Satirist charged for threatening to ‘carpet bomb’ River of Love

Jan 9 2023

Matthew Bonanno, the owner of satirical news site ‘Bis-Serjeta’, has been charged withe threatening evangelical group River of Love with ‘carpet bombing.’

On January 4th 2022, Bonanno posted to Facebook, following the news of Paulina Dembska’s murder by Abner Aquilina, that River of Love should be treated exactly like ISIS.

In a response, a commenter said, ‘I don’t think malta can afford a sustained aerial bombing campaign on Żebbuġ. PS not to say it shouldn’t try.’

Bonanno replied saying: ‘And Żebbuġ is pretty nice. Relocate River of Love to Buġibba, then carpet bomb. Two birds with one stone.’

Bonanno revealed that police have served him with a court summons for misusing electronic equipment to threaten the commission of a crime in relation to the comment.

The criminal complaint was filed by head pastor Gordon Manche at the Sliema police station. If found guilty, Bonanno and the commenter could be fined up to €50,000 or jailed for up to a year.

The comments came days after Dembska’s murder at the hands of Aquilina, who reportedly attended one of the group’s prayer sessions the night before her murder.

Bonanno has launched a crowdfunding campaign seeking to raise funds to finance his legal battle. He states tat the comments are clearly satirical and hyperbolic in nature and a reaction to the shocking crime.

#MaltaDaily

CCTV shows car intentionally driving over restaurant plant pots

Jan 9 2023

CCTV footage released by Siġġiewi teahouse and destination restaurant Marilu’s shows a car intentionally driving over three plant pots.

The car can be seen driving past, reversing and then running over the plant pots as one of the vehicle passengers laughs.

The restaurant shared the video via social media, saying that they worked really hard to give Maltese aesthetics the importance they deserve.

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‘We kept all the old features at 66-68, Pjazza San Nikola and studied its history. From being “tas-superjura”, “tas-Sagristan”, to having a small shoe shop. It’s the small things too, like getting old Maltese hwat and investing in plants to decorate our facade with respect to our marvellous pjazza and the stunning chruch.’

The post goes on to express heartbreak at the vandalism, revealing that they will report this to the police. ‘We don’t know these people, if you do please let us know’ they said.

#MaltaDaily

Messi unknowingly lifted a fake World Cup trophy for his most liked photo

Jan 9 2023

You all know about Lionel Messi’s record-breaking Instagram photo, which shows him lifting the World Cup trophy after winning the Qatar 2022 World Cup.

However, two fans explained to Argentinian outlet Clarin that the trophy in Messi’s photo, which accumulated a whopping 74 million likes, was in fact fake.

As is customary, FIFA removed the original trophy some moments after FIFA president Gianni Infantino handed it to Messi for podium photographs.

Paula Zuzulich told the newsroom that before the World Cup they got in touch with people who make trophies and it took six months to make it.

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‘The idea was to get the players to sign it, but in the end, it was taken down to the pitch three times. First a member of [Leandro] Paredes’ family got him to sign it. The second time we were asked for it, it was down there for 45 minutes, being passed from one player to another, from one relative to another, while photos were taken.’

FIFA security even reportedly asked them to hand it over to make sure it wasn’t the original due to the difference being minimal.

Photographers captured the moment Angel Di Maria pointed to the bottom of the trophy to show the main difference to tell Messi he was duped. Thankfully, the football star found it hilarious and still shared the photo which went on to become the most liked social media post in history.

Anti-traffic banners hung off bridges by activists

Jan 9 2023

Activist groups Moviment Graffiti, Friends of the Earth Malta and Rota.mt put up banners over gridlock traffic in Marsa and Msida to highlight the major shortcomings in Malta’s infrastructure.

The banners bore the words ‘Prioritise people, not cars’ (“Prijorità nies, mhux karozzi”), criticising incessant prioritisation of private care use over safe, more inclusive and sustainable transport.

Moviment Graffiti highlighted how the broken model led to more car traffic with around 40 cars added to our roads every day as well as an alarming number of accidents.

‘Since pedestrians and cyclists are the most vulnerable commuters in dangerous roads, these statistics do not promote the voluntary uptake of active travel. Ironically, big infrastructural projects across the island have failed to abate traffic congestion, unsurprising to experts in the field who have been warning of the problem of induced demand.’

The groups proposed various ideas for ‘more socially just transport structure’, suggesting that kids and adults are safe when travelling on foot or bicycle on efficient and pleasant routes and that public transport services are made reliable to serve the diverse needs of the public.

‘Moreover, car ownership should not be a necessity and a burdening cost, with those who cannot afford a private vehicle made to feel socially marginalised by our transport infrastructure’ they said.

#MaltaDaily