Ferrari’s Leclerc one-ups RedBull’s Verstappen ahead of tonight’s season opener

Mar 20 2022

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc has taken pole position for the first race of the Formula 1 2022 following an outstanding qualifier in the Bahrain GP.

Leclerc managed to one-up Red Bull world-champion Max Verstappen, making the qualifying Sakhir event a fierce competition between the two.

At the end, it was Leclerc who came out on top on his final lap of Q3, as he overhauled team-mate Carlos Sainz with a 1:30.558 edge ahead.

As for Verstappen, he also improved on his last lap, despite finished a tenth down on Leclerc in second place. The latter said that the last two years for the team were very difficult. ‘But I knew it was just a matter of time before we got back to the top’ he expressed.

Meanwhile, Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton struggled to compete with rivals Red Bull and a rejuvenated Ferrari. Perez placed fourth for Red Bull while Hamilton lead Mercedes in fifth and around 0.680s off pole.

Mercedes partner George Russell dropped down to 9th place in his first qualifying alongside Hamilton after two Q3 laps in a new car which struggled through testing and the Bahrain weekend.

It all comes down to tonight as drivers take back to the tracks, with the race broadcasted at 4pm local time. With Hamilton hoping to secure a better spot, the clash seems to be centred around Red Bull versus Ferrari.

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Zaren tal-Ajkla joined by numerous people for meeting at New 31 Bar

Karen tal-Ajkla joined by numerous people for meeting at New 31 Bar

Mar 20 2022

A considerably numerous amount of people joined Zaren Bonnici, leader of small party ‘Tal-Ajkla’ for a small political meeting in New 31 Bar.

Addressing supporters in the Birkirkara bar, Zaren made reference to his recent pledge to give any woman who wishes to get breast implants €4,000 to undertake the procedure.

Saying that he is proud to ‘represent’ women through this pledge, the politician also revealed that he would be giving €3,000 to men to also undertake similar procedures.

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He also took a slight jab at the main political parties, contrasting his in person appearance alongside the Maltese versus the main party meetings under tents.

Bonnici has been contesting elections since 2013 and will be contesting the 3rd and 13th districts. In 2017, he received 35 votes on the 3rd and 41 votes on the 13th district.

Source: @pittu92 TikTok

8,200 cast their early vote in 85% turn out ahead of 26th March

Mar 20 2022

A total of 8,224 voters headed to the ballots to cast their vote in Malta’s early voting session for the 2022 general elections on Saturday.

The 8,224 number translated into a turnout of 85.15% for the 9,658 voters eligible to vote in the early phase.

Voters in this category were people who cannot attend the official 26th March ballot due to being abroad or hospitalised. Among them was EP President Roberta Metsola.

The turnout of early voters indicates a lower turnout than the previous election in 2017. That election saw a 91.7% turnout for the 4,250 eligible voters.

The 2017 early voting phase saw 4,173 cast their ballot in the initial round, with 3,384 of 3,991 people living in elderly homes casting their vote early.

Surveys concerning the election have now constantly hinted at there being a lower voter turnout for the general election. With a gap of around 37,000 votes between parties, if the early voting phase is anything to go by, then the same could translate on the 26th of March.

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Malta will aid food importers to prevent hiking prices says Abela

Mar 19 2022

Addressing a political rally, Prime Minister Robert Abela said Malta will grant major food importers financial assistance to prevent price hikes.

This is in order to ensure Malta is adequately stocked due to the crisis caused by the invasion of Ukraine by Russia.

Abela confirmed the government struck a deal with the major importers of wheat, cereals and nuts, saying that the deal will see his administration providing importers with ‘necessary liquidity’ to stock up at the Kordin Grain Terminal.

This will stop products such as bread and milk from becoming more expensive. Abela compared the reaction of international markets in reaction to the invasion of Ukraine and the aftermath of the pandemic in March 2020.

He reiterated how countries restricted the exportation of wheat and cereals as supply decreased and prices increased. Abela said that Malta used the same principles which the government learned to apply so well after two years of COVID to ensure the inflation impact will be as minimal as possible.

The PN proposed last September a €40 million state fund to help importers deal with the increases in cost of transporting goods.

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