Gibraltar Insight™ April 2020

THE ROCK’S LONGEST RUNNING MAGAZINE

I’M YOURS FREE COPY

ROCK

RESOLUTE FIGHTING AN INVISIBLE ENEMY

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@GBZInsight

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£2 mainland UK where sold.

Take Me

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APR IL ISSUE 48

Contents

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36

Business Insight

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Features

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BUSINESS NEWS

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INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY

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COVID -19 & YOUR BUSINESS

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THANKYOU TO THE GHA!

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COVID – 19 – HOW CAN WE COPE WITH ISOLATION, FEAR AND UNCERTAINTY?

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OUR BORROWED TOOLS

Sports Insight 26

CORONA THWARTS TIGER ROLL TREBLE BID

44 THE MILITARY ON DISPLAY 46 SUNSETS AND FULL MOONS 49 THE INNER YOU

Football Insight 29

LYNX FC – TRIBUTE TO ANTONIO AVELLANO

Forces Insight 30 PROMOTIONS & PRESENTATIONS

50 THE FASHION BUG: A LOOK AT MILANO MODA FRINGE

Regular Features 8

COMMUNITY INSIGHT

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TECHNOLOGY INSIGHT

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AT THE MOVIES

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TAGORE COMPETITION

40 MOTORING INSIGHT

History Insight 42

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GATE GUARDIANS

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MUM ON THE ROCK – HOW TO KEEP YOUR CHILDREN ENTERTAINED DURING ISOLATION

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HEALTH & WELLBEING INSIGHT

60 HOROSCOPES 61

MAMA LOTTIES RECIPE

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WEDDING INSIGHT

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THE LIGHT & POWER SHOP CROSSWORD

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Gibraltar Insight Deputy Editor: Jean King

Gibraltar Insight - the Rock’s longest running magazine.

Production: Billy Couper

Published by GBZ Media Limited, 5 Governor’s Lane, Gibraltar GX11 1AA.

Accounts & Administration: Rosemary Salah-El-Din Production Assistant: Steven King Superyacht Owners’ Guide Managing Editor: Sophie Blake

Printed by Roca Graphics Limited, 21 Tuckey’s Lane, Gibraltar GX11 1AA

Creative Director: Ben Lewis

Copyright 2020. All rights reserved.

Executive Editor: Ross Ford

The names Gibraltar Insight, Bermuda Insight, Mum On The Rock, SYOG, Superyacht Owners’ Guide & GBZ Media are marks of GBZ Media (Overseas) Limited, used under exclusive licence. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written permission from the publisher.

For advertising & general queries, contact: +350 200 40913 Email:

hello@gibraltarinsight.com

Web:

www.gibraltarinsight.com

Socials:

@GBZinsight @MumOnTheRockGBZ @BermudaInsight @SYOGuide @GBZmedia

Gibraltar Insight places great importance on the accuracy of the information contained within this publication, but cannot accept responsibility for any errors or omissions. Views expressed by contributors and/or correspondents do not necessarily reflect those of the publisher. Neither Gibraltar Insight nor GBZ Media Limited is responsible for any claims made, or material(s) used, in advertisements.

For permission to copy cuttings for internal or client use, contact NLA - nlamediaaccess.com or +441892 525273.

Photo: Elliott Howe

MEDIA LIMITED

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COMMUNITY INSIGHT

CHAMBER & GFSB PLEA TO LANDLORDS TO ACT THE COVID-19 CRISIS HAS THE POTENTIAL TO PUT MANY LOCAL BUSINESSES IN DISTRESS, DESPITE HMGOG’S CALL TO PRIVATE LANDLORDS TO ASSIST THEIR COMMERCIAL TENANTS. The trading environment has continued a downward slide, and although many landlords - such as Fairhomes Group - have heeded the call of Government, some others remain silent and in some cases have neither been in touch with their tenants, nor replied to tenant queries. This is in contrast to the experience of many Chamber & GFSB members who have found that some landlords have even gone much further than the HMGoG advice and offered rent-free periods for the next quarter.

in the current crisis. Now is the time for action. Now is the time to assist those businesses to try to keep trading so at least they can continue to exist and hold on to their staff in the long term.”

“It is incumbent on each of us to do what we can to help each other. When trading improves, we do not want to look back with regret and think if only we had done more to help. Do it today.

Do it now.”

Fairhomes said it felt a special obligation to its tenants by saying, “Within Ocean Village and WTC [there are] small independent business run by people we know and who are already feeling the impact of the current situation, and we recognise that they need our help now”.

In a joint press release, the Chamber & GFSB commented, “This has been very welcome and demonstrates the strong bonds of solidarity which we have as a community.”

Fairhomes also wished to convey public thanks to all frontline workers in The Rock.

They added, “The Chamber and the GFSB would like to thank those landlords who have already taken these steps to help their tenants. We would also call on the Landlord’s Association and all remaining commercial landlords to assist their tenants

Gibraltar Insight is keen to hear from commercial tenants if their landlords have been supportive, understanding, or lacking. Any contact will be treated in confidence. hello@gibraltarinsight.com

COVID UPGRADED TO ’MAJOR INCIDENT’ THE COVID CRISIS IN GIBRALTAR HAS BEEN UPGRADED TO A “MAJOR INCIDENT” BY HER MAJESTY’S GOVERNMENT OF GIBRALTAR. This development allows all Government agencies to act within an enhanced response framework.

A Government spokesperson was keen to point out that this emergency structure is well rehearsed. Trials for such eventualities and different scenarios are run throughout the year to ensure that all emergency responders are ready to react in such eventualities.

The Chief Minister, the Hon Fabian Picardo said, “This declaration merely formalises many of the command structures which have been so effective throughout the last few weeks.

During that time, we have been in daily contact with the Convent and the Ministry of Defence”.

OFFICE OF FAIR TRADING

CRACKDOWN A dim view has been taken by HMGoG and the Office of Fair Trading on potential profiteering by retailers during the COVID-19 crisis.

The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) is monitoring the prices of certain goods which have experienced heightened demand. This is in response to a number of complaints from members of the public regarding pricing of the likes of hand sanitiser, medicines and vitamins and toilet paper and so on.

The Minister for Business, Tourism and Transport the Hon. Vijay Daryanani

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said, “This is not the moment for businesses to take advantage of the situation. We live in unprecedented times, and we need to show consideration towards our people. Our business community will start prospering again. In the meantime, we need to stick together and be patient.”

The OFT is inviting Gibraltarians to continue to send information on suspected pricing abuse by traders to consumer. protection@gibraltar.gov.gi or calling 200 71700.

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COMMUNITY INSIGHT

ON COVID-19 BAN IMPORTED COVID CONTACT CENTRE HMGOG HAS ESTABLISHED THE PROMISED COVID-19 PUBLIC INFORMATION CALL CENTRE, BASED AT NO 6 CONVENT PLACE. THIS WILL HANDLE ALL QUERIES RELATED TO THE CURRENT VIRUS PANDEMIC THAT ARE NOT MEDICAL IN NATURE. THOSE WHO ARE IN SELF-ISOLATION OR WHO ARE OVER 70 AND REQUIRE ASSISTANCE SHOULD ALSO REQUEST IT HERE. THE PHONE LINE WILL BE OPERATED 24 HOURS A DAY.

TEST KITS

THE IMPORT OF ALL COVID TEST KITS HAS BEEN BANNED BY HMGOG. THIS EXCLUDES THOSE DISTRIBUTED BY THE GHA. This action has been taken to maintain the empirical quality of test results in Gibraltar. The effect of this is two-fold: to manage the reliability of knowing who has had or carries the disease, and the compliance with social distancing measures. Both are crucial to managing the workload of the GHA. A Government spokesperson added, “We must reduce the curve.

We must save the GHA. We must save the lives of our friends and relatives”.

In short: • If you have a non-medical question related to COVID-19 please call 200 41818 or email covid.info@gibraltar.gov.gi • If you are in self-isolation or over 70 and require assistance, please call 200 41818 or email covid.info@gibraltar.gov.gi

DRAMA FESTIVAL REIMBURSEMENT The remaining 20% of unclaimed ticket holders for the Gibraltar Drama Festival is being reimbursed by Gibraltar Cultural Services.

• If you develop a cough, fever, shortness of breath, nasal congestion or a runny nose, please call 111 immediately

Those impacted should go to culture.gi and download and complete the reimbursement form. This should then be sent together with scanned copies of their tickets as proof of purchase. Once processed and approved, refunds will be done by bank transfer.

For further info, contact the events department 20067236 or info@culture.gi

#StaySafeGBZ

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BUSINESS INSIGHT

MARINA BAY UPGRADE PLANS Marina Bay is set for a multi-million pound investment, with the objective of further enhancing Gibraltar’s reputation as a go-to marine destination.

peryacht berths for yachts up to 100m (328ft) will be constructed. It is envisaged that the majority of new berths will be completed by the end of 2020.

The plan includes an increased number of upgraded berths, 144 high-end waterfront rental apartments comprising “Marina Club” and new infrastructure with enhanced facilities.

It all forms part of a long relationship between Gibraltar and Gregory Butcher, owner and chairman of Ocean Village.

Marina Bay was added to his property portfolio in 2006 as part of his long-term, high volume investment in the area.

Work is already underway with the first stage of development of this word-class project, which is replacing the old concrete Mediterranean-style berths to make way for the installation of easier access new floating finger pontoons.

