Parliament since 1976.

Debono is well known as a criminal lawyer and is a busy face in the local law courts where he has taken on a number of high profile cases mostly with considerable success.

Lately he has been in the news for taking a strong stance against the Prime Minister particularly over the botched public transport reform where he also attacked Transport Minister Austin Gatt but was also in the news over the Delimara power station extension where he campaigned strongly against the use of heavy fuel oil, uselessly as it appears as this went through Parliament anyway.

Debono is well known for his uncompromising stance on various issues including the right to be assisted by a lawyer throughout police interrogation as well as libel laws which he has worked assiduously upon. In fact, Debono was also instrumental in drafting a law on political party financing which however did not see the light of day due to it being changed considerably before it came up for a vote in Parliament.

However Debono will undoubtedly be remembered for his strong position against the Prime Minister especially regarding the splitting of the Justice and Home Affairs ministries which eventually brought about the promotion of three new Parliamentary Secretaries to Ministers. Debono is currently a Parliamentary Assistant within the Office of the Prime Minister but his further contribution to the portfolio is definitely in doubt.

Debono has stated categorically that he will not continue to support the government and will vote against it in a confidence vote thus effectively robbing the Prime Minister from his one seat majority. The lawyer has even hinted that he might emigrate from the country if the strong campaign against him is to continue. He appears to be steadfast in his determination to see this issue out and will not be brooking any sort of deal with the PN from which he has effectively resigned some months ago.

Visit my friend’s blog for the latest on Franco Debono‘s adventures, views and opinions.

Chris Malta is an expert Internet marketer who specialises in ecommerce marketing, EBiz and in particular, eBay. Chris is the original founder, CEO and Chairman of the product sourcing company, Worldwide Brands, and is generally recognised for helping people to run successful online businesses.

So, who is he and what’s his background? Chris started working at 16, as a dishwasher in a restaurant. Since then he’s been a teacher, a bartender, a nightclub manager, a bouncer and a bank clerk, amongst other things along the way. However, whilst doing these jobs for other people, he has always displayed a flair for business. At the age of 10, his mother introduced him to entrepreneurship, when he started selling wholesale gifts to neighbours for Christmas pocket money. He always felt from then on that being his own boss was his destiny and he proved that later in life – starting off with $500 in 1998 and then turning it into the 15 million dollar fortune that it has become today. He is one of the web’s leading authorities on the ecommerce business model and has been highly recommended by several e-marketing experts worldwide.

As well as running Worldwide Brands, Chris undertakes several other related roles:

• Product Sourcing for eBay Radio doing live segments about finding wholesalers to work with online business owners.
• Successful EBiz Author writing several free EBooks about doing business online as well as being published by some of the largest on and offline publishers.
• EBiz Radio Show Host for ‘The Entrepreneur Magazine EBiz Radio Show’ for world-famous Entrepreneur Magazine for several years.
• eBay Certified Solution Provider – Worldwide Brands, is an eBay Certified Solutions Provider.

Chris has a mantra that in business you have to be honest, without scamming, lying or cheating – something that he experienced from others when he was starting out in the online world. Chris Malta encourages people to email him with questions about online marketing whenever required.

Gonzi was educated at St. Joseph School, St. Aloysious College, The Archbishop’s Seminary and in 1975 graduated from the University of Malta as a lawyer. He practiced law in a private firm and later with the Mizzi Organisation as a company lawyer and as Group Chairman.

Lawrence Gonzi also actively participated in aiding the rights of people with physical and mental disabilities. He was appointed as the first Chairman of the National Commission for the Disabled in November 1987, a position which he held all the way through 1994.

Lawrence Gonzi’s Political life

He had his first go at national elections in 1987 but was not successful at this stage. The following year he was appointed Speaker of the House of Parliament and again in 1992.

In 1996 he tried his luck again at the general elections and was successful even though the Nationalist Party was not elected into power this time, with the majority of votes going to the Malta Labour Party (now PL). Gonzi served as an opposition Member of Parliament, Shadow Minister for Social Policy and general secretary of the party among other positions.

In 1998 when the Labour government collapsed due to internal conflicts within the party, Lawrence Gonzi was appointed the Minister for Social Policy and in May of the following year became the Deputy Prime Minister and the Leader of the House. This position was held through the 2003 elections as well.

In March 2004, following the resignation of Eddie Fenech Adami, Gonzi was appointed Prime Minister also keeping the post of Minister of Finance.

Malta joined the European Union on May 1st 2004. The newly appointed Prime Minister attended the ceremony held for the EU enlargement in Dublin Ireland. This was the first time that the Maltese flag was flown alongside the flags of the other 24 member states.

Dr. Gonzi hosted the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Malta as the head of the Maltese Government.

His government’s future looked a bit shaky during the National election held on the 8th March in 2008 but at the end Gonzi was re-elected as Prime Minister and leader of the Nationalist Party.

Dr. Gonzi is credited with the restructuring process he adopted in order for Malta to fulfil the required economic criteria to be able to adopt the Euros as Malta’s national currency in 2008. He also placed a large part of his attention to the correct management of public finances, making Malta more competitive in the international market, and the ongoing restructuring of the public sector.

On a seperate note, we’re trying include in this post as much information as possible, so if you happen to find out Lawrence Gonzi’s email, official website or facebook account details, please feel free to comment and list them below.

Talented, charismatic, attractive and stylish she draws the crowds in with her music and ability to put on a great performance.

