Student wanted to ask Bernard Grech if he still felt Greek moderator reveals

Mar 12 2022

Following the University debate, which was, suffice to say, an event which received much social media attention, the moderator revealed what the ‘inappropriate question’ intended to ask.

During the debate, moderator and 5th year law student Yasmine Ellul picked out questions from a box which the students had submitted to ask the political leader.

One of the very first questions picked was immediately put to the side due to it being inappropriate and not relevant to the debate. Speaking to Newsbook, Ellul revealed that the question wanted to ask whether Bernard Grech felt Greek anymore.

The question was in reference to a 2020 story wherein Bernard Grech allegedly stated that he pretended to be Greek when abroad as he felt ashamed of what Malta had become due to corruption.

Grech had denied that he felt ashamed to be Maltese, saying that this is yet another spin by the Labour government to tarnish his reputation as leader of the Opposition. He said he did so because his surname Grech is close to the word Greek and makes it easily believable.

However, he had also said that he could not defend the Prime Minister and his clique and was afraid of what people would say if they found out he was Maltese. The moderator revealed that if she asked the question, the students would not have learned anything from it and so, she decided to skip the question.

Following the debate, Yasmine revealed that she felt grateful for the opportunity and all the positive messages she received for her leading of the debate. The debate itself saw the two main party leaders going head to head for the first time in public since Abela was anointed Prime Minister.

It was also the subject of much criticism after many students chanted party catchphrases such as ‘Viva Labour’ or Nazzjonalisti’ and even booed some politicians, including Grech himself.

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People planning to cancel Netflix due to price increases and new platforms

Mar 12 2022

Following the news that, yet again, streaming giant Netflix will be increasing its prices to customers, some have expressed the consideration of deleting their subscription.

On the 10th of March, the service confirmed that users would be paying more each month, with basic and standard plans set to go up by £1.

It is unclear whether this would impact European (and by extent Maltese) accounts, but many users worldwide are seeing their costs spike considerably.

A spokesperson for Netflix said that the company always focused on providing members both quality and clear value for their membership. The range of payment plans is designed so that customers can choose a price best suited for them.

However, some polls by different international newsrooms found that many customers are not pleased with this new price spike. In fact, LadBible polls found that around 48% of users would be cancelling their subscriptions.

Some are considering downgrading from the higher plans, whereas others aren’t too bothered about the increase in price. Some are also finding it more costly, choosing to switch to platforms such as Disney+ or Amazon Prime.

Then there were those who simply didn’t care, as they acknowledged not having a subscription; ‘We’re all just using the same (account) that only one person is paying for.’

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Labour pledges to increase physical education lessons in school

Mar 11 2022

Releasing their electoral manifesto, the Labour Party have pledged to increase the emphasis on physical education in school at all levels for students.

The manifesto highlights how the number of PE classes varies from school to school. The party has thus pledged to increase and stabilise the time required for physical education to take place in schools, wherein kids have at least one class of physical education a day.

The party claims that it wants to see children being able to perform physical activities on their own and thus cultivate a lifestyle of exercise. The government seeks to fight obesity through monitoring of physical education of children, with parents being updated on the progress of their kids as is done with every other subject.

Educators themselves will also be given special training when it comes to physical education awareness, coupled with new sports facilities being built to improve the quality of physical education.

The party has pledged to invite coaches and sports experts from different clubs and associations more often to increase the education surrounding sports. Children will all be taught how to ride a bicycle whilst games between schools will be increased to foster a healthy competitive element to sport.

You can read manifesto here.

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PL pledge to plant 100,000 new trees in five years in green proposals

Mar 11 2022

If the Labour Party is elected into government, the party pledged to implement a nation wide action plan of afforestation. This pledge will see the planting of 100,000 new trees in the five years the party is in government.

The party also went on to pledge an investment into the concept of urban green reclamation. For this proposal, the government plans of converting already existing public buildings or buying private buildings to regenerate them.

Families will be able to enjoy these spaces in zones and areas of Malta which are lacking in green spaces. This continues to build on a previously announced measure to create a green lung within walking distance for every citizen of every locality in Malta.

The Labour Party had previously pledged to invest €700 million to create these new green lungs, with the party releasing new blueprints for how and where these areas would be situated.

You can read manifesto here.

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