The number of berths will increase and will be able to cope with vessels in the 15-18m (49-59ft) range. In addition, 12 fully serviced and carefully designed su-

EDINBURGH TRIP FOR TOURIST BOARD To coincide with the launch of easyJet’s Gibraltar-Edinburgh route, but before the current COVID-19 state of flux, the Gibraltar Tourist Board put on a roadshow in the “Athens of the North”.

William Bowman, Marina Bay marina director commented, “Short term and long term berthing will be massively enhanced, with continued opportunities for locals to berth their boats here and visit.”

The new superyacht berths, apart from having substantially improved infrastructure will also offer new services such as concierge.

Sunborn Gibraltar, Fred Holidays, Osprey Holidays and Edinburgh Airport were on hand with the GTB for the duration of the event.

Approximately 40 travel agents from Edinburgh and the surrounding area attended to gain more insight into The Rock and its unique position as a British tourist destination.

t was held at the Balmoral Hotel (formerly the North British Hotel), an imposing building on the east side of Edinburgh’s Princes Street, next to Waverley Railway Station.

pitality, tourism and retail industry. This event follows on from three other successful shows in London, Manchester and Bristol a few weeks ago. I am particularly grateful to those industry partners from the UK and Gibraltar who make the effort to work alongside the great team at the GTB at these events.”

It is envisaged that once further data on the COVID-19 situation has been collected, the aviation industry will be able to give further plans on the restarting of services.

Representatives from MH Bland, The Rock Hotel, The Elliot Hotel, Blands, easyJet,

Bowman went on to emphasise, “Our aim is to encourage longer term mooring from superyachts and provide them not only with duty free fuel, but also fantastic facilities and services to encourage them to use Gibraltar more frequently as a home port. We now have 5-star bathroom facilities, so after a long trip on the ocean, we offer the opportunity for boatowners to take a soak in a hot bath! This is something which is quite rare in the offering for marina facilities in this area.”

“Superyacht crew will have access to the Marina Club facilities for accommodation, sport facilities and F&B outlets. It is anticipated that a number of new jobs will be created as well as a direct result of the multiplying effect on local employment”.

As part of HMGoG public safety measures, counter services for Gibraltar Car Parks have been temporarily closed.

However, a new online option is now available at gibcarparks.com The website features general information, payment and Residential Parking Permit renewal services, plus downloadable application forms that can then be submitted online.

The corporate office of Gibraltar Car Parks remain open for telephone queries Mon-Thurs 08:30 to 15:00 and Friday 08:30 to 14:30. Contacting the office - on 200 49202 - should be limited to general queries or troubleshooting website difficulties.

Commenting from Gibraltar, Minister for Tourism, the Hon Vijay Daryanani MP, said, “The start of flights from Edinburgh is excellent news for Gibraltar as it will deliver business to the hos-

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BUSINESS INSIGHT

& YOUR BUSINESS INSIGHT ASKED SOME LOCAL BUSINESSES TO SHARE WITH US HOW THEY WERE COPING AT THIS EXTRAORDINARY TIME, WHAT THE IMPLICATIONS WERE FOR THEIR FIRMS AND HOW THEY WERE RESPONDING TO THE CHALLENGE.

JOHN BLAKE, SOVEREIGN For existing clients, it is business as usual and they will continue to receive timely and accurate servicing, which is more challenging when working remotely but something we have worked hard to achieve. We may see an element of new business levels levelling off, as clients delay decisions which is understandable, but hopefully this is just temporary.

Sovereign has a robust business model and despite the disruption, will continue to prosper. Our employees, like our clients, are Sovereign’s life blood. The wellbeing and productivity of our employees is imperative to the continued success of the business. Mental health concerns could have far reaching implications for any business during the lockdown period. We are in touch daily with employees remote working. These are challenging times but the proactive and collaborative nature of our employees is truly impressive. It gives us confidence that we will come out the other side stronger, with an even more cohesive workforce.

Sovereign’s group of companies has been responding to the COVID-19 pandemic since February. Now almost three quarters of Sovereign’s 475 staff are working from home. The learnings from our Asian offices enabled us to test business continuity measures earlier in our European, Middle Eastern and African locations. In Gibraltar we implemented a staged approached, initially with 50% working remotely, phasing into 85% the following week and successfully executing 100% immediately following the Chief Minister’s advice to work from home where possible. Supporting the well-being of the wider community is of paramount importance to us.

This experience will inevitably lead to many businesses to regularly test business continuity measures. It may even change the way we all work. Adapting to change post COVID-19 will be just as important as the measures taken to respond to the pandemic in the first instance.

SAMIR NANDWANI, TAGORE GROUP We began following health guidelines as soon as we saw the pandemic become more serious. Sanitising of high traffic areas such as counters, telephones, card machines etc became a high priority for

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us as well as reminding staff to constantly wash their hands and, as things became more serious, trying to keep a safe distance between themselves and customers. Of course tourism has now grinded to a halt and with the current lockdown, shops are all closed and we have seen Main Street become eerily quiet.

We are doing our utmost to be able to serve the community in the highest capacity we can, while practicing all safety guidelines provided our Government. While our physical shops are closed, we are delighted to be able to offer a virtual shopping experience for customers via social media. Customers are encouraged to get in touch with our team via message on our Facebook page (@TagoreGroup), Instagram (@Tagore_Group) or email to info@tagoregroup. com. We are able to assist and offer the full in-store range, process payments securely online, and make free home deliveries while keeping a safe distance. We like to think of it as a personal shopping experience just as if you were to visit us in store. We rely greatly on the support of our loyal customers and are so grateful that we operate in such a supportive community.

Of course, we look forward to being able to welcome our loyal customers and friends back in store very soon!

GILLIAN WELLAND, DIAMOND OCCASION Covid-19 has effected our business in many ways. Firstly, we have no hand washing facilities in the shop and there is no hand sanitiser available to buy so we can’t offer our clients hygienic areas. Secondly, we have a lot of families coming in both old and young, especially around communion season so again this is not the safest environment for our customers as the Corona virus spreads quickly through these age groups.

Thirdly, we have a personal styling service especially with our bridal collections so again the social distancing rule cannot operate. We cannot offer online shopping as our business is very specialised. We have bought clients’ special orders in and are storing them safely until this crisis has passed and we can once again operate normally with both our suppliers and clients.

We are awaiting government notices on how they will help small businesses as I believe there will be some funding available to get us through this.

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LORRAINE LAGUEA, NP ESTATES Covid-19 has unfortunately hugely affected real estate agencies, as our main source of income derives from sales and lettings, it is impossible to conduct viewings under the lockdown restrictions. Some potential buyers who were looking to purchase in the last few months are also now in a very vulnerable position in respect to their job status and income and have had to postpone the idea of purchasing for now.

We prepared ourselves as best as possible under the circumstances, making sure we had photos and videos up to date so that we could provide as much visual information as possible, especially as clients will now have more time to search for their dream home and prepare their list of properties to view soon as things are back to normal. We continue to update our social media pages and keep clients notified of the latest properties available and if anyone requires accommodation now, we can still provide a virtual viewing, on some of our properties.

We were quite busy on the letting side of the business prior to the lockdown with many locals and companies moving back their employees to Gibraltar, some for short term others for longer term.

We continue to provide our landlords with our management services and we are mostly working remotely from home, although we still need to be at the office at times to access to files, printers, etc. It’s not easy but we have done all we can to accommodate our staff in this current situation.

We have a great team and I’m proud that we are pulling through together during this very difficult time and we will be ready once again to open our offices and continue to provide our clients with our personal and excellent service.

The smaller independent estate agents like us will need the support of BEAT to survive during these difficult times as most of our of source is at a standstill. Once we get back to normality it will be another 2 or 3 months until we can start making any money from sales and we don’t know how the crisis will affect the property market. The current BEAT guidelines (at time of going to press) don’t include Estate Agents although this could change as it’s reviewed daily.

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FEATURE

IN TER N ATI O N A L

WOMEN’S

International Women’s Day Conference 2020

DAY

‘HARNESS YOUR POWER…THE JOURNEY IS YOURS’ CONFERENCE REPORT On Thursday 5 March, Gibraltar’s International Women’s Day celebrations got into full swing with the conference, ‘Harness Your Power, the Journey is Yours’, hosted by the GFSB & WIB (Gibraltar Federation of Small Businesses & Women in Business (now united). This was the first IWD conference Gibraltar has seen and was a hugely successful day, attended by 150 people on the Sunborn. A much wider audience than originally anticipated was reached due to the event’s partnership with GBC and a Viewpoint broadcast and much buzz in social media. Attendees enjoyed a packed programme with discussions that ranged from ‘Women and Financial Empowerment’ to ‘Change Management’ and ‘Advancing Your Career or Business’. There was an international array of panellists that also pulled from Gibraltar’s talent pool to highlight some hidden gems. Delegates appreciated the energy and advice of keynote speaker, Nina Vaca (Chairman and CEO of Pinnacle Group, listed as the USA’s fastest growing woman-owned business in 2015 & 2018) to use its assets to its advantage: small = mighty and nimble. The second keynote, Catherine Hankinson showcased how in the UK women in policing had ‘broken the glass ceiling’ since policing’s establishment in 1829, with Peel’s rules encouraging the ‘wearing of beards’, to the top two police jobs in the UK now being held by women: the Met Commissioner and the National Crime Agency. There was a palpable positivity and energy in the room, a recognition of how far issues that women face have come and yet the continued journey. The event was sponsored by Hassans, EY, Ince, PlayTech and The Parasol Foundation, and was officially opened by Minister for Equality, Hon Samantha Sacramento MP.

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FEATURE

Nina Vaca Chairman & CEO, Pinnacle Group

- One single idea: be crazy good.

