Pandas officially no longer endangered

Jul 9 2021

The iconic black-and-white panda has been taken off the endangered list by officials in China. The bear was placed on the vulnerable list, which is at least slightly better than endangered. With panda population reaching 1,800 in the wild, they were originally reclassified as vulnerable back in 2016 by the International Union for Conversation of Nature (IUCN). This was met with backlash from Chinese officials who argued that this would lead people to believe that efforts to help increase panda population could be relaxed when it still required further conversation effort.

Work was done to expand natural habitats and repopulating bamboo forests, along with captive breeding methods performed by zoos. The animal is considered a national treasure in China, with head of the Ministry of Ecology and Environemtn’s Department of Nature and Ecology Conservation in China Cui Shuhong stating that this improvement shows the country’s efforts in keeping their habitats integrated.

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Photo Source: KDnuggets

Outdoor Ta’ Qali gym renovation inaugurated with €61,000 investment

Jul 9 2021

Parliamentary Secretary for Sport, Recreation and Voluntary Organisations Clifton Grima inaugurated the renovation of an outdoor gym in Ta’ Qali along with Sport Malta chairman Luciano Busuttil. The €61,000 investment will allow users of the exercising area to benefit from new and accessible machinery and equipment along with new flooring. The renovation also included a small ground which saw its floor and wood changed and the instalment of security cameras.

The Parliamentary Secretary stated that this investment will benefit families from all over Malta who make use of it. Having been uncared for for a number of years, the renovated gym will serve to bring communities together and also acts as an investment into the population’s health.

Apart from thanking SportMalta for the work, Grima also stated how further conversations between several councils are ongoing to make such facilities more accessible. SportMalta chairman Luciano Busuttil stated that the renovation is part of the mission SportMalta has undertaken to get the population being active.

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Photo Source: Clifton Grima FB

VW and BMW fined $1 billion for not utilising emission reducing technology

Jul 9 2021

Volkswagen Group and BMW have been fined $1 billion for colluding to hold back development of technology which could have reduced harmful emissions from their vehicles. The fine was issued by the European Commission, which on Thursday stated that the two German carmakers, along with Daimler and VW subsidiaries Audi and Porsche, breached EU antitrust rules by agreeing to avoid competing on technical development in the nitrogen oxide cleaning area.

The five manufacturers possessed the required technology to reduce harmful emissions beyond what was legally required under EU emission standards. This was however avoided to compete on using this technology’s full potential to clean better than what is required. Volkswagen said it was considering whether to appeal the ruling, stating that it is the first time the commission prosecuted technical cooperation as an antitrust violation.

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Photo Source: Quartz

70 COVID cases among students in Qawra hotel forces closing

Jul 9 2021

A hotel in Qawra has been closed due to over 70 positive cases of COVID-19 amongst foreign students allegedly being registered. Most of the students registered as positive were in Malta to study English, with Net News reporting that their sources say the 55 new cases reported yesterday were not inclusive of the newly registered 70 cases in the hotel.

Net News was also informed that several vehicles from the health authorities were on site analysing the situation and mitigate any spread. This is a developing story. As of writing this article, Malta currently has 159 active cases, with a spike in new daily registered cases associated to imported and unvaccinated individuals. The focus was set to shift away from daily cases and towards hospitalisations of COVID-19 infections.

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Photo Source: European Pharmaceutical Review