31 organisations benefit from the Artistic Financing Scheme for feast street decorations

Sep 20 2022

€180,000 has been invested in voluntary organisations linked to feast decorations related to Maltese feasts for continuous fostering, strengthening and protection of our cultural traditions. Speaking at the presentation, Minister for the National Heritage, the Arts and Local Government Owen Bonnici thanked these associations for all their hard work in organising and planning artistic decorations in feasts.

“With the implementation of the artistic financing for feast associations’ scheme, we continue to strengthen our country’s cultural fabric and traditions in feast decorations not only by assisting with designs and manufacturing but also towards their learning investment and training, as well as other cultural projects and activities. Such schemes keep giving us the foundation to further solidify our culture and its future”, said Minister Bonnici.

Managed by the Arts Council Malta, this fund assists the numerous organisations in our towns and villages, which are linked to traditional Maltese feasts and voluntarily work throughout the year on the artistic aspect of feasts. “This scheme ensures that these organisations get the assistance needed to continue furthering their work so that higher artistic levels are reached”, said Director Funding and Strategy within the Arts Council Malta, Mary Ann Cauchi. “Such a scheme also enables us to see the full potential of our vibrant local ecology of cultural expressions, grounded in our communities, as stated in Strategy2025”, she continued.

Beneficiaries of this scheme are voluntary organisations enrolled with the Commissioner for Voluntary Organisations and were scrutinised in terms of technical and artistic eligibility by Arts Council Malta. The maximum funding per beneficiary was €10,000 per project; each project was awarded funding on a case-by-case basis.

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Abandoned and starving dog finds a loving forever home

Sep 20 2022

Taking to social media, a woman by the name of Christa Cilia recounted how she rescued an abandoned elderly dog which was left out in Malta’s streets.

The dog, now named Sudo a.k.a ‘Ġużi ix-Xiħ’, was first found by a couple by the names of Adam and Yana. The dog was approached by Cilia on Sunday, who expressed utter disbelief at how bad of a state the dog was in.

The dog was not responding well to people trying to approach him, lashing out as he attempted to walk despite being partially blind.

‘His second chance at life came in his elderly years’ said Cilia. ‘Still late but he managed to find who loves him immediately.’

Christa condemned the previous owners who, instead of loving the dog and attempting to find aid, they abandoned him despite his ailments. ‘You ended up in my home. I already love you’ she said.

The chosen name for the dog was picked by the couple who found him, with Christa keeping it with respect to those who helped the innocent canine.

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Squid Game creator wants Leonardo DiCaprio for Season 3

Sep 20 2022

Following its massive success on Netflix, Squid Game is potentially set to have not just one more season (which was confirmed) but two!

And according to the show’s Emmy-winning director Hwang Dong-hyuk during an interview with Deadline, some very big Hollywood names could appear in the third season if it were to happen.

Given that the budget for the show has increased massively following its successes, Dong-hyuk may have his eyes set on Leonardo DiCaprio to join the cast.

This comes after DiCaprio expressed how much of a fan he is of the show to the director himself, so a potential cameo is at least certified. However, with an actor of DiCaprio’s capability, he’ll probably take much more of a prominent role.

As of yet, the Hollywood star has not yet responded to this claim by the director. So we’ll have to wait a while until we get a confirmation as to whether we’ll see The Wolf of Wall Street himself competing in the games… or enforcing them.

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Here’s who was invited to Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral…and who wasn’t.

Sep 20 2022

With over 2000 seats at the Abbey, Queen Elizabeth’s funeral brought some prominent figures to the ceremony in the most viewed televised broadcast in the world and history.

Apart from the members of the royal family, the the funeral saw politicians, diplomats and even celebrities from across the globe.

Among them were Bear Grylls as well as Grey’s Anatomy’s Sandra Oh, with the latter being a member of the Order of Canada. This meant she attended the funeral alongside Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Grylls himself attended the funeral as a representative of The Scouts. He was appointed the youngest-ever Chief Scout of the UK and Over Seas Territories at the age of 35 in 2009.

In terms of world leaders, the current UK Prime Minister Liz Truss attended alongside surviving former UK Prime Ministers like Boris Johnson, Theresa May and David Cameron.

US President Joe Biden and his wife Jill Biden were seated in the 14th row and reportedly arrived late. They were seated behind Polish president Andrzej Duda. The President of France, Emmanuel Macron, was in attendance with his wife Brigitte. New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern attended along with her respective delegation.

All the reigning monarchs of the world were invited to the funeral, including the Kings and Queens of The Netherlands, Sweden, Spain, Norway and Belgium. The Emperor and Empress of Japan also attended in their first International visit since ascending the throne 3 years ago.

Meanwhile, Russia, Afghanistan, Syria and Venezuela were among the six countries left off the 500-country-strong guest-list for the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II.

Russian president Vladimir Putin was not invited while Moscow continues to wage its bloody war in Ukraine. Aleksandr Lukashenko, who is tight with Putin and has strongly supported the war in Ukraine, was also not invited.

After not receiving to the Queen’s funeral, former US president Donald Trump was invited to a memorial service for the late monarch. However, Trump and all other living former US Presidents received invitations for a service which will be held on Wednesday September 21 at the Washington National Cathedral.

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