Jail sentence revoked for man who shot four flamingos

Mar 28 2023

A hunter who shot and killed four flamingos had his one year jail sentence revoked by a court of appeal on the grounds that the species is not endangered, despite being protected.

24-year-old Miguel Żammit was banned for life from holding a hunting license and a year in prison when he was convicted of killing the birds in October of 2021.

The court was told that the hunter insisted he had been aiming at a duck, with Żammit filing an appeal after a court convicted him of the poaching crime.

On Monday however, a court of appeal relaxed the punishment. When delivering judgement, the court referred to Subsidiary Legislation on Conservation of Wild Birds Regulations, Times of Malta revealed.

This includes a number of factors which need to be considered when assessing offences, with one of these being the impact on the conservation status of an affected species. The flamingos were categorised as ‘of least concern.’

The court thus concluded that the impact of such offences on the species was low, changing Żammit’s punishment to one year suspended for two years. Meanwhile, the lifetime ban on holding a hunting license was still confirmed.

In response, BirdLife Malta called the decision confusing and baffling.

“A protected bird is protected irrespective of its status and just because it is not at risk of being extinct, does not mean that its protection, or the consequences of illegally killing it, should be less. I fail to see the logic. It’s like saying that stealing from a rich person carries a lesser punishment than if you steal from a poor person” wrote CEO Mark Sultana.

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Here’s how much time we spend with other people as we get older

Mar 28 2023

Data collected by ‘Our World in Data’ shows how much time Americans spent with others and themselves at different ages between 2009 and 2019.

The amount of minutes by day spent with family seems to go down significantly as one grows older, whereas time spent alone only sky-rocketed as a person got older.

In fact, a person seems to spend well over 400 minutes alone, whilst on the other hand a person spend less than 100 minutes with family by the time they reach age 80.

Time spent with co-workers stays relatively the same across one’s lifetime, declining slightly below 200 minutes as one ages.

If one has children, people seem to spend the bulk of their time with their kids between the ages of 30 and 40. This tracks with the ‘family’ metric, which, as previously mentioned, declines later on in life.

Time spent with a partner averaged around 200 minutes per day between ages 30 and 60, only to seemingly increase until age 80. It then drops suddenly. However, the time spent with a partner is far lower than that spent alone.

And finally, time spent with friends peaks between ages 15 and 20, only to drop to around 53 minutes per day at age 30. It stays relatively similar until age 80.

#MaltaDaily

Credits: Our World in Data

1410KG of plastic and debris collected from Malta’s northern coast

Mar 28 2023

Environmental organisation ‘Coast is Clear’ was joined by the Nepal Malta Community for a massive pick up on Malta’s northern coastline.

A whopping 1410kgs of plastic and fishing debris were collected, with heaps of micro plastic which drifted in from as far as Algeria throughout the harsh winter months.

Images shared to social media showed exactly what the organisation was up against in terms of trash to pick up. But with the combined forces of the two groups, as well as a close friend from Britain, they were able to make one of Malta’s coastlines cleaner.

Well done to all involved!

#MaltaDaily

Opposition supports banning of gay conversion therapy promotion

Mar 28 2023

Speaking in Parliament on behalf of the Nationalist Party, Opposition MP Graziella Attard Previ revealed that the position of her party is in favour of the bill which seeks to outlaw gay conversion therapy advertisement.

Attard Previ described the therapy as fake and based on ‘fear and shame’ of LGBTIQ+ people, designed to harm subjects psychologically.

Despite Malta banning gay conversion therapy back in 2016, the law did not make it a crime to promote them. The amendments were announced by Parliamentary Secretary Rebecca Buttigieg in January, revealing that anyone found guilty of promoting them would risk a five month jail term or a fine between €1,000 and €5,000.

Buttigieg also highlighted on Monday that despite the 2016 law, authorities were finding it difficult to prosecute those promoting gay conversion services.

#MaltaDaily