She is also a talented songwriter, having written most of her songs herself, drawing in from personal experiences to give her music a realistic and relatable feeling.

Her career started off when she joined a college band named Tiara. In 2001 they released the album “Hi-Infidelity” which had a number of successful tracks such as “Teleport me” and “Basketball”.

Ira Losco also released the album “Butterfly” later on in 2001 featuring popular tracks with renowned Maltese DJ J. Joy and top Maltese Rapper IQ.

She was also chosen to represent Malta in the Eurovision song contest in Tallinn Estonia, with the song 7th Wonder in 2002 where she placed 2nd. Following this success she was chosen to perform at the Games of the Small States of Europe, which were held in Malta in 2003.

In 2008 Ira Losco was honoured with a national medal for the work she performed for Malta.

She has released 6 albums in total; Hi-Infidelity (with Tiara), Butterfly, Someone else, Blends & Remixes of Someone Else, Accident Prone, Unmasked, Fortune Teller.

Collaborations, concerts and festivals include, Elton John, Maroon 5, Duran Duran, Bob Sinclair, Akon and many more.

You can view Ira Losco’s blog on iralosco.com. We encourage you to leave your own comments below and feel free to list her official myspace, facebook account or any of her lyrics.

Kristina Casolani

Singer, songwriter and dancer, Kristina Casolani is another Maltese female sensation that makes her country proud. She is a multi talented artist who blends different types of music styles to create something unique.

Her career kicked off in the year 2000 when she met Boris Cezek who is now her producer and co-writer. All the six singles she has released so far have been popular among the listeners and local DJ’s, all reaching top positions on Malta’s radio charts.

Her amazing stage presence and sultry voice make her a permanent fixture in all of Malta’s top events such as the Farsons Beer Festival and the Bay Music Awards. She can also be heard on the local radio in several adverts for big brands such as Canon and Hot Couture.

Her live performances are enhanced by her knowledge of dance. She uses her own dancers and creates the choreographies herself making her shows more vibrant and personal.

She has also collaborated with local popular talents such as Toby and Sixth Simfoni.

Morena

Margerita Camilleri Fenech more known as just Morena (meaning dark skinned woman), is a young Gozitan singer who represented Malta in the Eurovision song contest in 2008 with her song entitled “Vodka”.

She first entered the Song for Europe competition in Malta in 2006 along with Paul Giordimaina with the song entitled “Time”. But it was not to be yet and Fabrizio Fannielo “I Do” was chosen to represent Malta that year at the Eurovision song contest held in Athens Greece. (I’m sure all the Maltese remember the embarrassment we suffered with that miserable one point that year).

Two years later in 2008 Morena tried her luck again, entering the Song for Europe contest once again this time armed with 2 different songs; “Vodka” and “Casanova”. Both songs made it to the final, with “Casanova” ending up in 5th place and “Vodka” taking 1st place. Therefore she was then to represent Malta in the 53rd edition of the Eurovision Song Contest in Belgrade Serbia.

Morena participated in the 2nd semi-final but received poor ratings ending up in the 14th place, which didn’t allow her to enter the final stage. I doubt anyone was shocked but this result. The odds for Malta winning the Eurovision song contest had never been so bad. Malta’s overall standing, which was calculated through an average of odds on betting websites placed the song “Vodka” in the 31st position out of 43 over-all participants.

Roberta’s career first started off back in 1999. Her dedication and hard work helped her towards achieving 2 awards in the “Club DJ Awards 2002″ as Best Female DJ and Best House DJ.

Another of Miss Roberta’s great achievements came in the same year, when Malta’s most popular radio station, 89.7 Bay appointed her to run her own radio show every Friday from 22:30 to 00:30. Through Roberta’s enigmatic charm and promotional skills she went on to form what is now widely regarded as one of the most successful Club night in the Maltese Islands’ GET FUNKY.

Whilst her promotions company took off, Roberta’s services as a DJ were also greatly in demand playing for many of the most important promoters in Malta, Italy and France and she supported some of the best International DJ’s that have performed in Malta like David Guetta, Tiesto, Roger Sanchez, Erick Morillo, X-press 2, David Morales, Lottie, Carl Cox, Sven Vath, Ian Pooley, Tim Deluxe, Joe Montana, Dr. Kucho, DJ. Falcon, Robbie Rivera, Antoine Clamaran, Smokin Jo, Kenny Carpenter, and Boy George just to name a few.

She was also asked to headline all the Major tours that came over to Malta like Ministry of Sound, Space and Miss Money Pennies and she I also currently the resident DJ for all CREAM events in Malta.

Combining her looks and talent was somewhat inevitable, although her insistence that music come first has strongly directed what media coverage she chooses, she’s also been featured heavily in both the dance and lifestyle press. Roberta has constantly evolved her style of music over the years to reflect the changing face of House music. She is a lady that combines technical ability and glamour on the decks, spinning minimal and progressive House to tough, Tech House and Techno.

Quality music is her motto and she shines in her ability to deliver an outstanding set every time she is called on duty, with her extensive musical background, Roberta can ignite any party being in front of a 3,000 sweaty clubbers in a warehouse party, to an intimate 500 capacity VIP club. You can not fail to be seduced by Roberta’s sounds.

At present Miss Roberta is spinning all around the Globe in countries like Russia, Estonia, France, Italy, Tunisia, Morocco and more.