Two €15,000 fines for men who illegally launched fireworks in field

May 18 2022

Two men have received fines of €15,000 each for illegally launching fireworks from a scaffold in a field in Xewkija.

Magistrate Donatella Frendo Dimech imposed the fines in her decision in a case relating to an incident which happened on June 21st 2018 in Xewkija, Gozo.

7 men were charged with letting off fireworks which were larger than one centimetre in diameter, and with having grievously injured another man. One of the man held a fireworks license, but it had not been proven that he had supplied the fireworks. He had not been shown to have been present at the time.

The magistrate said that the evidence only showed that two of the men had been letting off fireworks and remarked that there was no doubt they had the necessary license and experience with fireworks to know that the ones they were letting off were larger than permitted.

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Photo source: By Malta Easy

Netflix cuts 150 jobs as subscribers continue to leave

May 18 2022

Netflix will be cutting 150 jobs as the streaming giant seeks to reduce its costs and address the forecast that it will lose millions of subscribers in the first half of the year.

The expected cuts are mostly focused on its US operations, letting go several employees in the film and TV divisions.

This comes as Netflix’s market value experiences a slash of almost $60bn as investors forecast that the boom Netflix experienced for a decade is coming to an end. As of December, Netflix had around 11,300 full time employees.

This means that the cutting off of 150 jobs represents 1.3% of its global workforce. Last month, 25 employees from the marketing sectors were laid off. These included contractors who were there less than a year.

This also comes as Netflix tries to focus on a ‘less is more’ strategy. This means fewer but higher quality commissions of series and films. It is estimated to be spending $17bn on making and licensing content this year.

It intends to start cracking down on widespread password-sharing among its 221 million global subscribers. It also plans on introducing adverts for those who would opt for lower payments.

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Finland and Sweden’s applications to join NATO submitted

May 18 2022

Finland and Sweden have officially handed in their applications to join NATO, the US-led alliance, after the Russian invasion of Ukraine rose concerns and put an end to their neutrality.

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said that the applications the countries made are a historic step. ‘Allies will now consider the next steps on your path to NATO’.

This comes despite warnings from Russia, with President Vladimir Putin warning that the move may trigger a response from Moscow. The applications face resistance from NATO member Turkey, which threatened to block them over accusations that the Nordic neighbours act as safe havens armed groups opposed to Ankara.

Stoltenberg said that the security interests of all allies have to be taken into account. ‘All allies agree on the importance of NATO enlargement. We all agree that we must stand together and we all agree that this is a historic moment which we must seize’ he said.

Several NATO allies offered security assurances to Finland and Sweden during the application period before they are covered by the alliance’s mutual defence pact.

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538 domestic violence cases reported to police in first four months of 2022

May 18 2022

Malta’s police have received 538 reports of domestic violence in just the first four months of 2022. The statistics were revealed by Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri in response to a question by PN MP Paula Mifsud Bonnici.

The localities with the highest reports so far this year were St Paul’s Bay, at the top with 29 cases, Zabbar at 24 and Zejtun at 23. More recent figures also show that over 96% of domestic violence court cases in Malta fail to result in conviction.

Looking back to the entirety of 2021, police received 1,741 reports. St Paul’s Bay and Zabbar were once again at the top of that list.

More reports do not however translate into a direct explanation as to what is going on as a whole due to many victims living in silence and not reporting. The increase in reports also indicates more awareness about such cases, prompting the reports.

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