Football players suffer cardiac problem after Coronavirus infection

Jan 15 2022

Famous football players Alphonso Davies and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang have both suffered cardiac problems after their recent coronavirus infections. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is currently in Cameroon representing his country Gabon, at the African Cup of Nations whilst Alphonso Davies has stopped training with Bayern until further notice.

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Bayern coach Julian Nagelsmann has recently stated in an interview that the Canadian fullback will be out for a few weeks after finding evidence of heart muscle inflammation after his Covid-19 virus infection. The inflammation, known as myocarditis was found in a follow up exam after he returned to training this week. According to many experts, Myocarditis is not a permanent condition meaning the player will come back. Bayern coach Nagelsmann described the condition as “mild” and “not so dramatic,” but later said “Despite that, it needs to heal and that will definitely take a certain amount of time,”.

Arsenal striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has also been diagnosed with a heart condition after being infected with the coronavirus. He is currently suffering from heart lesions and hasn’t been called up to Gabon’s final 2 group games of the African Cup of Nations. In a statement, the Gabon federation said that the “cardiac lesions” were found in a test to see whether he could play or not after suffering from the virus. A lesion is a damage on the tissue. They also confirmed that the diagnosis wasn’t pressing but CAF’s medical commission ruled Aubameyang was not able to play against Ghana.

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9 of the 10 hottest years ever all happened in the last decade

Jan 15 2022

The last nine years have been ranked in the top 10 hottest years since records began, with 2021 being the sixth joint hottest year in a tie with 2018.

According to NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s 2021 Annual Global Climate Update, the detailed report shows how the 2021 global land and ocean temperature was 1.04°C above the pre-industrial age.

The goal of the Paris Agreement is to keep the warming below 2°C (3.6°F), but the aspirational goal is actually 1.5°C. Unfortunately, none of the world’s largest emitters of greenhouse gases are meeting said requirements.

The European Climate Watch counterpart reported earlier this week that 2021 was the fifth hottest on record, which reflects how close this year’s average temperature was to 2018 and 2015.

With different data sets and analyses having slightly different rankings, both analyses still agree that the seven hottest years on record all happened in the last seven years to a decade.

Director of GISS Gavin Schmidt, NASA’s leading centre for climate modelling and climate change research, stated that the complexity of the various analyses doesn’t matter because the signals are so strong. ‘The trends are all the same because the trends are so large.’

This analysis shows 2021 was the 4th warmest year for the US, with several countries recording their warmest temperature as well. Record temperatures were seen across Northern Africa, Southern Asia, southern South America and even Australia.

NASA administrator Bill Nelson said that ‘science leaves no room for doubt. Climate change is the existential threat of our time.’ He called for bold action to safeguard the future of the entire world.

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Air Malta has lost €258 million in the last 16 years

Jan 15 2022

Accountants and auditors have been refusing to sign off on Air Malta’s accounts since 2019, which is eight years after it entered negative equity territory.

With €258 million in losses racking up over 16 years, the airline attempted to save itself by selling off all its assets except one. It is now hanging on a line which, if broken, could send the company into bankruptcy, with around 900 employees jobless.

David Curmi, the airline’s executive chairman, said on Friday that he had used all his expertise to try and stop the haemorrhage like a doctor on an operating table.

Having taken over in February 2021, Curmi was giving an overview of a four-year strategy presented to the European Commission to try and get Air Malta out of the red zone.

The plan included stopping flights which were making massive losses, cutting 20 of the 40 routes and saving €44 million. The network was contributing to 47% of losses, he said.

Another issue was Air Malta’s oversized workforce, making its commercial department bigger than that of much larger Easyjet. In 2012, the last state aid was allowed by the EU, bringing in €130 million. These were soon gone however as costs kept climbing.

The pandemic too dealt a massive blow, with the airline receiving over 300,000 requests for refunds, totalling €32 million, and 80,000 flight vouchers, equivalent to €12 million.

A turn around moment was projected into 2024 or 2025, but Air Malta could not copy low-cost airline models because such airlines’ costs were so low. Instead, exceptional service on profitable routes and flights to legacy airports would continue.

Apart from no longer handling baggage operations and operating from different bases outside Malta, the cabin crew and pilots will also see changes to flying hours. Pay will be linked to how much time you spend flying said Curmi.

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PN calls on government to remove €163,000 contract for FMS CEO Carmen Ciantar

Jan 15 2022

The Nationalist Party has called on the government to remove or amend the €163,000 per year contract given to Carmen Ciantar, the former campaign manager to Health Minister Chris Fearne and CEO of Foundation for Medical Services.

Addressing a press conference on Friday, PN deputy leader David Agius said that Ciantar’s predecessor used to earn €80,000 in annual income, which is half of what Ciantar earns in the same position.

Contrasting it to a nurse’s average of about €20,000, Agius said that Ciantar’s amount could be the pay of eight nurses or teachers.

Paula Mifsud Bonnici, also a PN candidate and for the first district, argued that the contract is a result of ‘reckless government spending.’ She pledged that a Nationalist government would lower taxes, specifically VAT for restaurants, and refund those affected by utility bills overcharges.

Sixth and seventh district candidate Alessia Psaila Zammit, said that key sectors have been rife with scandals. ‘The health and education sectors have seen so many stories of scandals and resignation – Vitals and Justyne Caruana were not enough.’

Adding how the health sector is currently under pressure due to the COVID pandemic, she said that during a moment wherein the health minister must focus on the pandemic, he must instead shift it towards responding with scandals.

The contract was also not approved by the finance minister’s permanent secretary, with the salary, one of the highest among political appointees, being handed to Ciantar in 2019.

The basic salary is €115,000 annually which increases by €5,000 per annum up until €130,000 along with an annual bonus of 20%, a €7,000 car allowance and health insurance. Fearne defended Ciantar’s appointment on Thursday, where he insisted that she was recruited by FMS through the same procedure used for every other CEO before.

Responding to the allegations, Carmen Ciantar herself took to Facebook to categorically deny the ‘false and baseless’ accusations, and revealed that she personally wrote to the Standards Commissioner in order to launch a probe into these allegations.

She said that she is ready to fully cooperate with the commissioner’s research in order for ‘the truth to come out.’

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