- I started my business to help my family: this is the no.1 reason that women globally start businesses.

- Women have 85% purchasing power in the home and corporations are starting to realise this. Having women at the table isn’t just about doing good; it’s about doing good business.

- The perspective you have of yourself and how you view yourself will be who you will become.

- Gibraltar is small but mighty! If you are small, know your assets (small businesses have the advantage in personalisation, localisation, and superior customer service).

- Always believe better days are ahead of us.

- Networks are important: use social media, and local programmes such as WIB/GFSB. - Raise your hand, applaud yourself, have no fear.

- Finding the right partner who will support your dreams and do 50% of the work is the most important decision we will make.

- Women try to be so many things. Be a strong example to our children.

- Be clear on your why - in life and in business. If your why is not clear you could fall into a negative outlook. When you find out what your why is, you can find multiple paths to get there.

- The hardest moments can bring out your biggest strengths.

Michaela Rees Director, Knightsbridge Incorporations I have always worked flexibly around my children and feel that being a mother shouldn’t be a barrier to entrepreneurship. We need to make daughters robust, and our sons part of this and supportive of women at work. Children don’t see these differences that we do. I have always tried to involve my children in my business and they help out in the office. They have been given small budgets to manage from an early age. We deal with a lot of women needing financial planning and can’t stress enough the importance of having the education in the first place. Another issue is that women are not big risk takers and so obtaining finance is barrier as women don’t want to take a loan to get business off the ground. NatWest offer the ‘Back her Business’ programme which allows an individual to raise up to £10,000. If you have an idea, work out the forecast and try to get investment to make dream a reality.

• Embrace lifes pivots.

• Be kind to others and yourself.

• Better to try and not succeed than not try at all: noble failures (attributed to former Macy’s CEO Terry Lundgren).

• Having it ‘All” is subjective; my “All” doesn’t equate with yours.

• Perfection does not exist.

Dineen Garcia Diversity Global Consulting, LLC and co-organiser of the conference

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• Challenges are stepping stones: they aren’t drawbacks they are opportunities.

• Remember the Madeleine Albright quote: “there is a special place in hell for women who do not help other women”.

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FEATURE - Dont underestimate the value of a mentor: be careful not to pull up the ladder behind you.

- Ask for help: it helps with learning and helps other people to share their vulnerability too.

- Flexible working discussion is not just a female issue, it’s a parenting issue and it needs to move away from gender.

- It will be 170 years until women have full economic equality with men: as estimated by World Economic Foundation .

- I particularly notice a lack of confidence when talking to female colleagues. The little voice inside tells you that you can’t do something, then it’s reinforced in everything else you do.

- I focus on being a role model for the types of behaviours I expect my team to exhibit and meet directly with junior colleagues to talk to them about expectations.

- A woman is like a teabag. You never know how strong it is until it is in hot water.” Eleanor Roosevelt - Be kind: nobody cares what you know, until they know you care. People will always remember how you made them feel.

- Build your resilience before you need it. Make time to indulge in the things you like so you are physically and mentally strong to build for when you need it.

- FAIL is merely an acronym for First Attempt In Learning.

- Know yourself - really know yourself. What are your stakes in the ground?

Mandy Gaggero

A man is commanding; a woman is demanding.

A man is forceful; a woman is pushy.

He shows leadership; she’s controlling.

He’s committed; she’s obsessed.

He’s persevering; she’s relentless.

A man is a perfectionist; a woman is a pain in the ass.

So, to the women who are labelled: Aggressive: keep being assertive Bossy: keep on leading Difficult: keep telling the truth Too much: keep taking up space Awkward: keep asking hard questions

There are kind people (of both sexes) who are positive, reliable and supportive.

Find them and align yourself with them, use them as role models and ask for help when you need advice. Asking for help is not giving up, it is refusing to give up.

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Assistant Chief Constable, West Yorkshire Police

Previously Director of Regulatory Operations at Financial Services Commission

Is there a double standard between the vocabulary used to describe the character traits between men and women?

He strategizes; she manipulates.

Hankinson

Kathryn Morgan

Marketing Director, MH Brand

He’s assertive; she’s aggressive.

Catherine

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The local gender pay gap in Gibraltar is just over 19%, compared to 17% in the UK. About 12% can be explained by the “mummy tax” - having two kids and taking a year off for each one will reduce lifetime earning by about 12%. And that doesn’t allow for missing out on promotion opportunities, or working part-time.

Divorce is a time when it’s important to think about money - not just for the short term, but longer term. Sharing of pensions is difficult and divorcing couples should get proper advice from a pensions expert, not just their lawyer. Interestingly, it costs about £3,000 to divorce in Gibraltar. This could be a barrier to women leaving abusive relationships.

Make sure you pay yourself before other bills, for example, by putting money into a pension and building up a fund for rainy days.

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TECHNOLOGY INSIGHT

SERIES X REVEALS ARCHITECTURE

IN RELATIVE TERMS, IT’S BEEN A QUIET MONTH FOR TECHNOLOGY NEWS, OTHER THAN HEARING ABOUT VARIOUS FIRMS’ RESPONSE TO THE COVID-19 CRISIS. WHETHER IT’S APPLE CLOSING ITS STORES TEMPORARILY OR MICROSOFT OFFERING PART OF THE OFFICE 365 SUITE FOR FREE TO HEALTH CARE WORKERS, PRETTY MUCH ALL THE PLANNED PRODUCT LAUNCHES AND KEYNOTE SPEECHES HAVE BEEN CANCELLED. GOOGLE HAS EVEN SHUTTERED THE I/O CONFERENCE FOR THIS YEAR IN ITS ENTIRETY. However, one release that did sneak through was further detail on the Xbox Series X. We’ve touched on vague architecture details in previous issues, but now we have more meat on the bones of what Microsoft likes to tout as the console to end all consoles. Although you’ll have to make-do with using the kit you already have to while away the days during the current shutdown, the next generation of Xbox sounds like really something special.

“The CPU is the brain of our new console and the GPU is the heart, but the Xbox Velocity Architecture is the soul,” said Andrew Goossen, Technical Fellow on Xbox Series X at Microsoft. “The Xbox Velocity Architecture is about so much more than fast last times. It’s one of the most innovative parts of our new console. It’s about revolutionising how games can create vastly bigger, more compelling worlds.”

Sebastien Nussbaum, Corporate Vice President & Senior Fellow, Semi-Custom Products and Technologies at AMD “Xbox Series X is the biggest generational leap of System on a Chip and API design that we’ve done with Microsoft, and it’s really an honour for AMD to be a trusted Microsoft partner for this endeavour,” said Nussbaum. “The Xbox Series X is going to be a beacon of technical innovation leadership for this console generation and will propagate the innovation throughout the DirectX ecosystem this year and into next year.”

Jason Ronald, Director of Product Management on Xbox Series X, added, “While the Xbox Series X will deliver a massive increase in GPU performance and continue to redefine and advance the state of art in graphics with new capabilities such as hardware accelerated raytracing,” said Jason Ronald, Director of Product Manage-

This is illustrated most blatantly by the hardware accelerated deployment of DirectX Raytracing. In layman’s terms this is the simulation of the properties of light and sound - as they would appear to the human eye in the real world - in real time, with less latency, but more accurately than any other previous technology had been able to achieve.

ment on Xbox Series X, “we don’t believe this generation will be defined by graphics or resolution alone.”

Goosen chipped in, “Competitive gamers and the best gaming experiences demand precise, responsive controls.

The Xbox team analysed the entire end to end input pipeline, from the controller to the console and from the console to the display and we challenged ourselves to identify every opportunity to further reduce latency to provide the best experience for gamers on Xbox.”

A practical application of this approach even extends to game states. These will be stored directly in the onboard SSD. So, they’ll persist even after the console is switched off via the system menu, hard switch it off, and even if it’s unplugged completely. On top of this system updates will persist, so in the case of one lucky beta tester on the project, they were able to unplug the console for a week, then take an update, and afterwards was still able to continue right where they left off without even a loading screen.

When you add in the ruthless pursuit of backwards compatibility, the Xbox Series X really seems like it’s ticking all the boxes for fans of Microsoft’s gaming ecosystem.

Over to you, Sony.

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AT THE MOVIES PAUL ANDERSON IS AN ARTS BROADCASTER, RADIO PRESENTER, PRODUCER AND JOURNALIST. HE’S KNOWN FOR WORK ON BBC 6 MUSIC, XFM, CAPITAL AS WELL AS HOSTING HIS OWN ONE-HOUR FILM SHOW ‘AT THE MOVIES’ ON SMOOTH RADIO.PAUL IS ALSO A MEMBER OF THE LONDON FILM CRITIC’S CIRCLE.FOLLOW HIM ON TWITTER @AFILMGUY.

RADIOACTIVE: 12a

MY SPY: 12a

A film about Marie Curie feels somewhat overdue given how important to our modern life she is. For the most part, Radioactive is a conventional biopic. The film covers about forty years from Marie’s early days struggling to get noticed as a scientist and being thrown out of her lab space by boring boffins in white coats at the Sorbonne, to being married to Pierre Curie played by Sam Riley. Then we get the years in the sun when she is rightly recognised as one of the leading scientists of her age and the inevitable decline.

JJ played by Dave Bautista, was a member of the Special Forces and he was pretty good at it. Unfortunately, when it comes to being a spy for the CIA he’s rubbish. After his last disaster of a mission, he is teamed up with a super smart teccy in Bobbi played by Kristen Schaal to embark on a surveillance job.

The discovery of radium is ridiculously exciting, like playing River Deep Mountain High for the first time, and the possibilities are endless.

