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Texas artist creates 19 free custom caskets for victims of school shooting

Texas artist creates 19 free custom caskets for victims of school shooting
Jun 1 2022 Share

The services for some of the 19 students and two teachers killed in last week’s mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas took place last Monday. 

And 19 of the victims were buried in custom made coffins made by casket-maker Trey Ganem. The owner of custom casket company SoulShine Industries, Ganem is based in Edna, Texas, and donated his services free of charge. 

He told CNN that he didn’t even think twice when he was asked to do it. BuzzFeed News reported that Ganem was contacted by the Texas Funeral Directors Association to make the caskets on the day of the shooting. 

He has since made coffins for 19 of the victims. SoulShine’s Industries’ caskets usually cost between $3,400 and $3,800 to make. But Ganem has no plans of charging the families as ‘this is something no family should ever have to deal with.’ 

Ganem’s son, Billy, expressed SoulShine’s desire to help make the victims’ family’s current situation “a little easier.”

25-year-old Billy said that ‘There’s nothing we can really ever do to make it easier, but that’s our goal: to help the families … start their grieving and their healing and just try to make something special for them.’ 

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Maltese DJs Debrii & Koroma to perform in Croatia

Jun 1 2022 Share

On Thursday, two Maltese DJs will travel to the Croatian island of Pag to perform at Zrce Spring Break between June 3 and 6,  an event which is considered to be one of Europe’s hottest Spring Break festivals.

 

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24-year-old Daniel Briffa (Debrii) and 21-year-old Isaak Koroma (Koroma) will join the likes of Fedde Le Grand, DJs From Mars, MANDY and Yves V at a number of venues within the popular Croatian entertainment hub.

Locally, the two young DJs are residents at G7 Events, Malta’s leading event and club night organisers and have performed at popular venues such as Gianpula Village, Café Del Mar, Sky Club, Aria Complex and a selected number of clubs in Paceville, amongst others.

 

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This will be Koroma’s first DJ gig beyond Maltese shores whilst Debrii had previously represented Malta at World Club Dome in Düsseldorf before the COVID-19 pandemic in January 2020.

Notably, Debrii’s recent viral remix of Maltese TV theme ‘Simpatiċi’ has garnered close to 94,000 views on TikTok whilst Koroma & his team have developed a beloved nightlife brand in Paceville residency ‘ICON’.

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Canada to decriminalise cocaine and MDMA for three years as trial run

Canada to decriminalise cocaine and MDMA for three years as trial run
Jun 1 2022 Share

Canada has just announced that it will temporarily decriminalise the possession of cocaine and MDMA in the province of British Columbia. 

The province asked for the criminal code exemption after overdoses saw the deaths of over two thousand lives last year. This is the first time-limited three-year trial in Canada. 

Adults will be allowed to possess a combined total of 2.5 grams of opioids, cocaine, methamphetamine and MDMA. While the substances will remain illegal, adults found in their possession for personal use will not be arrested or charged. 

They will instead be offered information on available health and social services. The province said that it asked for the exemption in order to remove the shame that prevents people from reaching out for life-saving help. 

Federal minister of mental health and addiction Carolyn Bennett said that ‘for too many years, the ideological opposition to harm reduction has cost lives. We are doing this to save lives, but also to give people using drugs their dignity and choices.’ 

The programme will run from the 31st of January 2023 to the 31st of January 2026. BC declared the overdose crisis a public health emergency five years ago. Overdose deaths reached historic heights in the shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Over 9000 people died of drug overdose in the province since 2016. However, Minister Bennett is hoping the scheme could become a template for other jurisdictions across Canada, and possibly the rest of the world. 

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Mercedes-Benz to phase out manual transmission by 2023

Mercedes-Benz to phase out manual transmission by 2023
Jun 1 2022 Share

A spokesperson for automaker Mercedes-Benz revealed that they will be officially phasing out the manual transmission from its vehicles as of next year. According to a report from German publication Automobilwoche, Mercedes-Benz will make the automatic transmissions the only option as of 2023 as new models are introduced. 

The manufacturer had already previously announced it would be dropping manual back in 2020, but this is the first time a date has been confirmed. 

‘With increasing electrification, we see that customer demand is shifting towards electric mobility components, batteries and (partially) electric drive systems’ said a spokesperson. 

The move away from manual transmission is reflected in the wider car community, as increasingly commonplace active safety systems work best with automatic. Along with the overall decline in demand for the manual gearbox, the global market for cars with manual transmission dropped to 17.1% as of 2021. 

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