Frank Fabri, top education official, resigns after Justyne Caruana scandal

Jan 17 2022

One month after former Education Minister Justyne Caruana gave up her position following an ethics probe by the Standards Commissioner, Frank Fabri also resigned from his post as education permanent secretary.

The government revealed in a statement that Matthew Vella will be taking his place, who took on the role of permanent secretary within the Ministry for Active Ageing in 2020.

No explanation for Fabri’s resignation was given by the statement, but thanked him for the changes he Brough about while he served his post. Fabri still remains a civil servant despite having resigned, with his new role yet to be determined.

Fabri had served in several roles within the education department as a director-general prior to becoming permanent secretary in 2017. Having served also as mayor of Rabat, Fabri was the subject of an internal civil service review which was assessing his role in a scandal cornering a €15,000 deal which he approved for Caruana’s friend Daniel Bogdanovic.

An ethics probe found that Bogdanovic had not written the report he was paid to draft himself and then repeatedly lied about it when questioned. Fabri had signed off on the contract, with Standards Commissioner George Hyzler noting that Fabri had been vague in his replies and declined to say whether it was the minister who proposed the footballer for the job.

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Drake crowned the most streamed artist of 2021

Jan 17 2022

Drake has officially been crowned the most-streamed artist of 2021 in the United States, beating high-profile artists like Kanye West, J Cole and Tyler, the Creator.

According to Chart Data, the Boy’s music received a total of 8.6 billion on demand streams, meaning that one out of every 131 streams was a Drake song.

The numbers add up as his most recent album Certified Lover Boy is the only 2021 rap album which qualifies as eligible for double platinum certification by the RIAA.

It first went platinum a month after its release, whilst also being the first rap album of 2021 to spend five weeks at number 1. It even managed to sell over 600,000 units in its first week.

As if this wasn’t enough, the album broke Apple Music and Spotify’s records for the biggest first-day streams.

Drake dropped Certified Lover Boy in September, which is known as fourth quarter when artists are closing shop and planning for the next year. By building up hype for the album, Drake managed to garner insane streaming numbers.

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UK could scrap all restrictions but two – should Malta follow suit?

Jan 17 2022

Reports are suggesting that all COVID-19 restrictions except for two could be scrapped as UK’s Plan B measures are due to be reviewed soon.

Senior government sources have revealed that the current restrictions in place may be removed after 26th January. These include mandatory mask wearing, COVID passports and the work from home rule.

All that will essentially remain will be a requirement to isolate for five days if one tests positive for COVID-19 and the need to take lateral flow tests for International travel. Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said that the sooner the measures are lifted, the better.

‘I think it’s important that we’re led by the science on this. We had access to the Government scientific and medical advisers and that’s helped us form our views’ he said.

Alluding to Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s latest party scandal, Starmer said that ‘if it’s the right thing to lift those restrictions, we will vote to lift those restrictions. But we’ll be led by the science as we always have been, not by the politics of propping up a broken Prime Minister.’

Looking at Malta, today saw the introduction of new measures which were no stranger to controversy. Malta now requires vaccination certification to enter several establishments, masks to be worn by unvaccinated or people in groups larger than 2, and other measures.

Could UK’s move to remove most measures prompt other countries, like Malta, to move forward with similar action? Of course, the data of infections would have to be analysed to check if the epidemiological situation improved or worsened.

Malta’s Health minister Chris Fearne highlighted how the way out of the pandemic, and even the easing of restrictions, is the vaccine rollout.

Pushing for more inoculation, the vaccine measure was met with some criticism by many. However, health authorities revealed that they were aiming to administer the jab to 70% of those eligible by this weekend, with 306,964 booster shots administered as of today.

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Decision to stop new COVID rules put off by Court

Jan 17 2022

After a group of 17 entertainment businesses an their employees on Sunday asked a court to block the new COVID-19 regulations from into coming into force on Monday today, Madam Justice Miriam Hayman did not uphold a request for a provisional warrant of prohibitory injunction.

Instead, she decided to hear the merits of the case on the 28th of January, which means that the new measures will not be stopped at least until then.

A vaccine certificate will be required to enter a number of catering and entertainment establishments such as bars and nightclubs. Frontline staff dealing with clients also need to be vaccinated, meaning they have received their booster shot.

The court action also comes as several protests agains the COVID regulations took place in Valletta. Health minister Chris Fearne defended the new rules, saying they will allow social distancing and establishments to return to pre-pandemic levels.

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