No Way Home overtakes Titanic on the US Box Office’s all-time top 10

Jan 12 2022

Spider-Man: No Way Home is continuously swinging it’s way up the all-time rankings, officially passing Titanic in the box office charts.

The latest instalment to Tom Holland’s Spider-Man maintained an incredible momentum as it approaches the one-month anniversary of its release already. It is now on the cusp of the top five after breaking the $660 million mark.

This means it officially overtakes James Cameron’s ‘Titanic’, which held US domestic box-office town for 12 years following its 1997 release.

Currently in sixth place with $668,753,195, No Way Home might even overtake Avengers: Infinity War next and could possibly even take a host at Black Panther if it manages to crack the £700 million limit.

Worldwide box office is very different from the US, as Avatar remains at the top with $2.8 billion in the global box office. Spider-Man is currently in eighth place with $1.5 billion.

But to be fair, none of the other films had a global pandemic to contend with. Therefore the web-slinger’s film deserves some major credit as it dealt with snap lockdowns and restrictions as it released. In fact, no other film released in the past 2 years even cracked the top 50.

Tom Holland’s third solo take of the web-slinger was massively well-received, with a fun but also emotionally hitting plot, brilliant performances and lots of surprises.

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Study suggests cannabis compounds stop COVID-19 infections

Jan 12 2022

A study published this week found that compounds in cannabis can prevent infection from the virus which causes COVID-19 by blocking entry into cells.

The study was published by researchers affiliated with Oregon State University, with a report on the research called ‘Cannabinoids Block Cellular Entry of SARS-CoV-2 and the Emerging Variants’ published online by the Journal of Natural Products.

The researchers stated that two cannabinoid acids commonly found in hemp varietals of cannabis, CBGA and CBDA, can bind to the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2.

Allegedly, by binding to the spike protein, the compounds can prevent the virus from entering cells and causing infection, potentially offering new avenues to prevent and treat the virus.

In an abstract for the study, the researchers wrote that ‘orally bioavailable and with a long history of safe human use, these cannabinoids, isolated of in hemp extracts, have the potential to prevent as well as treat infection by SARS-CoV-2.’

Although further research is needed, study leader Richard van Breemen said that the study shows the cannabinoids could be developed into drugs to prevent or treat COVID-19, with the cannabinoids being allegedly effective against new variants as well.

The researcher added that resistant variants could still arise amid widespread use of cannabinoids but the combination of vaccination and CBDA/CBGA treatment ‘should make for a much more challenging environment for SARS-CoV-2.

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Murder suspect Abner Aquilina has been discharged from Mount Carmel

Jan 12 2022

The lead suspect in the Sliema murder case which took the life of 29-year-old Polish woman Paulina Dembska has been discharged from state mental health hospital Mount Carmel.

Abner Aquilina will be continuing his police interrogation but it is not yet known what staff at Mount Carmel have concluded about his mental health.

He is however cleared to continue being questioned by the police. They are expected to charge Aquilina in the coming days with the murder of Dembska and they have 48 hours to charge him in court or release him on police bail.

The autopsy confirmed that Dembska was raped and strangled, suffering head injuries and marks on her neck which indicated suffocation.

Police have also determined it was a random killing and there were no ties between Aquilina and the victim. Interrogations were paused after psychiatric experts were called in to assess whether he was fit to continue facing investigator’s questions when doubts started to be raised about his mental state.

Aquilina had told police that he was God’s work but the devil had entered his thoughts when the attack happened. This is a developing story…

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Fate of Air Malta to be revealed in next few days; Minister to meet unions amid financial concerns

Jan 12 2022

Sources have revealed that within the next few days, a number of important developments will be made with regards to Malta’s national airline Air Malta. Finance Minister Clyde Caruana is expected to meet with various union representatives over the next few days.

As of yet, it unknown whether or not the European Union has given permission to the Maltese Government to give subsidies to Air Malta. Further details are expected to be given during the upcoming meeting. Minister Caruana had revealed that Air Malta was losing €170,000 each single day and State Aid was necessary to keep up its operations.

Caruana had stated that Air Malta was expected to lose €30 million in 2022 and if the European Commission does not grant permission for State Aid, Air Malta could not go on. The future of the national airline will be determined in the next few days.

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