Non-essential travel to UK banned by France due to Omicron

Dec 16 2021

France will be banning all non-essential travel to and from the UK from the weekend to help mitigate the spread the highly transmissible Omicron variant.

The government revealed on Thursday that ‘from midnight Saturday there will be a requirement to have an essential reason to travel to, or come from, the UK, both for the unvaccinated and vaccinated.’

People will be unable to travel for professional or touristic reasons. ‘Faced with the extremely rapid spread of the Omicron variant in the UK, the government has chosen to reinstate the need for an essential reason for travel from and to the UK.’

The statement added that French citizens and EU nationals can still return to France from the UK, with government spokesperson Gabriel Attal saying that a system of controls will be put in place to tighten the net and slow down the arrival of Omicron cases.

‘Our strategy is to delay as much as we can the development of Omicron in our country and take advantage to push ahead with the booster drive.’

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Photo Source: Engage Education, European Union

Adrian Zammit loses court case but fans offer to pay his fine

Dec 16 2021

Social media personality Adrian Zammit has been ordered by the Court to pay €850 to former Marsa Mayor Frans Debono after he was found guilty of defamation.

Zammit, known for his Facebook videos in which he expresses his opinions about various topics, contested the last election for the Marsa local council as an independent candidate.

Debono filed a lawsuit at the Magistrates Court after he felt he had been defamed by Zammit in three videos posted in February of 2019. He accused Zammit of ridiculing him during the local council election campaign in May of the same year.

He complained that Zammit referred to him as ‘mustaccun’ and a Peeping Tom who spies on immigrants through a telescope. Zammit also said that the mayor buys a large amount of blue pills and gets things for free.

Zammit said that he was not actually referring to Debono but a fictional person he created so as not to offend anyone. He also claimed that he uploaded the videos to entertain people and was only expressing disappointment at the situation Marsa found itself in.

After news came out in regards to the ruling, Zammit was left overwhelmed by the support he received from his fans. They offered to pay him the fine, leaving him in tears, not over the fine itself, but the sheer support of the fanbase he has managed to create through his videos.

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Photo Source: Adrian Zammit FB

Għana is now part of UNESCO’s intangible cultural heritage list

Dec 16 2021

Malta’s traditional folk music known as għana has just been considered an intangible cultural heritage of mankind by UNESCO.

The inscription was unanimously approved by Unesco’s Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Heritage.

Also requiring the consent of the communities concerned, the application had numerous signatures from għannejja and Ghana enthusiasts. A group of għannejja also submitted a video emphasising their support of the initiative through għana.

Addressing an assembly, Heritage Minister José Herrera expressed appreciation for the decision to inscribed the folk song into the list, stating how this was a great honour to all the local singers and guitarists.

Unesco’s inscription highlights that the folk song describes three related types of rhymed folksong. These are the quick-wit (spirtu front), factual għana, and the għana Bormliza. Għana is the second Maltese element in the UNESCO list with the first being ftira.

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Photo Source: Jose Herrera FB, GuideMeMalta

Local road safety advert featuring black face gets slammed as racist

Dec 16 2021

Forming part of the Street Smart Campaign by insurance company Mapfre’s social progress foundation, Foundacion Mapfre, a series of road safety video advertisements were slammed for racism.

The videos depict a careless driver as black, with a lighter-skinned responsible family. The careless driver in blackface and textured hair was named Mr Careless. The Safe family were fair-skinned and strive to make good decisions on the road.

Black Lives Matter Malta said the fact that Mr Careless is visibly different from the other ‘responsible’ family continues to propagate the idea that ‘bad is black’. This is a term for the phenomenon wherein people are more likely to receive another to commit a crime if their skin tones are darker.

“BLM Malta also finds it necessary to stress the importance of recruiting people with diverse origins and backgrounds in positions where decisions are taken so that such unacceptable productions are challenged and prevented from being released.”

The African Media Association Malta also struck at the adverts, shaming them for portraying the most horrible form of racism.

“The white guys are the good ones, who drive well and careful on the road, while the Black ones are bad! White people drive well, and black people are a danger on the road, says the ad. The use of blackface was supposed to add fun to the ugly story. How is it possible?

In response, a spokesperson for Mapfre defended the campaign and described it as innocent. The reaction was also labelled as disproportionate. The focus, they said, is to create awareness about road safety measures.

“The videos were produced in a cartoonish way to appeal to a young audience and the fact that the faces were painted in yellow and grey were just to make it attractive. There was no intention whatsoever of portraying black people as being the bad ones.

The video was produced by Danusan and was commissioned by Malta Public Transport. A spokesperson by the organisation also defended the video. “It is clear that the characters in this educational video series are crash test dummies, and the actors’ faces are painted in yellow and grey paint.’

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Source: MAPFRE Middlesea Youtube