However this is radiation and, you know, that’s dangerous so by the time we get to see Marie’s daughter Irene played by Anya Taylor Joy, who is just everywhere just now, excited to want to try X-Rays on soldiers from the first world war we all know that this stuff is a killer.

There is a lovely cutting in of 20th century moments which adds to the documentary feel to the film; and we get both sides of the sword with the early treatment of tumours to the bombing of Hiroshima and the Chernobyl disaster.

The niece of the guy they are watching is Sophie played by Chloe Coleman a nine-yearold obsessed with French who turns out she could be useful to the spies after all.

JJ is desperate not to be humiliated again so he agrees to be a kind of babysitter to Sophie, taking her ice-skating and going to parents and special friends days at school. Having honed his comedic skills in the Guardians of the Galaxy films Bautista shows his physical and verbal comic moves here.

The action isn’t sophisticated, and the soundtrack and dance moves may make you squirm but there is still plenty to make you chuckle, especially the interaction between Bautista and Schaal.

Coleman is a real find and for one so young a charismatic lead who we should keep an eye on. It’s a super thin plot with some uneven performances but in a world of chaos a decent distraction at just over an hour and a half.

Rosamund Pike - as you might expect - brings a fiercely intelligent performance of a fiercely intelligent woman. There is a certain stiffness throughout until the moment her husband Pierre dies, and her passion is revealed. She is a passionate woman for her science and her life and to an extent lived a personal life without shame when more was expected of women in the era. However, thankfully, by the end of her life Marie’s achievements overshadow whatever scandal society decided she was embroiled in. A bit long but a fascinating insight and history lesson on one of the most important figures, let alone women, of the modern age.

Download and subscribe to th e Gibraltar Insig ht: At The Movies – av ailable on both Apple Podcasts and Spot ify, and smart speakers.

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SPORTS INSIGHT

WORDS BY LIAM BEGLAN, SPORTS WRITER 26

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SPORTS INSIGHT

CORONA THWARTS

TIGER ROLL TREBLE BID AND MAY YET SCUPPER LIVERPOOL’S FIRST PREMIER LEAGUE TITLE CORONAVIRUS CURRENTLY RAVAGING THE GLOBAL POPULATION, WREAKING DEATH AND DESOLATION ACROSS THE COSMOS, HAS CLAIMED ITS FIRST EQUINE CASUALTY, THE WORLD’S FAVOURITE AND BEST KNOWN HORSERACE BAR NONE, THE GRAND NATIONAL, THAT SPECTACULAR STEEPLECHASE SO BELOVED OF MILLIONS HAS FALLEN VICTIM TO THE TERRIFYING COVID-19 PLAGUE, THE MEN IN SUITS PULLING THE PLUG ON THE MEETING AFTER LISTENING TO THE ADVICE OF THE MEN IN WHITE COATS THAT IT WOULD BE FOOLHARDY TO ALLOW A QUARTER OF A MILLION RACING ENTHUSIASTS TO MINGLE CHEEK TO CHEEK AT THE ICONIC AINTREE THREE-DAY FESTIVAL. A BODY BLOW FOR MERSEYSIDE, BUT WORSE WAS TO FOLLOW WITH THE DEADLY VIRUS ALSO TRIGGERING THE SUSPENSION OF THE FOOTY SEASON JUST AS LIVERPOOL, FOR THE FIRST TIME, WERE ABOUT TO BE CROWNED PREMIER LEAGUE CHAMPIONS, AND ARE NOW FACING SELFISH CALLS FROM CERTAIN CLUBS, MOTIVATED BY NAKED SELF-INTEREST, THAT THE SEASON BE ABORTED AND DECLARED NULL AND VOID.

So sadly the Aintree Festival, one of my favourite race meetings of the year, is another Corona casualty, further platforms to showcase their talent denied to recent Cheltenham victors seeking more glory, or opportunity for the Prestbury Park vanquished seeking redemption. Alas no Liverpool Ladies Day, always a joyous Friday gathering of the city’s finest females, beauties of all shapes and sizes, uncomplicated, tittering, some tottering, hanging out, eschewing Pimm’s for pints, no Royal Ascot ice maidens here, lovely girls, all determined to have a good time.

All is not lost though in Tiger’s quest to rewrite the Grand National history books, his ebullient trainer Gordon Elliott recently stated in a BBC Radio 4 interview that the 2021 renewal will be his stable star’s main objective, and at 11 years, age will be no barrier to the chances of the equine phenomenon achieving the impossible – three Nationals in a row, a feat that proved even beyond the King of Aintree, the legendary “Rummy”.

Here’s hoping we all survive the Corona pandemic and are still around to witness and celebrate the great day.

Whilst calls to start afresh next August are deplorable but somewhat understandable from clubs fearing relegation and being shown the red card that bars entry to the bottomless PL treasure chest, it is comments from media celebrities like Good Morning Britain’s Piers Morgan, nurturing his insatiable quest to court controversy and keep his bloated ego firmly in the public eye, that cause intense irritation.

“Motormouth” Morgan, an Arsenal fan like me, declared that although it’s tough on Liverpool, the season should be abandoned as though it never happened, and kick off a new campaign in August! No Piers, No, Premier League 2019/20 must be completed and the Reds afforded the opportunity to secure the few points needed to ensure that the championship crown ends up where it so rightly belongs – the Trophy Cabinet at Anfield.

But above all, the cruellest blow is that tiny Tiger Roll has been denied the opportunity to rewrite Grand National history by winning the great race three times in a row, the doughty County Meath warrior had been installed as short-priced favourite to emulate mighty Red Rum by completing the National treble in consecutive years, despite being lumbered with top weight by a soulless handicapper who had the discretion, but refused to lighten pony-sized Tiger’s load by what could have proved to be a vital few lbs – a man-made blow to the chances of the history seeker, before the attempt was totally erased by what is also increasingly looking like a manmade intervention, Covid-19, the ghastly virus that is now catastrophically raging out of control across the entire planet.

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On the football front, calls to have this season’s Premier League campaign voided, abandoned and start again in August as if PL 2019/20 never happened, are wicked and shamefully selfish. Liverpool, currently an astonishing 25 points clear of their nearest pursuer with just nine games left to play, have been a joy to watch all season, their brand of football exhilarating, evoking memories of the golden Dalglish era, and to deny the Reds their first title since the abolition of the old First Division must not be permitted to happen.

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“LADIES AND GENTLEMEN.

THE BEST AND ONLY VACCINE WE HAVE TODAY, IS YOU. YOUR SELF-DISCIPLINE. YOUR FOLLOWING THE RULES OF THE SOCIAL LOCKDOWN. AND YOUR FOLLOWING THE BASIC RULES OF HYGIENE. WASH YOUR HANDS. CATCH IT. BIN IT. KILL IT. BASIC STUFF. BUT THAT IS THE BEST AND ONLY VACCINE WE HAVE FOR NOW TO SLOW THE SPREAD OF THE VIRUS.” THE CHIEF MINISTER, THE HON FABIAN PICARDO

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CUT OUT, PUT ON THE FRIDGE, KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON GIB

YOUNG AND OLD.

FOOTBALL INSIGHT

In this months Lynx FC page, we pay tribute to Antonio Avellano (1949 - 2020), the clubs first President and a tour-de-force to sport in Gibraltar.

When we speak of Antonio Avellano, known to his friends as Tony, we describe a sportsman, coach, journalist publisher, loving husband and father. Tony’s life revolved around sports and his contribution over the years was significant in developing Gibraltar’s sports into what they are today. He was a delightful character to be around and held a fountain of knowledge of the sports we know today.

On the sporting scene, he was unquestionably a true legend. Tony founded the Volleyball Association in 1975 acting as its coach and president for over 13 years. In the 1987 Island Games he coached the Gibraltar Volleyball team to win a bronze medal. Tony was involved in the Gibraltar Handball Association and a keen participant in in athletics track events and hockey. He also founded the GibSports Middle Schools Athletics Day, over 20 years ago.

After writing for Vox and Echo Sports, Tony founded his magazine Gibsport in 1991, when he decided to step away from an active role in sports. The monthly publication Gibsport was widely acclaimed by the community, in which he reported on sporting events around the Rock for decades.

Tony once stated, “Gibsport is my baby, as it allows me to keep in touch and help promote sport in general within Gibraltar. It gives me a great feeling to be giving back to the community.”

al Engineer, who has been the club’s President since 2017.

Both Tony and Jack have provided a great service to the club and we couldn’t be prouder to hold their names up high as our Presidents.

Their experience and the love for sports catapulted Lynx FC into a new level, from strong foundations built within the youth academy, to the planning, organising, and carrying out of responsibilities within the club. The ability of social influence to maximise the efforts of the team and inspire all is a skill both Tony had and Jack has in abundance.

Tony was later recognised for his contribution to Sports on the Rock receiving the lifetime achievement award at the GBC Sports Awards in 2018. He was instrumental in helping make Gibraltar a member of both the European and world governing bodies in Volleyball.

Tony was truly a gentleman and a great friend, and will be sadly missed - We Live Forever.

In 2007, Albert Parody had the pleasure of announcing Tony as Lynx FC’s inaugural President. This position is now held by Mr Jack Noble, Director of Ramboll and ex-Roy-

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FOR FURT HER INFORMAT ION, PLEASE CO NTACT THE CLUB ON LYNXFC@M AIL.COM OR 200 69 695.

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ARMED FORCES INSIGHT

The Royal Gibraltar Regiment has promoted a number of its soldiers and also recognised long service and good conduct.

Promotions were given to three soldiers.

