WATCH: Claudia Faniello performs with sign language during Muzika Muzika

Apr 23 2022

Performing during the competition Mużika Mużika, local singer and songwriter Claudia Faniello incorporated sign language into her performance of ‘Ġmielek’.

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The singer described it as an unforgettable moment from her performance, thanking Rita Portelli who helped her make a dream of hers come true – which was to sing whilst using sign language.

The inclusive move from Faniello gave a wider range of audiences who would otherwise not had the possibility of listening to her song to understand the lyrics. The song, with lyrics written by Joe Julian and music composed by Philip Vella, addresses themes of love and acceptance, working well with Faniello’s approach.

Faniello will be performing ‘Ġmielek’ once again tonight after managing to pass to the finals. She will be going up against numerous talented singers and artists for this year’s edition of the acclaimed competition.

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‘He loved the sea and now he’ll be part of it forever’ says late sailor’s daughter

Apr 23 2022

77-year-old John Perkins is the man identified as having unfortunately lost his life during a storm when his yacht in Marsaxlokk was wrecked on the coast.

His daughter, Emma Walker, described him as a friend to many, as well as a lover of the sea. ‘He loved the sea and now he will be part of it forever’ she said in a Facebook post.

Perkins lost his life after his yacht cut its moorings and ended up getting wrecked against the shore due to gale force winds on Thursday. His body was found off Delimara on Friday morning by an Armed Forces Patrol boat.

Perkins was also described as a good dad, grandad, great grandad and brother to all those who loved him. ‘We’d like to thank you all for being part of his journey’ said Walker in tribute.

The police had said that at around 7pm on Thursday they were informed that the yacht had cut its moorings, but the police found no one inside the wreckage. They were informed that the man was on the vessel at the time of the accident. Rest in Peace John.

Condolences to all the family.

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There is a bus stop every 15 minutes in walking distance in Malta

Apr 23 2022

A recent data analysis showed that commuters are rarely more than 15 minutes away in walking distance from any given bus stop.

The new data looking at the distance between pick up points for public transport was crafted by analyst Charles Mercieca, who wanted to see how well served Malta is when it comes to public transport.

Publishing his findings in a new blog post, Mercieca went about asking how far the nearest bus stop is from any given point. Factors such as bus frequency and efficiency were admittedly not taken into account.

Despite this, it was found that access to public transport was still important as it is tied to aspects such as accessibility to healthcare, education and work, especially when it comes to people of lower socioeconomic standing.

Mercieca was able to use OpenStreetMap, which is a community-owned editable geographic database, to plot the location of all 2,060 bus stops in Malta and Gozo. Picking a random spot in Malta, he found that a person would be an average 340 metres away from a bus stop.

The only places that exceeded a 2.8 kilometre capping distance were Comino and Filfla. Assuming a walking speed of 5 km/hour, Mercieca found that it would be pretty difficult to be more than 15 minutes walking distance from a bus stop on the island.

Authorities have tried to make public transport use more effective and available. It is currently free for anyone aged between 14 and 20, students over 21-years-of age, over-70s and people with disability.

In the last October Budget Speech, Finance Minister Clyde Caruana had also announced that free public transport would be extended to all Maltese residents.

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Restaurants and bars to begin recycling waste starting with organic

Apr 23 2022

Starting from the 7th of May, catering establishments will be encouraged to separate their waste as part of a new pilot project.

The initiative will see catering establishments such as restaurants and snack bars taking out their separated organic waste in transparent waste bags or labelled bins on their kerbside.

The establishments will have times allocated to them, with guidelines on how to separate waste so as to avoid contamination. The aim is to increase the recycling rate across the island and use it as a source of clean energy.

With a particular focus on organic waste, the new initiative will take place on Saturday and Sunday between 1am and 5am. The initiative was announced by Energy Minister Miriam Dalli, Tourism Minister Clayton Bartolo and Parliamentary Secretary Alison Zerafa Civelli.

Led by the Ministry for the Environment, Energy and Enterprise, the initiative is being made possible in cooperation with the Local Council Association as part of a Long-Term Waste Management Plan from 2021 to 2030.

Minister Dalli explained how this initiative is being offered at no charge to further incentivise the separation of organic waste from such establishments due to their generation of considerable amount of organic waste.

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