The reception will be held at Dar l-Emigrant (near the Upper Barrakka) Castille Place, Valletta, on Sunday, 17 October at 6.30pm.

Maltese-Australians and those with relatives in Australia are invited to attend this reception to welcome the Primate of the Church in Australia, signifying the links that exist between Malta and Australia. Those wishing to attend this reception are requested to obtain an entry ticket from Dar l-Emigrant. Office hours: 8.30am to 12.30 pm and 3.00pm to 6.00pm.

Dog show

The Maltese Ladies Kennel Association will be organising its Autumn Championship Dog Show on Saturday and Sunday at the Cottonera Sports Complex. Judging dogs at this show will be Derek Smith, a well known international judge from England.

Some 200 dogs from 44 breeds will be participating in the show, which will begin at 4pm on Saturday with the hounds and utility breeds, and the junior handler class – a competition for youngsters aged between 10 and 17. The junior with the highest number of points at the end of the year represents Malta at the International Junior Handler Competition which takes place at Crufts, the World’s greatest dog show, which is held in March in Birmingham, England.

On Sunday morning the show will start at 9.30am with the gundogs and toy breeds participating, and on the Sunday afternoon the show starts at 3.30pm with terriers and working breeds followed by the finals in which all group winners compete for the coveted title of Best In Show.

Local company praised for environmentally friendly step

Nature Trust has praised ST Microelectronics for opting to change its vehicles and boilers to allow the use of biodiesel. The biodiesel will be bought from local company Edible Oil Refining Group, which provides a free-of-charge collection scheme for used cooking oil from the catering industry.

This is the latest measure by ST Microelectronics that favours sustainable options, making it an example to other companies. Biodiesel is less environmentally harmful than conventional petroleum fuel – it does not contain sulphur and hence will not emit sulphur dioxide, one of the causes of acid rain and a respiratory and conjunctival irritant.

Nature Trust says it welcomes all measures to reduce air pollution, as 16 per cent of Maltese teenagers and one-sixth of young adults have asthmatic symptoms and one per cent of the entire adult population is diagnosed as asthmatic.