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Cousins ask for Puttinu Cares donations instead of gifts for Confirmation

Cousins ask for Puttinu Cares donations instead of gifts for Confirmation
Jun 8 2022 Share

Celebrating their Holy Confirmation sacrament, cousins Alex and Anna decided to ask people to donate to Puttinu Cares instead of giving them presents. 

The two relatives managed to raise an amount of €1,620 on the special occasion, giving the money to the NGO who helps patients, mostly children, suffering from cancer. 

Well done to both for the heartfelt initiative! 

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Sponges are not the most hygienic way to clean dishes study suggests

Sponges are not the most hygienic way to clean dishes study suggests
Jun 8 2022 Share

According to researchers in Norway, kitchen sponges have more bacteria than kitchen brushes, urging people to move away from the utensil. Research scientist Trond Moretro said that salmonella and other Bactria grow and survive better in sponges than in brushes, with he reason being sponges in daily use never dry up. 

‘A single sponge can harbour a higher number of bacteria than there are people on Earth’ he said, publishing online in the Journal of Applied Microbiology. 

Many bacteria are not harmful, but those that are – salmonella included – can spread from sponges to hands, kitchen surfaces and equipment, potentially making people sick. A sponge is humid and accumulates food residues which are food for bacteria and therefore lead to bacterial growth.

Researchers pointed out that it didn’t really matter how people cleaned their sponge or how often as it is very difficult for consumers to avoid bacterial growth in the sponges. According to the USDA, microwaving or boiling kitchen sponges may reduce some of the bacterial load. However, these measures alone are not adequate to ensure sponges will reduce cross-contamination. 

The researchers collected kitchen sponges from 20 people living in Portugal and 35 brushes and 14 sponges from Norwegians. The sponges were all used for dishwashing, with 19 of the 20 sponges from Portugal having been used five to six times a week. Overall bacteria levels were lower in used brushes than sponges. 

When researchers added salmonella bacteria to the brushes and sponges, they found significant reduction in salmonella brushes allowed to dry overnight. However, no reduction for brushes stored in a plastic bag or for sponges regardless of storing conditions was noted.  Whilst study authors recommended a brush over sponges, microbiology professor Cath Rees said that she would continue using a sponge to wash dishes. The key for her was drying dish sponges and cloths between use. 

“The main message I get is that they did not find any evidence of pathogenic bacteria on the sponges or brushes taken from a range of domestic settings and therefore there is no evidence that these items are a significant source of contamination in normal domestic settings,” Rees said.

“If there were some low levels of pathogens left on your cloth, they are going to grow quite slowly (they grow optimally at body temperatures), so you would not expect to see much growth of these, and this matched their results — in wet condition there was some limited growth, in drying conditions the numbers either stayed the same or declined,” she explained.

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All Apple products will have to use common charging point as deal struck

All Apple products will have to use common charging point as deal struck
Jun 8 2022 Share

All smartphones and tablets would have to use a common charger under a provisional European Union agreement which was struck on Tuesday.

Apple, among many other companies, will have to make sure their phones, tablets, e-readers and digital cameras use the USB-C charger. Around 15 product types are included, including headsets, video game consoles and headphones. 

The plan was revealed last year, and was provisionally approved this Tuesday 7th June. It is set to save consumers up to €250 million each year, reports the European Commission. The EP and 27 EU countries still need to sign off the agreement. 

Phone and tablet manufacturers will have to comply by the end of 2024, whereas laptops will have more time to make the switch with 40 months extra from when the rules are set in motion approved. 

Lead negotiator for the European Parliament and Maltese MP Alex Agius Saliba said that the commission will be able to set standards for wireless charging in the future. Despite having angered the business at first, Apple is now testing future models which can use the charger. 

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Bernard Grech celebrates 51st birthday

Bernard Grech celebrates 51st birthday
Jun 8 2022 Share

Nationalist Party leader Bernard Grech today celebrates his 51st birthday. Born on the 8th of June 1971 in Rahal Gdid, he went on to marry and have two kids, currently residing in Mosta. 

Grech worked as a lawyer far before he entered the political sphere, having been elected as Opposition leader on the 3rd of October 2020. He went on to get re-elected as PN leader very recently after he faced no competition in the leadership race of the party. 

Grech graduated as a lawyer in 1995 from the University of Malta, but also worked as a volunteer with youth, persons with disabilities and the Malta Community Chest Fund. Spending time even as a visiting lecturer at the UOM, he also dabbled in theatre as an amateur singer. 

In August of 2020, he stood against leader Adrian Delia after the party congress voted to hold a new leadership contest. He won the election against Delia with 69.3% of the votes however he did not manage to win the Nationalist Party power in the 2022 general election. 

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