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Elon Musk’s decides to terminate his $44 billion deal to buy Twitter

Elon Musk’s decides to terminate his $44 billion deal to buy Twitter
Jul 9 2022 Share

Elon Musk has just decided to terminate his $44 billion dollar agreement with Twitter’s bosses mere months after he announced his plan to buy the company. 

The SpaceX CEO didn’t officially become the owner of Twitter when he announced the agreement in April, despite the memes, jokes and plans by Musk himself for future changes.

The multi-billionaire had said that he wanted to unlock Twitter’s potential and make it ‘better than ever’ when he did officially become the owner. However, on Friday 8th July, his lawyer sent a letter to the company revealing the termination. 

The reason for termination is, according to lawyer Mike Ringler, due to Twitter allegedly not providing Musk with information he had requested according to their contract. Musk wanted to investigate claims that around 5% of accounts were spam.

Twitter ‘failed or refused to provide this information’, the lawyer said. However, Twitter’s board chair Bret Taylor revealed that the board is still committed to close the transaction. 

‘The Twitter Board is committed to closing the transaction on the price and terms agreed upon with Mr. Musk and plans to pursue legal action to enforce the merger agreement. We are confident we will prevail in the Delaware Court of Chancery’ wrote Taylor. 

When Musk first reached an agreement with Twitter, he had agreed to pay $1 billion if he chose to back out of the deal. Musk first agreed to buy Twitter for $54.20 a share, but after news of backing out, shares fell five percent to $36.81. 

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324 MEPs favour making right to abortion an EU fundamental right

324 MEPs favour making right to abortion an EU fundamental right
Jul 9 2022 Share

In a statement by Members of the European Parliament, ‘the backsliding in women’s rights and sexual reproductive health and rights in the US and in some EU member states’ was strongly condemned. 

The MEPs issued a statement strongly backing making the right to abortion an EU fundamental right, saying that it should be included in the EU Chart of Fundamental Rights. 

The decision was voted for in favour by 324 MEPs, with 155 voting against and 38 absenting from the vote. In their statement, the MEPs expressed their solidarity with all women and girls in the US during these times as well as those advocating for such rights. 

‘Given this, they call for the US Congress to pass a bill that would protect abortion at federal level’ the statement read. 

Meanwhile, the MEPs expressed their concerns at a possible surge in funding for anti-gender and anti-choice groups in the world, including in Europe. They thus urge member states to decriminalise abortion and to remove and combat remaining legal, financial, social and practical restrictions hampering access. 

MEPs expect the European Council to meet to discuss a Convention to revise the EU Treaties. This statement comes after Malta did not allow for the termination of a pregnancy for an American tourist on holiday who suffered a miscarriage. 

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Johnny Depp releases first new single following Amber Heard trial

Johnny Depp releases first new single following Amber Heard trial
Jul 9 2022 Share

Marking his return to music, Johnny Depp has just released his first single since the Amber Heard trial called ‘The Death and Resurrection Show’, surprising fans in the process. 

According to Far Out, Depp has been working alongside Jeff Beck on a brand new album which is set for a 15th July release. 

But for now, fans will have to content themselves with a single from the upcoming anticipated album, which is itself a collaboration between Depp and Beck. Depp had appeared on stage with Beck shortly after the trial with his ex-wife ended. 

Heard is still seeking an appeal against the verdict, which saw her awarded $2 million in damages against Depp. This is was massively outweighed however with Depp’s awarding of $10 million in damages against her. 

The album, titled ’18’, will feature covers as well as original songs. Amongst the covers will be ‘Caroline’, Marvin Gaye’s ‘Let it Be’ and ‘No’ by the Beach Boys. 

Some of the original songs in the album will be ‘Sad Motherf****n Parade’ and ‘This is a Song for Miss Heady Lamar’. This comes as Deep seeks to restart his acting career, with his first movie role in three years being French King Louis XV in Jeanne du Barry. 

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100 years of weather reports: Met Office celebrate anniversary

100 years of weather reports: Met Office celebrate anniversary
Jul 9 2022 Share

The Malta Meteorological Office on Sunday marks 100 years since the Maltese Islands national weather services provider was established, the office said in a statement.

During the past 100 years, the Meteorological Office has operated from four different locations, with the first move seeing it transfer its operation from Pietà to Saint John’s Cavalier in Valletta, where forecasting was conducted underground during the war.

The second move happened in 1946, bringing the weather services provider closer to the island’s Flight Information Centre and air traffic control services at Luqa airport, allowing it to focus on the provision of weather-related services to the then-flourishing civil aviation industry.

The Meteorological Office has been operating from its fourth location on the Malta International Airport campus since 2002, providing its services to different industries, as well as the general public through the airport website.

A continued investment – particularly over the past two decades – in modern equipment, automated weather stations, weather models and a radar system, have allowed the Meteorological Office to widen and improve the array of services it offers.

Some of the milestones in relation to the provision of weather services include the introduction of a three-day forecast to mariners following the delivery of specialised training to the team, and the extension of a once five-day forecast to the present seven-day forecast in 2016. 

The seven-day forecast nowadays continuously ranks among the three most popular pages on the Malta International Airport website, having been viewed more than four million times in 2021 alone.

“In an age when fake news and misinformation are available at the touch of a screen, one of our main challenges is to ensure that Meteorological Office’s official forecasts and weather warnings, through which we aim to inform rather than alarm people, cut through the noise and continue to reach the public. I would like to thank the present team for providing round-the-clock weather services, as well as all persons who formed part of the Met Office team over the years and contributed to the evolution of Malta’s national weather services provider,” said Malta International Airport’s Head of Operations and Business Continuity Ing. Martin Dalmas.

While weather technology and instrumentation have improved by leaps and bounds, the input of the Meteorological Office team remains crucial in ensuring that forecasts are accurate, weather warnings are issued in a timely manner and researchers’ requests for weather-related data are seen to, as part of the smooth day-to-day running of Malta’s only meteorological office.

The team is composed of forecasters, observers and two administrators, one of whom manages the office’s archival records; a trove of hand-plotted synoptic charts, which formed the basis of weather forecasts prior to the advent of technology, and daily weather observations. The first ever observation, which was recorded on the morning of the 10 July 1922, shows that 100 years ago at 7.00am, the temperature stood at 27.3°C, the visibility was good, and a force 2 wind was blowing from the West Northwest.

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