Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/806571
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 2 APRIL 2017 11 MIRIAM DALLI WAKING up to 1 April comes with a warn- ing: look out for pranks that your relatives and friends might pull on you… but not just. Media houses are amongst the entities who keep their annual appointment with this prank bash in the hope of fooling their readers. And for once, politicians can correctly point fingers and shout "fake news!" From MaltaToday's €2 million scheme to help youths suffering from 'text thumb' to The Times of Malta's summer elections and The Malta Independent's bridge link- ing Valletta to Cottonera, media houses in Malta put their creativity to test. The General Workers Union-owned web- site inewsmalta.com may have taken it a step too far by claiming that the police broke an ISIS ring in Bugibba, with the La- bour Party's own One News pointing out that one should be careful before dissemi- nating news that could cause the public to panic – as this is prohibited by law. The Opposition's own news portal Net News had a field day in reporting that the German brothel FKK Acapulco – notori- ously the spot where minister Chris Car- dona was allegedly witnessed in – would be opening its own "gentlemen's spa" in Malta… instead of the building that cur- rently hosts the Broadcasting Authority. The Maltese Curia's newsbook.com.mt claimed that De Valette's dagger – which is currently being displayed at the Nation- al Museum of Archaeology – was stolen. The top prize for best effort admittedly goes to Lovin Malta's announcement that it had registered itself as a political party, producing 52 proposals for its electoral manifesto and topping it all off with a mu- sic video which included some of Malta's most popular celebrities. Of course, Prime Minister Joseph Mus- cat had to chip in on Twitter, tweeting that Labour's "progressive-liberal coalition with Lovin Malta will be HUGE" – a dig at Donald Trump's use of the word 'huge'. Despite the majority instantly realising that these were 'fake', if harmless, news, there still were online commentators who engaged in heated discussions – taking the opportunity to defend their own party or thrash their rival party. In the international press, The Guardian hilariously reported that UK MP George Osborne – who will be editing the Evening Standard newspaper – will be launching his own fashion line. True to its tabloid nature, The Daily Mail claimed that Prince Harry and his American girlfriend Meghan Markle tied the knot in a "low key" Las Vegas ceremony. The Irish Times reported that Trump International Holdings purchased one of Dublin's tallest skyscrapers and earmarked the site for redevelopment whilst Virgin Australia 'announced' it would become the first airline to employ dogs as cabin staff. And Google said it had introduced the 'smart gnomes' – a device that answers all outdoors-related questions whilst car man- ufacturer Honda came up with a personal- ised honk where drivers could choose their preferred honking sound, depending on the mood or who they encounter. Medical students rally against privatisation MATTHEW AGIUS PEOPLE with health problems should not be seen as cash cows, a new public health- care advocacy group, called Patients not Profit, said during a demonstration in Valletta today against the trend towards privatisation in Malta's healthcare system. The NGO is made up of fellow medicine, nursing and midwifery students, who said they are concerned about the future of Malta's national health service and want- ed to protect the NHS The group said the activity, attended by surgeon Kevin Cassar and researcher Dr George Debono, was aimed at raising awareness about what taxpayers' money is actually being used on. "PNP would also like to see all contracts pertaining to public healthcare systems published in full, well ahead of their im- plementation date," Matthew Drake, a fifth-year medical student, said. "The health service should be patient- centric, not aimed at making profits," he said, calling for transparency on health- care issues in the wake of a massive con- tract to Vitals Global Healthcare for the takeover of three hospitals. "The government wanted to expand Malta's health service, so to speed things up, it rented out at least three hospitals to a commercial company," he said, arguing that this was incompatible with the ethos of a taxpayer-funded service that was free for use by the public. Thomas Calleja, another 5th year medi- cal student, said that foreign studies had shown that having private companies run hospitals was less sustainable than having a national health service. "Corners are in- evitably cut and the patient ends up suf- fering for it," Calleja said. The group argued that the way forward was more direct investment, not "lazy del- egation to the private sector." Medical student Alex Clayman, an ex- ecutive committee member of the Demo- cratic Party, also voiced fears that for-prof- it medical schools, such as Barts – which will run an overseas campus at the Gozo Hospital managed by Vitals – threatened to encroach on the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Malta. "We'd rather not be here, but recent and ongoing transgres- sion against public health and social jus- tice have left us unable to remain silent any longer," Clayman told the crowd. One chronically-ill attendee told Malta- Today after the rally that she was worried that the prospect of a for-profit medical system would attract the wrong kind of person to the medical profession. "Doc- tors should become doctors out of a de- sire to help people and not to get rich," she said. News Thursday TVM 20:50 Medical students Thomas Calleja, Matthew Drake, and Alex Clayman (speaking) addressed the demonstration yesterday "In private healthcare, corners are inevitably cut and the patient ends up suffering for it" 1st April... the only day politicians can truly say 'fake news' Not a 'paw' joke at all... Virgin Australia's canine crew