WO Patrick Canepa, CSgt Malcolm Head, LCpl Chase Attard, Maj Timothy Cumming, WO2 Jonathan Sardeña, WO2 Sam Snee and Lt Col Simon Dyson

Warrant Officer Class 2 (WO2) Jonathan Sardeña has been responsible for the Motor Transport (MT) department’s training cell, ensuring that the RG have suitably qualified personnel across all vehicle platforms that support every sub-unit in the RG. He has also been responsible for the maintenance and inspection programmes, ensuring that the RG vehicle fleet is kept operationally fit.

For the last year, WO2 Sardeña has been the Acting MT Warrant Officer, which has seen him refine working practices and de-

Training Centre in Catterick for six months where he completed Phase One and Phase Two infantry training. On arriving in the RG he became a rifleman within G Company. During his time as a rifleman within G Company, he deployed to the UK for yearly training and also deployed to Morocco.

After 3 years as a member of G Company, LCpl Attard joined the new formed I Company. This saw him continue with deployments to UK and Northern Africa and in 2013 he completed his All Arms Stores Accountant course and passed various driving qualifications to operate the wide range of military vehicles held on account within the Unit. In 2014 he moved to the Motor Transport department where he put

velop training requirements across all departmental areas. WO2 Sardeña is now looking into reforming management practices to address unique equipment care issues, where he will aim to implement tangible changes over the next two years.

all his recently acquired driving qualifications to good use. As well as deploying on further overseas exercises in his new role, this period also saw him being employed as driver to Commander British Forces Gibraltar.

Warrant Officer Class 2 (WO2) Sam Snee has been employed as the SPSI in the 3rd Battalion The Princess Of Wales’s Royal Regiment (3 PWRR) based in Canterbury, UK. This role required him to maintain and administer the Unit’s radio communication equipment and oversee training of a reservist sub-unit. On substantive promotion to WO2, he took up the role of the RG’s Regimental Signal Warrant Officer. His new appointment will see him take over the Unit’s department that manages; maintains and trains soldiers on radios and communications, ensuring the Regiment is supported in its critical Command and Control function

In July 2016, Pte Attard opted to re-trade as a chef. He subsequently attended and passed the five month long, Chef Class 3 course at Worthy Down. On completion of the course, Pte Attard returned to Gibral-

Colour Sergeant (CSgt) Malcolm Head has been employed as the RG’s Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Training Sergeant for the past two years. In this role, he has been responsible for ensuring the EOD are in date with their mandatory licensing and training requirements. On substantive promotion to CSgt, he will be moving to EOD Ops SNCO, a job that will require close liaison with the local emergency services to ensure any EOD related activity is supported and coordinated in as timely and efficient a manner as possible.

The Long Service and Good Conduct Medal (LS&GC) is awarded to personnel who have demonstrated 15 years of exemplary and irreproachable conduct, and on this occasion the following received their LS&GC Medals: Lance Corporal (LCpl) Chase Attard joined the Royal Gibraltar Regiment in January 2005 and went directly to the Infantry

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Lt Col Simon Dyson with Maj Timothy Cumming

tar and has been working in the Unit’s main kitchen which serves all RG and Gibraltar wide tri-service personnel, along with soldiers from visiting units. In 2018, Pte Attard was promoted to LCpl and to date, has deployed in his capacity as a chef on several overseas deployments. His current role sees him based in the main kitchen and assisting when required in the Officers and Senior Ranks Messes.

Major (Maj) Timothy Cumming successfully passed Officer selection in November 2004 and subsequently joined the Commissioning Course at The Royal Military Academy

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Sandhurst in January 2005. On completion he joined the RG in December 2005 and deployed straight away to Nigeria and to The Gambia on separate Short Term Train-

Lt Col Simon Dyson with LCpl Chase Attard

PROMOTIONS & PRESENTATIONS

ing Team (STTT) missions. From May-August 2006 Maj Cumming completed the Platoon Commanders Battle Course and on his return, became a Platoon Commander in G Company until December 2007 when he deployed to Morocco and The Gambia for a second time. From January-December 2008 he was attached to the 1st Battalion, The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers Strike Battle Group for Operation TELIC 12, Iraq.

As part of his pre-training, Maj Cumming completed a Warrior Commander and Gunnery Course and was initially employed as a Strike Team Commander. On promotion after 3 months in theatre, Maj Cumming took over as Y Coy Battle Captain and then lead a six man Military Transition Team for the last 2 months of his tour whilst embedded within an Iraqi Infantry Company.

From February 2009-June 2010, Maj Cumming took over responsibilities as ADC to Lieutenant General Robert Fulton and then Vice Admiral Sir Adrian Johns. As from July 2010 he became the Adjutant for the RG until September 2012, where his key achievement was the successful planning and execution of Public Duties in London for the Regiment in 2012. Maj Cumming then deployed on his second operational tour from October 2012 to April 2013, where he deployed on Operation HERRICK 17 into Helmand Province, Afghanistan, as the Operations Officer of a multi-agency Exploitation Task Force. On his return to the Unit he took over recruiting responsibilities until January 2014, which is when he promoted to the substantive rank of Major and went on to join the Intermediate Command and Staff Course (Land) at the UK Defence Academy that finished in August 2014. From September 2014-September 2015, Maj Cumming took over as Officer Commanding HQ Company and Officer In Command of Recruiting. Maj Cumming then took over as I Company Commander which saw him lead his sub-unit on numerous overseas training exercises, command two Queen’s Birthday Parades and deploy to Chile to assist in UN mission pre-deployment training for the Chilean Armed Forces. In October 2017 Major Cumming took over the SO2 J7 post in HQBF Gibraltar, where he was responsible for all training activity taking place on the Rock for local and external visitors. Major Cumming returned to Afghanistan from April-October 2018 for his third operational tour but this time to Kabul on Operation TORAL as the lead Strategy and Policy Advisor into the Ministry of Interior Afghanistan.

Major Cumming then returned to the SO2J7 role after which he took over as Battalion Second-in-Command of the RG which remains his current position.

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FEATURE

WORDS BY KATHLEEN NORTH 36

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FEATURE

COVID-19 COVID-19 COVID-19 The Coronavirus has had a huge impact on us as individuals, our families, friends and society in general.

So, how can we cope with Isolation, Fear, and Uncertainty?

Burton Paul, a digital health expert believes: ‘We are today facing a situation no one alive has ever encountered or experienced - coronavirus. It is a word etched in our minds, and will forever be a reminder of how vulnerable we can be, and how vulnerable our elderly and very young loved ones are, and sure to be a talking point for decades to come. The next generation will likely ask the question “can you tell us what it was like to live in that period?”

In such times people are searching for answers, hope, clarity, understanding of what is happening with this virus and how it affects our health. But do they know where to search, what is credible, what isn’t, what to believe and what not to believe?

Burton Paul’s book “Is it Serious? How to Search for Health Information on the Internet” is particularly timely because of the amount of health misinformation out there already. It has been written in a way that people can understand what credible health information is and what isn’t, where the right sources of health information are, and how to find them for whichever situation you are facing in your health search.

Robocallers are now trying to sell cures and disease-delaying medication for Coronavirus, none of which is real and just a profiteering scheme to make money from people in fear.

Online technology companies are also now in the process of:

much more, albeit virtually. We are able to remain in touch with all the people we would normally be in touch with, and those we would normally not be in touch with (because of geographic reasons, etc.).

Whilst there is some good information on social media (see my list below on the reliable and credible sources on social media), what we also find ourselves doing through social media is reading posts that are frightening us with material that may or may not be correct. In our state of worry, we end up sharing it with others we care about so that they are also aware, not realising we are potentially sharing incorrect or misinformation.

Burton Paul states: ‘We need to appreciate that our actions will affect others around us who we are connected to. And we need to be careful how we affect others. We are here to support one another, not frighten one another. So it is important to check those facts, find the credible sources of information, and verify the truth behind it’.

A good set of pointers and a list of social media etiquette to try to follow are: •

Think before you post

•

Think before you reply

•

Think before you share

•

Don’t believe everything you read

•

Check and stick to credible sources

•

Be aware of your power to influence and affect others

ed that: ‘If you are self-isolating but not working at home, create some tasks that you can do which will be fulfilling and enjoyable. Share positive messages, strategies and tips on social media’.

The use of video calling and conferencing apps such as FaceTime and Zoom helps us share experiences with friends and family and Scott suggests that we: ‘Practice mindfulness or breathing techniques for relaxation. Light a soothing scented candle for a period during the day or have your favourite music playing while at home’.

Those with anxiety should limit the time they spend watching the news and limit social media coverage. It can become an obsessive focus and increase our feelings of anxiety. Pause Coronavirus updates on platforms like Twitter and any others that you can.

Routines are important. If you’re working from home, get dressed in your usual clothes and start work at the same time you would normally, take a lunch break and finish at your usual hour, stick to a regular bedtime.

‘Try meditation or a nap’, says Michelle Scott. ‘It can be tiring having to self-motivate and create our own structure. Have fun and be kind to yourself and others.

Our survival brains will be running amok right now and telling us all to get ready for battle or head for the hills’.

Unquestionably, this is a serious situation for all of us. At the same time stress and fear will not help us to stay wise or well.

Balancing out the stress with more positive and pleasant experiences will not only pass the time but give us a much-needed dose of feel good hormones and send reassuring signals to our overwrought brain.

