How Messi is helping Michael Jordan’s financial problems

Aug 17 2021

Ever since the pandemic hit, basketball legend Michael Jordan has reportedly lost 24% of his money. Michael Jordan’s clothing brand ‘Jordan’, along with Nike, are the new kit manufactures for Paris Saint-Germain and ever since the Parisians signed Leo Messi, Michael’s finances have started to rise significantly.

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Michael Jordan reportedly receives around 5% of every shirt PSG sold. Messi’s arrival changed the whole game though, as it is estimated that around 2.5 million people will buy the shirt with the Argentinian’s name and number on it. Since PSG officially began selling Messi shirts, they have received a whopping 120 million euros, which saw Jordan earn approximately 6 million in one single weekend.

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Popeye Village: A historical landmark and tourist attraction

Aug 17 2021

Popeye Village, also known as Sweethaven Village, is an immensely popular tourist attraction in Mellieha, Malta. How did this construct of wooden and rustic buildings come to be and how did it acquire its both local and international fame as a tourist hotspot?

The village was purposely built as a film set which was later converted into a small attraction fun park. The live-action musical feature film ‘Popeye’, produced by Paramount Pictures and Walt Disney Productions, brought famous actors Robin Williams and Shelley Duvall to film the movie on the island.

With construction beginning in June 1979, a construction crew of over 165 workers built the village over seven months. Hundreds of logs and thousands of wooden planks were brought from the Netherlands, whilst wood shingles were brought from Canada. A 60-75 metre breakwater was built around Anchor Bay’s mouth to protect the set during the filming.

The set is open seven days a week to the public, offering not just the film set as an attraction but also several other experiences. With props and dresses from the original film, a boat trip around anchor bay takes visitors for a 15-minute ride whenever the weather permits.

A cinema also shows a 15-minute audio-visual show detailing history and information about the filming and construction. Puppet shows also entertain visitors, especially children. The set also neighbours a beautiful bay known to be enjoyed by tourists and the Maltese alike.

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Photo Source: Popeye Village Malta FB

Single COVID-19 case sends New Zealand into 3-day lockdown

Aug 17 2021

After New Zealand registered a single new case of COVID-19 ever since February, the entire country was sent into a rapid three-day lockdown. The community was received with dismay in the country, especially considering how New Zealand had no breakouts from the more-transmissible Delta variant. The case was detected in Auckland, with the government advising the public to follow basic public health measures such as mask wearing, hand washing and scanning QR codes to assist with contact tracing.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern highlighted how New Zealand cannot take any chances with the ‘game changer’ Delta strain. She pointed to other countries and the variants’ impact, stating how they only get one chance to deal with it. Citing Australia’s struggles to contain the variant to defend her short and sharp reaction to the case, Ardern said that it is better to start high and be cautious to then move out as soon as the country is comfortable in doing so.

Health officials have not yet established a link between the case and the border or managed isolation facilities. With the positive patient being a 58-year-old man, epidemiologist Prof Michael Baker stated that the latest case was almost certainly the delta variant. Baker said that the more optimistic scenario, despite being less likely, would be if the case was directly connected to the border without intermediary cases.

The other option, which is tougher to deal with, would be that the case appeared from an unknown source, meaning that ‘there must be other cases out in the community which haven’t been identified… That means there have been infectious people in the community, potentially for several days, and you don’t know how widespread the outbreak is.’

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Photo Source: The Guardian

MFA release statement about ongoing racism problems

Aug 17 2021

The MFA has recently released a statement in which they explained what they will do in the future to make football in Malta more and more inclusive. They also mentioned their disappointment in the recent racism incident in which a Floriana fan abused Santa Lucia keeper Julani Archibald.

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In relation to the recent incident, the MFA announced that “the Malta FA has been assisting the Police in their investigation to identify the alleged perpetrator(s)” they also announced that the Executive board of the MFA will meet to introduce ‘regulations about a 3-step procedure where discriminatory incidents take place in a local football match on the same basis of procedures implemented by UEFA.’

In the statement, the MFA also stated the importance of diversity in football. They said that with the help of it’s Football Social Responsibility Department they have managed to arrange a number of projects, all largely funded by the EU and UEFA. These projects have led to the MFA being nominated for a FIFA diversity award for its work with refugees and in promoting inclusion and integration.

Currently, the MFA have two EU funded projects ongoing. These projects are mainly focused on refugee inclusion and how football can make refugees feel included in our communities. They have announced that over the next 2 years, 13 football Inclusive Hubs will be set up over Malta and Gozo, to further engage with local communities.

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