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Spa masseur in custody after charge of raping American tourist

Spa masseur in custody after charge of raping American tourist
Feb 16 2023 Share

A spa masseur from Xghajra, Malta, has been remanded in custody after he was accused of raping a female American tourist while giving her a massage at a hotel in St. Pauls Bay. 

The accuseD allegedly made unwanted sexual advances towards the woman, which she refused, but then he reportedly penetrated her with his finger and put her breast in his mouth. 

Charged with rape, detaining the woman against her will and committing an act of a sexual nature on the woman without her consent, the accused’s defence team entered a plea of not guilty. 

The case is complicated by the fact that the only two people in the room at the time of the alleged rape were the accused and the woman, but witnesses saw her entering and leaving the room and noticed a change in her demeanour. 

Additionally, there is a fear of the accused tampering with evidence, and that he may try to leave Malta to avoid justice. Despite this, his defense team argued that there was no evidence to suggest the accused did anything wrong, and that he had not attempted to contact the alleged victim or flee the country. 

The accused was subsequently remanded in custody, and the victim was able to testify via video conference.

#MaltaDaily

Documentary about Pornhub releasing on Netflix in March 2023

Documentary about Pornhub releasing on Netflix in March 2023
Feb 16 2023 Share

The popular adult entertainment site Pornhub will be revealing details about its history, franchise and success through a Netflix documentary. 

The documentary will be called Money Shot: The Pornhub Story, which will detail the site’s launch from 2007 and its work to facilitate the rise of user-generated adult content. 

The documentary is being created by Alex Gibney’s Jigsaw Productions and will also seek to address backlash and accusations of platforming ‘non-consensual material and trafficking.’ 

The synopsis reads:  “As anti-trafficking organisations seek justice for victims, can the online giant protect those from whom they profit, or is this a new wave of censorship for adult performers making consensual porn?”

Director and producer Suzanne Hillinger said that the documentary “requires us to grapple with what sexuality and consent means when billion dollar internet platforms thrive on user generated content.”

The 93 minute long documentary will be available for streaming on Netflix March 15th. 

#MaltaDaily

Young woman who thinks she is Madeleine McCann goes viral on Instagram

Feb 16 2023 Share

Another young woman who thinks she may be Madeleine McCann is going viral on Instagram, gaining hundreds of followers by the minute, as she publicly asks for a DNA test to prove it.

This is not the first time that someone went on social media believing they were Madeleine McCann, with a new ‘trend’ emerging in 2021 having TikTok flooded with people claiming to be McCann.

“I think I can be Madeleine. I need DNA test. Police investigators from UK and Poland try to ignore me. I will tell my story in posts here. Help me,” her Instagram bio reads as she posts multiple pieces of content which attempt to substantiate her claims that she may very well be the girl who was abducted in southern Portugal in 2007.

In a lengthy post published recently, the individual states that she remembers practically nothing from her childhood, “including the late one”, suffering from post-traumatic amnesia. She went on to claim that she was the victim of a German pedophile and ended up in a psychiatric ward for children and adolescents.

“I’ll point out right away that I’ve been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, depression. I’ve got emotionally unstable personality, but now I’ve recently gone to a psychotraumatologist who specializes in treating trauma, and she’s decided that I need to be re-diagnosed because, according to her, I have CPTSD – complex post-traumatic stress disorder.”

No media or authorities have yet clarified whether this young woman is Madeleine McCann or not, but the Instagram profile is clearly claiming she is an abuse victim.

Madeleine McCann was abducted from a holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal after her parents left her sleeping while they dined with friends at a nearby restaurant. The abduction and subsequent search for the young girl took the world by storm, with international investigations launching.

With regards to the actual Madeleine McCann case, Christian Brueckner was made a formal suspect by the Portuguese authorities in 21 April 2022, going on to be charged with three counts of rape and two charges of child sex abuse, unrelated to Madeleine’s disappearance.

#MaltaDaily

Calls for urgent Mġarr road redesign after severe bike accident

Calls for urgent Mġarr road redesign after severe bike accident
Feb 16 2023 Share

Three NGOs wrote an open letter demanding that the Mġarr Road be immediately redesigned in order to prioritise safety off cyclists and pedestrians following an accident. 

Moviment Graffiti, Friends of the Earth and Rota wrote an open letter to Transport, Infrastructure and Capital Projects Minister Aaron Farrugia as well as CEO of Transport Malta Jeffrey Curmi and CEO of Infrastructure Malta Ivan Falzon. 

The bicycle lane on Triq Sir Temi Żammit, Mġarr saw an accident which left a cyclist seriously injured on Sunday. 

This comes, the NGOs said, after ROTA’s recommendations in the 2021 consultation process were reportedly ignored. 

‘Sunday’s accident could have been easily prevented had Rota’s suggestions of segregated cycle lanes been taken on board at the outset, when they were consulted by Infrastructure Malta during the planning phase of this road in 2020.’

‘Paired with a complete lack of an enforceable policy on cycling infrastructure from Transport Malta, Mġarr Road features what is possibly the least usable cycle lane on the island, so narrow that it forces cyclists to rejoin speeding car traffic at several points.  It represents a step backwards, not forwards, in encouraging the uptake of active means of transport and in keeping all road users safe.’ 

‘Fundamentally, road design should seek to ensure safety for all users and tackle entrenched car dependency. Increasing penalties alone will not prevent fatal accidents if our road infrastructure continues to encourage speeding cars at the cost of all other means of transport.’ 

#MaltaDaily