•

Promoting good information

•

Demoting bad information

•

Be caring, be kind, be supportive #bekind

•

Keep misinformation from appearing in the first place

•

Staying connected on social media helps people feel less isolated

•

It’s ok to mute accounts or take a break from social media if it’s stressing you

•

If a post makes you sad or angry, then delete

Burton Paul: Is it Serious? How to search for health information on the internet available at Amazon

Michelle Scott is a Psychotherapist and former mental health nurse. She stat-

Michelle Scott: website: trcgroup.org.uk

So what part does social media play in all this?

It is important to note that social media is the heart and soul of engagement. In this time of isolation we are fortunate to have such technology as social media at our fingertips, which allows us to engage, connect, share, laugh, cry, and so

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Think about what you could do in your local community to help others who are isolated. Helping other people will also give you a huge feeling of satisfaction.

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FEATURE

OUR BORROWED TOOLS FOR COMMUNICATION ARE WORDS These are not my words, they don’t belong to me you see. They have been borrowed from a fountain source called language and they have all been used before by writers, poets, kings and vagabonds. I just string them together and write them down so that I can tell you a story in words that you can understand. If I weave them carefully and rhyme them they become poetry and the images they may conjure up should respond to a pleasing tempo in verse known as a poem’s meter.

If I arrange them in a sinister way and use a fantasy to create a frightening or harrowing story I may scare you, but if I use them in a positive way to praise and uphold good and wholesome values, I can influence the way that you perceive them and you may think that they are uplifting and heartwarming. That is a positive way to use words.

I can tap into your emotions with words that are not mine. I can craft them in such a unique way that will make you feel that they are my words.

Diplomats and politicians are supreme craftsmen with their words ambiguously designed to tell you what they want you to hear without alerting you to the deeper meaning of their words. Politicians sometimes conveniently forget to own up to words that they may have said previously and their defensive jargon conveniently and elegantly skirts around issues of truth - but these are not my words, although they point a finger, they are merely borrowed tools for our communication.

If I choose words wrong you may feel insulted and you will accuse me of having written words that have offended you. Yet these are not my words, neither are they yours but we all use them to explain our feelings. We can use them, abuse them, confuse them and reintroduce them. Yes, every time we think, speak or write them, words are reintroduced into our language. Beware that we cannot unsay them or take them back with any degree of success, they will always come back to haunt us if we choose them wrongly at the point of saying them.

We may strive to explain in a clear way what we mean to say, but we still don’t always manage to say what we mean. Yet because it matters how we say, or how we might not say words that need to be said, we are condemned to misunderstand each other in a human tower of Babel where, once our different languages, dialects, oratory skills, pride and beliefs are put into the societal melting pot, what will flow out of it is chaos. Chaos can’t be refined in the universal foundry even if it is poured into molds to contain it. Once it sets this is a hard metal that we can well do without.

Universal misunderstanding thrives in our world.

There is a beautiful word in music called harmony.

It is a term used to describe how when the sounds of musical instruments or voices come together in a coherent way, the sound produced is pleasing to the ear. It is not dissonant, nor are the elements that make up the harmony fighting each other for musical relevance. If harmony was easily available from a fountain source like a ready-made language and we could borrow its elements to use in the same way that we use words, then like music, but in a wider more universal way, our lives would be infinitely the better for it.

Wishful thinking? Yes and ‘you may say I’m a dreamer but I’m not the only one’ (John Lennon -‘Imagine’), the greatest peace anthem of them all. I hope that I have chosen good words to entertain you with this article. If I have achieved that then the credit is not mine because they are all borrowed tools of communication which I have woven into a cohesive pattern called writing. Now there’s a topic for another day.

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MOTORING INSIGHT

FIRST DRIVING IMPRESSIONS CITROEN C5 AIRCROSS

F A C T F IL E

mised. There are however other cars in the market that do have a firmer ride, better handling, but at the cost of a more choppy ride.

I’m not entirely sure where the Aircross name comes from, and not sure how it translates into other languages. But Aircross is used by Citroen on other cars, and it is their name for SUV’s or Crossovers. Citroen have always been a bit quirky, and the C5 Aircross is no different, but if you want to stand out in a crowd, then your designers need to think ‘outside-the-box’ – and I hate that phrase, but it does work in this instance.

THE C5 BADGE HAS BEEN AROUND FOR QUITE A WHILE NOW, THE FIRST ONE WAS INTRODUCED IN 2000, AND REPLACED THE XANTIA AND WAS IN PRODUCTION UNTIL 2007. THE SECOND GENERATION, AND A MUCH IMPROVED, AND LESS FRENCH, AND MORE GERMAN LOOKING WAS LAUNCHED IN 2007 AND RAN UNTIL 2017.

Now Citroen have decided to make the new C5 into a SUV, put Aircross on the end of it, and hey presto, they now have a car that is so much more ‘today’ - and offers customers a handsome looking machine, with practicality and flexibility.

The car we had on test was the C5 Aircross Flair+ powered by a 1,199cc 3-cylinder turbo-charged petrol engine. Looking at the size of the car, and then looking at the size of the engine, you would think, no-way would this work. This 3-pot engine produces 129hp, goes from 0-62mph in a respectable 10.5 seconds, and a top speed, where permitted of 117mph. This engine was coupled to a 6-speed manual gearbox, and has Stop-Start as standard.

Other engines available are a 1.6-litre petrol 178hp and a 2,0-litre diesel 178hp and a 1.5 diesel that produces 128hp.

The car we had had keyless-start, and to start and stop the engine, you have to press a button on the dash. Unlike many other push-buttons that you just have to lightly touch to fire up the motor, and again lightly touch it to shut it down. This C5 took quite a good push to start the car, not a problem but you have to get used to it.

Many of the cars controls, including the heating and cooling are operated through the 8-inch touchscreen, and the icons on the screen are difficult to operated while driving and you do have to try and rest your hand on the dash to ensure you hit the right button.

The interior quality is up to a high standard with plenty of softtouch materials used, so the interior is very acceptable.

The C5 Aircross is competitively priced, with prices starting from £24,435 and going up to £32,000. The car we had on test was priced at £28,935.

If you want a very comfortable, good looking and practical SUV, then the C5 AIRCROSS could be for you. If you want a more dynamic drive, a car you can throw round corners, and possibly make the kids ill, then look elsewhere..

The C5 Aircross measures 4,500mm long, 1,859mm wide and 1,670mm tall, but looks bigger than it actually is.

Big Citroens, going back as long as I can remember have always had the impression of large luxurious, and very comfortable motors. I can remember sitting in the rear of a DS19, and thinking then just how fantastic it was, so unlike the British cars my Dad drove. The DS was more comfortable than our old, worn out settee in the lounge. This new large Citroen has all the characteristics and comfort I remember from all those years ago, it really is quite luxurious, and remember – it is a SUV as well.

Despite ‘comfy’ seats, the C5 is also helped in the comfort department by having Progressive Hydraulic Cushions on each shock absorber to help keep the suspension controlled and give this SUV a very soft ride, yet its handling is not compro-

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MOTORING INSIGHT

FIRST DRIVING IMPRESSIONS DS 3 CROSSBACK

F A C T F IL E

THE DS3 WAS FIRST INTRODUCED IN 2009, AND DESIGNED BY MARK LLOYD, WITH BADGES ON IT. THE CITROEN DS RAN FROM 2009 UNTIL 2016, AND THEN THE CITROEN CHEVRON BADGES WERE CEREMONIOUSLY REMOVED, AND THE DS LOGO TOOK ITS PLACE. BUT GETTING PEOPLE TO ACCEPT THE FACT THAT IT IS NO LONGER A CITROEN IS NOT AS EASY AS WAS FIRST THOUGHT. AND TO GIVE AN EXAMPLE, MY 6 YEAR OLD GRANDSON, SAID HE WANTED A RIDE IN THE CITROEN, I SAID IT WAS A DS, THEN HE SAID, HE HAD A HOT WHEELS DS3, AND THAT WAS A CITROEN, SO I HAD TO EXPLAIN TO HIM, BUT HE WASN’T IMPRESSED. The DS3 Crossback is the latest in the DS range, and is basically the five-door version of the very popular three-door DS3, despite which logo it was wearing. Like the original hatch it is very distinctive, and like all cars from Citroen and DS, it is certainly quirky.

When the original DS3 was launched it hit the right spot, and became the small car to be seen in, and appealed to all age groups and male and female alike, this love of the DS3 lasted for years, and still continues, Citroen just got it right from day one.

The car we had on test was the Prestige Pure Tech model fitted with the frugal 3-cylinder 1,199cc turbocharged petrol engine that produces 155 hp. It goes from 0-62mph in 8.2 seconds, and has a top speed, where permitted of 129 mph. this engine was coupled to a very smooth 8-speed automatic gearbox.

The price range for this ‘Premium’ 5-door hatch is a bit hard to understand at first, and the UK list price ranges from £22,000 to nearly £40,000. But the high end price is for the electric version ,the 100Kw E-Tense La Première.

The interior is striking, and DS have tried, and possibly achieved the effect of a posh French handbag. There are diamond shapes everywhere, on the dash, the speakers and air-vents. The French are renowned for their design of clothes, accessories, perfumes etc, and DS are trying to cash in in French tradition and what the French are good and famous for, and translate this into a motor car.

The infotainment system is a bit fiddly, and easy to press a button, or an icon, you didn’t intend to. The sat-nav operation is initially difficult to use and understand, but I guess in time you would get used to it, but it is not as intuitive as many other systems we have used, but probably in time you would get used to it.

