Qatar World Cup voted best edition in all of 21st century

Dec 28 2022

According to a BBC Sport Survey, the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 as voted the best World Cup of this century with a staggering 78% f the vote.

The result came in despite the BBC choosing to shun the opening ceremony of this year’s tournament amidst a series of condemnations of Qatar’s human rights record.

Qatar managed to deliver a World Cup which saw Lionel Messi earn his World Cup legacy after defeating France with a 3-2 score.

Other moves, such as Morocco becoming the first African and Arab team to go to the finals, prompted FIFA president Gianni Infantino to anoint the tournament as the best ever in terms of diversity and inclusion.

The 2022 World Cup was followed by 2002’s Japan/South Korea with just 6% of the votes in the ranking. This was followed by Brazil (2014) at 5%, Germany (2006) and Russia (2018) with a tie of 4%, and South Africa (2010) with 3%.

Read here.

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Jellyfish Soup: early mass bloom for stingers around Malta

Dec 28 2022

Taking to social media, marine biologist and professor Alan Deidun revealed that a mass spawning of jellyfish as already occurred all across Malta’s sea.

The photo, captured by Desmond Sant, shows the annual mauve stinger (Pelagia noctiluca) having bloomed in droves and populating the Santa Marija Bay in Comino.

‘Similar blooms have been reported earlier today at Cirkewwa, Pembroke, Marsascala and Zurrieq – this might mean that, tentatively, this year’s FIRST jellyfish bloom will appear somewhat early, tentatively in March’ said Deidun.

The monitoring efforts form part of the Spot the Jellyfish campaign, which keeps locals updated and informed about the jellyfish species inhabiting our waters.

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Clear skies for a New Year’s Day? Here’s what forecasts suggest…

Dec 28 2022

Taking a brief look at the weather forecasts for this upcoming weekend, which brings in the year 2023 and closes off 2022, we can safely assume it’ll be rather summery weather.

Despite being smack at the end of December, the summer weather persists in Malta. According to Facebook page ‘It-Temp Madwarna’, Sunday 1st January is set to be sunny with maximum temperatures of 18°C.

Malta International Airport’s weather forecast is predicting similar turn-outs, albeit with a slightly more cloudy new year’s. It’s only set to get more cloudy as next week starts on Monday.

Temperatures are also similarly reported, with the latter forecast’s maximum temperature being that of 17°C. Both agree on the lowest temperature being 12°C.

Chance of rain is also minimal, with the likelihood of rainfall not surpassing the 20% all throughout the week until New Year’s Day.

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Vibe Check? Here’s what former US President Obama listens to…

Dec 28 2022

As the year comes to a close, former US President Barrack Obama released his annual playlist, revealing some of his most beloved tracks and, at least in our books, passing the vibe check.

The 2022 playlist includes everything from Kendrick Lamar’s “The Heart Part 5’ and Bad Bunny’s ‘Titi Me Pregunto.’

I always enjoy sharing my end of year music playlist with all of you — and this year we heard a lot of great songs. Here are some of my favorites.

Are there any songs or artists I should check out? pic.twitter.com/qkwm4UOzMD

— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) December 23, 2022

Rosalia’s ‘Saoko’, SZA’s ‘Shirt and Lizzo’s ‘About Damn Time’ also made an appearance on the list. Beyonce, Ethel Cain and Burna Boy also made cameos on the list of 25 tracks.

I saw some great movies this year – here are some of my favorites. What did I miss? pic.twitter.com/vsgEmc8cn8

— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) December 23, 2022

The former President also released a list of his favourite films and books in 2022, with his wife Michelle Obama’s book making it to the top of the latter list. Talk about supportive!

I always look forward to sharing my lists of favorite books, movies, and music with all of you.

First up, here are some of the books I read and enjoyed this year. Let me know which books I should check out in 2023. pic.twitter.com/NuGA7dDz9G

— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) December 23, 2022

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