Saudi Arabian Grand Prix to be held despite close missile attack

Mar 26 2022

Formula One CEO Stefano Domenicali have announced that the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix will still be held despite a missile on a nearby oil facility. This decision has been very controversial, with many fans expressing their wishes for the race to either be cancelled or postponed on social media.

An Aramco oil distribution centre 12 kilometres from the track was set ablaze in an attack that Yemen’s Houthi rebels claimed responsibility for.

A few minutes left of practice but it’s off-track where things appear to be happening, with videos circulating on social media of another attack on the Aramco facility nearby and a big fire breaking out.

Lots of black smoke in the sky near the circuit #F1 #SaudiArabianGP

— Chris Medland (@ChrisMedlandF1) March 25, 2022

The 2nd practice session of the weekend had to be delayed because of the nearby attack. This led to many people believing that the race weekend had been cancelled altogether but to the surprise of many the practice session went on.

After the practice session, over 4 hours were spent in a meeting which included Formula One officials, team principals and all the drivers. The drivers were reportedly unanimous in agreement to cancel the race with Lewis Hamilton leading the way in arguing for the race to be cancelled with the various officials.

However the meeting served it’s purpose of assuring the drivers with GDPA (Grand Prix Drivers’ Association) sole representative George Russel telling F1 officials after the meeting that the drivers decided to go with the race after being convinced of their safety.

Formula One later on released their official statement on their social medias saying;

“Formula 1 and the FIA can confirm that following discussions with all the teams and drivers, the 2022 FIA Formula 1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix will continue as scheduled.”

“Following the widely reported incident that took place in Jeddah on Friday, there has been extensive discussion between all stakeholders, the Saudi government authorities and security agencies who have given full and detailed assurances that the event is secure.”

“It has been agreed with all stakeholders to maintain a clear and open dialogue throughout the event and for the future.”

We hope that everyone involved in the race will be able to go back home safe and sound.

#MaltaDaily

11.57% increase in prices between June 2021 and February 2022

Mar 26 2022

In around 8 months, what would usually be a €100 shopping spree has increased by around €11.57.

This means that a family who in June would have spent €400 in a month in the supermarket will now be paying an extra €46 for the same objects and supplies.

According to new statistics handed to newsroom Net News, the products sold in supermarkets saw a substantial increase from June onwards. Between June and July a 1.15% increase was noted.

By August, shop prices had already increased by 2.34% over those of June. It reached up to 3.22% by September and then 4.69% in October over June prices. The price increase over 5 months between June and November was 6.49%.

As the new year rolled in, the prices between June and January were 10.26%, increasing to 11.57% up until February. This means that a shopping spree of around €100 increased by €11.57 in the span of 8 months. This would would set the price tag for the same shopping spree at €111.57.

Prices are expected to increase more due to the Ukraine Crisis. This would effect bread and wheat, gas prices and other basic medicines and washing detergents and products.

#MaltaDaily

So it begins: Malta heads to the polls for general election

Mar 26 2022

Malta is officially holding its 2022 general election today, Saturday 26th of March, and will elect the country’s 14th legislature.

Polling booths opened at 7am for the country’s 13 electoral districts and will continue to accept voters until 10pm. Up to 340,423 votes are set to be checked in today, with another 14,473 documents uncollected from the commission by Thursday’s deadline.

The short electoral campaign is set to end with a major win for Robert Abela’s Labour party according to several surveys carried out throughout the entire month of March.

Discussions about the margin between Labour and the Nationalist Party have yielded digits ranging from 28,000 to 39,000 votes. According to a Times of Malta poll carried out between March 5th and 15th, a 55.1% to 43.5% split in Labour’s favour is set to be expected. This translates to a difference of around 37,000 votes.

As for independent and third parties, they are expected to rack up between 1.3 to 2%. Political leaders have already started to cast their votes, with President George Vella expected to cast his own at around 11am in Zejtun.

The pandemic also led to the setting up of seven COVID-19 poll stations around Malta and Gozo to cater for voters in self-isolation or quarantine. Only fully vaccinated people will be allowed into the Naxxar counting hall.

Apart from happening during an ongoing pandemic and a war in Ukraine, this election will see 16 and 17-year-olds vote for the first time. This adds around 8,500 votes to the population.

The electoral commission has said that it will most likely take until the early hours of Monday morning to deliver the official result. The official winner will however be declared on Sunday morning as more indications as how the parties fared expected throughout the day.

#MaltaDaily

More alcohol related deaths due to pandemic stress in 2020 for Americans

Mar 26 2022

A new study which was led by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism has revealed the immense impact of early-pandemic isolation for Americans who have substance-abuse problems.

The researchers sifted through a somber list of death certificates to tally all the passings in which alcohol was found to be an underlying or contributory cause.

It was determined that over 99,000 people suffered alcohol-related deaths in 2020, which is a 25.5% spike over the previous year. This means that more adults under the age of 65 died from alcohol-related factors (74,408) than from COVID (74,075) in 2020.

Alcohol-related deaths, which range from alcohol poisoning to liver disease to accidents, have shot up over the past 20 years with an annual average increase of 3.6% between 1999 and 2019.

However, a stark spike from 78,927 deaths in 2019 to 99,017 in 2020 confirms several studies which showed that people drank more to manage stress related to the pandemic. It also reveals the lack of support networks, especially as a byproduct of the pandemic measures.

Study author Aaron White told New York Times that lots of people were presumably undergoing recovery and had their support access reduced and thus relapsed.

The numbers are consistent with overall increases in mortality indirectly linked to COVID. In February, the US passed 1 million excess deaths since COVID began. This is a number that includes confirmed COVID fatalities (reaching 1 million) as well as an uptick in deaths from causes such as heart disease.

#MaltaDaily