The Crossback comes at a time when three-door hatches are not as popular as they once were. The DS3 has had a good long run, but the buying public are getting more used to having the advantages of five-doors, for the ease of getting in and out, putting babies and small children in the back is so much easier on your back, and older people like having a rear door. Many manufactures recently have ceased producing small three door hatches in favour or five doors, and even going to the trouble of ‘hiding’ the rear door handle to give the impression it is a more sporty three-door hot hatch. So hence the Crossback five-door, it will be bought by DS lovers, but need a smaller car, but the beauty of having those all important rear doors.

The design has not been compromised by adding the extra two doors; in fact, if anything it looks even more stylish. It does look different to the other small SUVs on the market which are a bit boxy and conservative, which has to be a good thing.

All versions of the DS3 have flush door handles which pop out on demand from the key, or simply by touching them.

The ride and handling are good, though not brilliant, but this is a fairly tall SUV, and not a sports car, which makes it the ideal ride for all the family and friends, they won’t complain that it is uncomfortable, just the opposite.

The DS is very French, the interior is a bit blingy, but is refreshingly different and you do feel as you are surrounded by quality. It is a comfortable car to ride in, like all the old DS and Citroen cars, so the tradition has carried on in this car.

A good-looking car, but the price just seems a bit high, compared to some other very good, similar sized SUVs. But its handsome styling may be worth that extra bit of money.

WORDS BY MARTIN WARD GIBRALTARINSIGHT.COM

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FEATURE

GATE GUARDIANS WORDS BY DAVID EVESON 42

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FEATURE FOR MANY YEARS, IT HAS BEEN THE CUSTOM TO HAVE AN AIRCRAFT ON A STAND AT THE ENTRANCE TO AN RAF AIRBASE. ORIGINALLY THEY WERE AIRCRAFT THAT WERE NO LONGER IN SERVICE BUT RECENTLY, THIS PRACTICE WAS STOPPED AND FIBER GLASS REPLICAS WERE USED BECAUSE OF THE COST OF MAINTENANCE. Gibraltar had a Vulcan Bomber on the south side of the runway, but it is said that the Spanish complained due to its Falklands connection and it was removed.

It is now proposed to mount a Jaguar on the base.

The Jaguar GR1 or Jaguar S, first entered service with the Royal Air Force in 1974 with 54 Squadron.

It was designed to meet the Anglo – French requirements for a cheap, subsonic dual role trainer and light attack aircraft. However, this requirement changed to a ground attack, tactical strike and close air support role.

France, Nigeria, Ecuador, India and Oman also operated this aircraft in its various configurations. It first saw action in the 1991 Gulf war with the French and British forces and later in the former Yugoslavia in French and UK colours and in India in the Kargil conflict.

March 1979. In August 1984 it was reassigned to 31 Squadron where it stayed until returning to 17 Squadron in October 1984. In February 1985 it was sent to RAF Shawbury where it was laid up in storage until allocated as a Ground Instructional Aircraft at No1 School of Technical Training at RAF Halton in early 1988. When Halton closed it was transferred to Cosford and then to RAF Gibraltar ownership in September 2008. It arrived in Gibraltar on the 19th of January 2009. During its career it made 2,284 landings, flew 2,130 hours and thirty five minutes before ending up in Gibraltar.

We look forward to seeing this proud aircraft standing guard over our airfield and hope that cross border politics do not spoil this project.

It has been 10 years since the preceding article was published in the then newly formed History Society Gibraltar.

It seems typical that the History Club should now report that our Gate Guardian is now to be dismantled and returned to UK, more likely totally scrapped. Even on its restoration a decade ago much of its fuselage was fibreglass. (Not a property to dismantle easily).

RAF JAGUAR XX956

At its peak, there were eight front line squadrons equipped with Jaguars although ten squadrons actually operated them from time to time.

The initial RAF requirement was for 200 aircraft, which included 165 single seat attack aircraft and 35 duel seat trainers

No2sqd. RAF Laarbruch 1976 - 1978 - Strike/reconnaissance

The general specifications of the Jaguar are:-

No6sqd RAF Coltishall Finished 2007 - Attack

Crew

one

Length

16.83m

No14sqd RAF Bruggen 1974 - 1985 - Strike

Wingspan

8.69m

No16sqdRAF Lossiemouth Training/Conversion

Height

4.92m

Wt. Empty

7000kg

No17sqd RAF Bruggen 1975 - 1985 - Strike No20sqd RAF Bruggen 1977 - 1984 - Strike

Wt. Loaded

11,000

Engines

R.R/Turbomeca Ardour

PERFORMANCE

No31sqd FAF Bruggen 1976 - 1984 - Strike

Max speed

1593km/h mach 1.6

Range

535km

No41sqd RAF Coltishall Finished 2006 - Rec - Attack

Service Ceiling

14,000m

No45sqd RAF Coltishall Finished 2006 - Attack

It is a shame that a maintenance programme was not activated when the original placement took place, the RAF General Engineering Section has long since been scaled down or disbanded so no military interest or help can be secured.

We have a superb civilian airport building with acres of space inside and out that could protect the Jaguar aircraft and give a glimpse of British greatness of bygone times, We as children have always looked on in awe at flying machines even today when a rare visit by an RAF transport plane happens cameras are activated and the social media photos are shared. Will was lacking to protect and save this machine for our posterity.

So the RAF Gibraltar Gate Guardian is to be no more, another loss of our link to the military and to the United Kingdom.

Article supplied by History Society Gibraltar.

Email: historysocietygibraltar@hotmail.com

No226sqd RAF Lossiemouth became No16sqd In 1983 the GR1 Jaguars were upgraded to GR1A with improved navigation and attack systems. Also the engines were upgraded to the more powerful 104. Other marks such as then GR3A were refitted with 106 engines. The aircraft was withdrawn from active operations in April 2007 The Jaguar to be installed in Gibraltar is a GR1 with a tail No 956. Its first flight was on the 26th of September 1975 and was allocated to 17 Squadron Bruggen. In October 1978 it was in 14 Squadron, returning to 17th Squadron in

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FEATURE

THE

MILITARY ON DISPLAY COULD BE ANYWHERE, BUT THE FORMER CASEMATES MILITARY BARRACKS WAS THE PERFECT VENUE FOR THE GIBRALTAR MODEL SOLDIER SOCIETY TO EXHIBIT THEIR HARD WORK... AND ONCE AGAIN, WHAT A SHOW AND DEMONSTRATION OF TALENT IT WAS!

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FEATURE About ten exhibitions have been set up so far, going back to the first ones at the John Mackintosh Hall, but the first floor vaults at Casemates - now named the Gustavo Bacarisas Gallery - suited the theme perfectly.

Hundreds and hundreds of tiny, hand painted models placed on tables complemented the `rooms,’ as these were the quarters of regiments and battalions that had been stationed on the Rock over many decades up to more or less the mid 20th century. Last year I wrote about the exhibition highlighting the Royal Navy, which must’ve brought back many recollections of the large, Home and Mediterranean fleets assembling in Gibraltar in the 50s and 60s in a replica of the Gibraltar harbour, as demonstrated by Manu-

el Infante’s diorama taking up much of one of the vaults at Casemates. This year the army took pride of place and regiments set out on parade and on the battlefield were perfectly re-enacted. Apart from the British regiments on show there were others: American and German armies at war in the snow; there were also military bands from places you may not have even heard of, and so much

more. There were also scenes of World Wars, African fighters, the Wild West, the Roman Empire, Napoleon was present too and there was one scene of North American bison and other cattle also on show and on a much calmer scene, there was even a setting inviting `Tea for two!’

This year other model enthusiasts were allowed to exhibit their wares. The Warhammer players were in evidence this year with

GIBRALTARINSIGHT.COM

their futuristic, powerful warriors and war machines and the destruction they cause very much in evidence. Stephen Vinales is a Corgi cars collector and is very proud of his James Bond and Queen’s carriages collection... they were there as well. Also on show, Henry Pinna’s handmade, and painstakingly painted figures made out of some sort of Plasticine and paint. How does he find the time outside his Action for Housing commitments, I wonder? The whole display was wonderful to experience. It’s simply amazing how much time must be required to collect, paint, then clean, polish up for an exhibition and then set the whole thing up for display.

One collector explained how he measured the parade ground (Horse Guards Parade

ble figure put to it... but it’s all worth it, judging by the passion with which these works are assembled and put on show for the public to enjoy.

The bottom line has to be that there’s a myriad of hobbies and pastimes for everyone to enjoy: you just take your pick. On the Rock, as small as we are, I can’t think of anything there isn’t a following for - from crochet to Petanque onto stamp and coin collecting, the visual arts, chess, most sports and of course, if you’re a serious, patient, hard working enthusiast and have a real passion, there’s The Gibraltar Model Soldier Society who keep on exhibiting. Well done, that was a very good show!

Ground on this occasion) and the lining up in perfect order with pieces of string strictly spacing out all the figures exactly apart from each other displaying a smart parade just like the real thing... or even better! One collector I’ve interviewed in the past set out some of his regiments perfectly also - a fraction of what he has at home for sure. There, corridor display cabinets and elsewhere all beautifully set out and his vast collection just keeps on growing. Appropriately this year as he was leaving us - there was a model of Governor Lt Gen Ed Davis in his Royal Marine uniform on parade, outside one the Rock’s ceremonial saluting landmarks. It’s perfectly clear to me that the collectors who take on the hobby quite seriously, undertake a lot of research to gather all the details in terms of colours of uniforms and all the tiny details involved, whilst on the way, learning so much about the history of the regiments and their battles, countries, cultures, so on and so forth, there being no point if, for example, all of those colours on uniforms, head gear, badges and medals including very minor details, did not appear in the correct colours and shades for each item, large or small. If they were not to be exact and true to the real thing it would take away from the fun to be had because these collectors are serious hobbyists and I’m certain would not have it any other way!

