69 Maltese contractors to receive government grants for new machinery

Aug 14 2021

The developers’ lobby has revealed that over two out of every three applicants for government grants will be able to purchase machinery which is more environmentally-friendly.

The Malta Developers Association welcomed the news that 69 applicants out of a total 94 have qualified for funding from a €4 million cash grant scheme which will allow companies to change dated machinery with low-emission replacements.

Grants can go up to €200,000 and companies which buy hybrid equipment may claim as much as half of their costs in an attempt to cut the construction industry’s carbon footprint.

“I am sure that this will motivate more companies to undertake similar investments. As MDA we fully support any similar initiatives as it is only through such measures that we can start making a real difference together”Í MDA vice-president Denise Micallef Xuereb noted.

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Messi’s PSG shirt sales broke Ronaldo’s Juventus record within minutes

Aug 14 2021

Beyond being one of the most impactful signings in professional football, Lionel Messi’s arrival at Paris Saint-Germain created somewhat of a cultural phenomenon and the Parisian side’s shirt sales are definitely a reflection of than.

The club sold a whopping 832,000 Messi shirts within the span of half an hour, bringing in what has been reported as an estimated €90 million in sales. Online sales alone brought the club around €23.7 million.

This record surpasses Cristiano Ronaldo’s previous record of 520,000 Juventus shirt sales back when he moved to the Italian club 2018. With a star-studded list of international players such as Kylian Mbappé, Sergio Ramos, Neymar Jr. and Messi himself, the French club is now the third most valuable club in the world after Manchester City and Chelsea, with FC Barcelona dropping to 8th place.

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Canada to impose mandatory vaccination for government workers & transport passengers

Aug 14 2021

The Canadian Government has announced that all workers operating within federal administration and the majority of transport passengers must get vaccinated against COVID-19 following a surges in Delta variant cases in Canada.

Canadian Minister Dominic LeBlanc reaffirmed his understanding that “vaccines are the best way to end this pandemic” and went on to highlight that the country expects public servants to comply with this requirement.

A deadline for around 300,000 public workers is anticipated to be announced in the coming weeks, with the entire transport sector including passengers to welcome what Air Canada has called “a welcome step forward in the evolving measures to protect the health and safety” of their passengers and the transport sector in general.

The requirement is set to come into effect by the end of October.

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July hottest month on record as global climate crisis persists

Aug 14 2021

Data released from the NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information has revealed that was the hottest month in our lifetime, with the temperature being the highest in 142 years of records.

The Earth has experience a significant number of environmental issues over the past few months with a concerning increase in heat waves and fires around the world and flash floods in Germany, Belgium and China.

The report published by the United Nations’ IPCC has also stated that “each of the last four decades has been successively warmer than any decade that preceded it since 1850”.

The increased temperatures has also contributed to extreme weather conditions around the global, with Malta expected to experience intense Autumn storms due to such high temperatures.

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