“I have to bow down to the Health Ministry” – Culture Minister on standing events

Aug 12 2021

On August 5, the Health Authorities announced that they will be postponing the resumption of stand-up events after weeks of anticipation from the local events sector.

In light of this, Culture Minister José Herrera told The Malta Independent that The Ministry for Arts & Culture, together with the Malta Entertainment Industry & Arts Association (MEIA) is “considering other options” beyond the financial packages set up for the local creative industry.

Herrera said that the green light for standing events was not in his hands, going on to share his sympathy and understanding towards the arts and entertainment sector’s current crisis.

The Minister revealed that standing events are ‘obviously’ not his prerogative and he had to bow down to the health ministry, highlighting that Health Minister Chris Fearne and Superintendent for Public Health Charmaine Gauci are the ‘experts’ on such a matter.

Standing events remain on hold at the moment as many artists and event organisers are calling for a more reasonable approach towards the industry which has been suffering most throughout the pandemic.

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Malta beat Gibraltar in quest for title defense

Aug 12 2021

Yesterday, the Maltese basketball team won again, beating Gibraltar 89-63. Coach Andrea Paccarie started with the same team that beat San Marino.

Aaron Falzon was once again the star of the show scoring 38 points providing 3 assists and rebounding the ball 8 times. His brother Tevin also pulled out a good performance scoring 9 times and rebounding the ball an impressive 14 times. The score in the beginning was at a 10-10 tie but Malta’s squad depth and skill proved to good for Gibraltar.

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A post shared by Tevin Falzon (@taf_tevin)

Malta still have 2 games left against Andorra and last edition’s runners up Ireland. The Maltese team will be aiming to finish the group stage in 1st place.

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Italy may have set Europe’s hottest day ever and here’s what happened

Aug 12 2021

Authorities have reported that the Italian island of Sicily could have set an all-time record for heat in Europe with a scorching hot temperature of 48.8 degrees Celsius on Wednesday.

The city of Siracusa registered the record-breaking temperature on Wednesday afternoon after the anticyclone named ‘Lucifer’ swept the country and contributed to horrific fires, some of the worst the country has ever seen.

Despite confirmation from the Sicilian authorities, the record has yet to be verified by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) but the hottest temperature recorded in Europe according to the WMO was in Athens in 1977 at 48.0°C

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Did Lionel Messi really double Paris Saint-Germain’s Instagram following?

Aug 12 2021

Due to the signing of Lionel Messi, PSG have seen their social media accounts mainly Instagram, substantially rise in followers. PSG in the last 3 days, since Messi has signed have gained nearly 5 million followers. This shows the power of certain footballers, mainly Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. This issue sometimes raises the question whether players are bigger than their clubs. Some accounts have suggested that Lionel Messi doubled the team’s Instagram following, with others outright stating that the Argentinian player is ‘bigger than the club. Despite not actually doubling the profile’s following, the signing of Messi has certainly increased the number of followers. At the end of July PSG were sitting at 37million followers and now their close to reaching 45 million followers.

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A post shared by Leo Messi (@leomessi)

Many fans have defended PSG’s signing of Messi in terms of a financial standpoint because of the amount of eyes it will get on the club. The amount of Instagram followers that Messi will get for PSG is insane considering that he’ll be in Paris for at least 2 years

#MaltaDaily