What did Apple launch at yesterday’s California Streaming event?

Sep 15 2021

Following much speculation ahead of this year’s holiday season, Apple held its annual product launch event yesterday in the highly-anticipated ‘California streaming’ event and launched a range of new products.

The iPhone-centric event welcomed a the new iPhone 13 mini, iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max with set of repositioned cameras and ProMotion Displays in the Max models, bidding farewell to the 64GB models with its 128GB starting at $699.

Despite not presenting any groundbreaking changes, the iPhone saw a return to the basics with what apple called the “fastest CPU in any smartphone”, a new A15 Bionic chip and improved machine learning capabilities such as real-time video and text analysis.

Apple then went on to surprisingly introduce a new range of iPads, rocking the powerful A13 chip which ensures faster and smoother performs, with the company highlighting that the device is ‘3 times faster than a Chromebook’.

With the many calling the iPad unveiling ‘the star of the show’, the Apple Watch Series 7 soon followed, with larger screen sizes, full on-screen keyboard and larger case sizes. The Series 7 will also be compatible with older bands.

Apple also ran through its operating system updates which will launch on September 20 before going on to introduce Fitness+, the health subscription service which will will include Pilates, Group Workouts, 4K video and more. The tech giant also began the event by running through its Apple TV schedule going forward, revealing a star-studded line-up of shows and films, many of which have been raking in awards and breaking records such as the first season star ‘Ted Lasso’.

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Dolphins are dying due to a fatal skin disease linked to climate crisis

Sep 15 2021

A research published in Scientific Reports shows that dolphins are developing a fatal skin disease linked to the climate crisis. The study shows that the condition is related to the drop of salinity of coastal waters caused by the more frequent and intense storms. The world’s largest marine mammal hospital in Sausalito, California conducted the research alongside Australian researchers and it it is the first time scientists have been able to attribute a cause to the condition.

Known as ‘freshwater skin disease’, it appeared 15 years ago in bottlenose dolphins and subsequently discovered in marine mammals in different parts of the world. The disease has been killing dolphins since Hurricane Katrina. After 2020 became the year to break the record for the number of Atlantic storms strong enough to be given names in a single season, dramatic drops in saltiness, which link to the disease, becomes more common.

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Photo Source: Marine Mammal Foundation

Zija TT’s partner in custody following domestic violence charges

Sep 15 2021

22-year-old Gareth Clach from Bormla has been denied bail and remanded in custody following charges of injuring his partner Zija TT. The latter, also known prominently as Terry ta’ Bormla, uploaded a Facebook post revealing she had been abused in her own home. This came around a month and a half after Zija TT reported death threats to the police but being ignored about them.

Clach was charged with inflicting grievous injuries on her, threatening violence and even drug possession and recidivism. The partner of eight months had, as described by the court, punched Zija TT in the nose. The incident happened during an argument over Zija TT’s mobile phone. His bail request was refuted and Clach was remanded in custody.

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Photo Source: Zija TT FB

Finance Minister pledges no new taxes despite pandemic impact

Sep 14 2021

Reiterating a pledge made months ago, Finance Minister Clyde Caruana stated that the next budget and the subsequent ones will not be introducing any new tax. Caruana was made finance minister in late 2020, making this his first budget. The minister stated how the pandemic’s impact on every country presented one of the biggest challenges since WWII.

The pre-budget document was unveiled on Tuesday, with a theme asking: ‘What country would you like to leave for your children?’ He went on to state that Malta saw an economic boost of 7.2% between 2015 and 2019, with an 8.3% contraction in 2020 when COVID-19 hit.

Caruana forecasted a 6% economic growth in 2021 and 4.9% in 2022. He also reiterated that employment figureswecreased steadily during 2021 and went below the 2019 level. The action of the government during the pandemic, Caruana noted, cost the country millions that it afforded. The country’s revenue decrease as a sharp increase in expenditure was noted.

The pandemic will have cost the country a total of €1.5 billion by the end of 2021. The debt-to-GDP ratio for 2021 was 65%, with a forecast of reaching 65.8% in 2022.

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Photo Source: Clyde Caruana FB