During my travels around the Gustavo Bacarisas Gallery I was escorted by Sergio Sacramento, another keen admirer of this fabulously interesting `need-for-serious-research’ hobby which, we mustn’t forget, can get expensive. Apart from purchasing the models or figures - you don’t just buy half a dozen, you go for a full company or even the whole regiment - you then have to buy paints, brushes, information booklets and probably lots of other bits and pieces and costs go higher and higher. Then, the time spent researching, painting and getting the whole thing together must have an inestima-

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FEATURE

WORDS BY JOE ADAMBERY 46

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FEATURE

SUNSETS AND FULL MOONS I confess that the above heading attracted my curiosity more because of its imagery than because it’s an album title by one of the top touring bands of the last decade, The Script. We were fortunate to see them here at the GMF a few years back and they left a packed Victoria Stadium wanting more. Today they still have the magic and the new songs to draw sellout crowds into their concerts all over the world.

The Script is an Irish band from Dublin who came to prominence in 2007. Core members are Danny O’Donoghue, lead singer and keyboardist, guitarist Mark Sheehan and drummer Glen Power. They now have four albums to their name and have sold over 29 million records to date. They have a catalogue of excellent hit songs and their latest album ‘Sunsets and Full Moons,’ which they released last November and are currently touring, is a great album to carry on their legacy and build on it.

The touring has had to be stopped for the next few months because of the coronavirus pandemic. Already a number of concerts have been postponed until June including UK dates and European shows in Brussels, Cologne and Amsterdam.

All those cancelled concert upsets won’t stop us enjoying their latest album of nine songs with a little over half hour duration should we feel that way inclined.

Most music fans nowadays have ‘Spotify’ so there is instant gratification in downloading any album at no cost other than the annual subs. Why I recommend this album is quite simple, because few bands nowadays have the gift of writing

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great tunes and words for them and even fewer bands manage to constantly reinvent themselves without losing their mass appeal.

These guys have it all.

The Script tick many boxes and recently in a TV appearance on ‘Dancing on Ice’ I was reminded that in Danny O’Donoghue the band have an iconic singer who can really sell their songs well. Much like U2 with Bono, both front men have bags of charisma and leave an indelible stamp on their live performances. They are both original and quirky and they both front great bands which have an uncanny knack of becoming huge hits as they resonate with the public. Oh, and they’re both Irish as I write this on St Patrick’s Day which this year has had to be rather mooted in celebrations because of aforementioned CV pandemic.

You will enjoy this album as it has already spawned a couple of hits which you probably have heard often enough on Radio Gibraltar but failed to make the connection to The Script if you missed the announcement by the DJs. Sample the album with an open mind and perhaps like me you end up downloading it as the songs quickly grow on you for their freshness and vitality. I had forgotten how good they are in albums.

These guys are up there with Coldplay, Maroon5, U2 and other giants of the concert arenas and if you check them out online and read their reviews and tour information you will discover that The Script are still moving forward with the times in spite of the title of their mega hit ‘I’m Not Moving.’

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FEATURE

THE INNER

YOU

SO… WHO IS THE INNER YOU? IS THERE AN INNER YOU? HAVE YOU EVER THOUGHT ABOUT THIS? I FIND IT AN INTRIGUING IDEA AND SOMETHING I HAVE WORKED ON A GREAT DEAL OVER THE YEARS. There are many different approaches to find your inner self and there is no right or wrong way to do so. I think to put it simplistically it is about going within and finding out what truly makes us tick.

In a world where things have become so materialistic and so dependent on technology we have increasingly lost touch with who we really are and we have become sadly out of touch with our feelings. Thus, we also lose touch with connecting with others on an emotional level. So how can we rectify this and would we want to?

Well, I think it is important to be aware of ourselves as spiritual beings living in a physical world, as both aspects are equally important and it is essential that we connect to our environment on a physical level. The imbalance comes when we become stuck in this aspect and forget that to be balanced we need to be connected to higher energies also.

always start over; wherever we are in life… we can always have springtime again. Life is full of firsts, full of new beginnings and it starts in the heart.

A great way to activate the heart energy is to think about what we are grateful for. Gratitude is a whole big subject in itself but, for now, we can touch on it briefly, just to get going. So, take a breath and allow a thought that makes you smile slip in, and say thank you quietly to yourself. It is as easy as that to get started, and when you have done that once, then you can do it even more easily the second time… and then the third and then the fourth… and so on! Let it become a habit. It is such a good habit and one to pass on and share with others. The practice of gratitude will open up so much for you. Once you have the habit, you will never look back.

How to do this? Well, we can start by becoming aware of the things that do not change. The sun never forgets to rise and set and the moon never forgets to wax and wane. The tides never forget their rhythm of high or low and the seasons never forget to flow perfectly into one another. Right now, Spring is coming to life all around us and, fortunately, nothing and no one can stop the birds from singing as they busy around building their nests.

Nothing and no one can stop the trees from budding or the flowers from uplifting and delighting us with their amazing and beautiful profusion of colours. New life is a beacon of hope and love and we all started out there as new babies… and the truth is that we revisit these seasons of our lives over and over as long as we live.

Then you can graduate to being grateful for being you! Start in small ways by accepting compliments! Yes, really. So many of us find it easy to give compliments but so difficult to receive.

How many times have you blushed when someone said something simple like “Your hair looks lovely today” and you reply “oh no, it is such a mess. I am so overdue an appointment with my hairdresser!” We have all done it! Well, did you know that you are actually saying to your friend “OMG have you no taste…I am a mess. Yuck!”

Next time just smile and say “Thank you”.

Practice this and to be even more effective… make eye contact when you do it. Take note - people will not always remember what you have said - but they will always remember how you made them feel.

Kate McHardy is a Personal and Spiritual Counsellor.

So, I think it is important to recognise that we can

WORDS BY KATE MCHARDY

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FEATURE Milano Fashion Week took place in mid-February, just days before the coronavirus alert broke out and affected the city’s public transport, shutting down performances at cinemas and theatres, religious services at most churches and public gatherings, including Carnival celebrations.

In fact, Fashion Week was affected too, since all Chinese designers but one, due to open the runway, fell victims of the Asian travel ban and had to forfeit their shows. Furthermore, the grand finale by fashion guru Giorgio Armani on Sunday 23rd February was cancelled as a precautionary measure (later largely criticised for its unnecessary alarmism) amidst concerns of people crowding confined spaces, following breaking news of a hospitalised suspected coronavirus case from a satellite town some kilometres southeast of Milan.

Young exhibitors attended from Hungary, Africa and the Middle East and showcased their creations at a market hub where potential customers could purchase prêt-à-porter or place their tailored order.

namic duo Dalma Devenyi and Tibor Kiss who co-founded Je Suis Belle, an artisan-based atelier marrying folklore and literature influences; Zsigmond Dora Menswear, re-introducing Danubean men’s elegance to the western end of the defunct Hapsburg Empire.

Of course the real revelation of the fashion fair, which attracted a fair share of adepts and general public - despite mixed messages about public transport emergency protocols and health & safety etiquette - were the designers out of Africa and the Middle East.

The brain and genius behind Maison ARTC, Artsi Ifrah, will strike a chord with Gibraltarians for his genuine South Mediterranean style. His embroidered kaftans were the stars of the show, borrowing their colours from fruity hues and summery skies, and their shapes from the organic encounter of nature and architecture of fishing villages and oasis-side hamlets. Artsi was born in Jerusalem, lived in Tel Aviv, Paris and Amsterdam, before settling in Marrakesh.

THE FASHION BUG:

A LOOK AT MILANO MODA FRINGE

Trends for the fall/winter epitomised as flamboyant but wearable in the imagination of a bunch of flourishing designers, with attention to up-cycling, sustainable manufacturing, local identity within the global village, without forsaking classic streamlined darks, soft and matte for the office, velvety, satined and sequinned for the soirées, blessed with flirting transparencies, tapestries and embroideries.

While the Chinese input banked on casual wear in pastel colours and deconstructed tailoring, the Budapest trend focused on fashion’s first commandment ‘black is the new black’, and reinvented absence of colour with textures galore, picking and mixing precious fabrics like velour, chiffon, devoré, lace, mesh, brocade and matching casual to formal, smashing the dress-code ceiling with stonewashed jeans gracing eveningwear as much as beads and frills.

Whether understated or in-your-face, the designer logo becomes an integral part of the pattern, embroidery or print for the Mittel-European fashionista with fast-rising brand Abodi, defining the ‘baroque futurism’ fad.

Other Hungarian brands exhibiting were: Cukovy, specialised in puff jackets and sportswear; Elysian, reinventing bridal wear with Magyar flare; dy-

Gozel Green, by Chinelolum Olivia Okoji and Sylvia Ngozi Ojei, is one of the many upcoming made-in-Nigeria brands. The two women source materials and produce their couture locally, bridging past and future in the traditional choice of colours (earthy browns, deep blues from tropical skies, lush greens from the pluvial forest) interwoven with contemporary cuts that are just right for career women and ladies who lunch without giving up on comfort and agility.

Focus:ON Studio 189 is an artisan fashion brand based in Ghana and the US, founded by Rosario Dawson and Abrima Erwiah.

I spoke to Abrima. She told me how the philosophy behind her business is turning fashion into a tool for social change, encouraging cottage industry from farm to loom and even further, with distribution and retail.

Their factory is based in Accra, but sourcing and manufacturing reaches out to Mali and Burkina Faso, and offers women and vulnerable members of society access to dignified and regular work in full harmony with the environment and traditional artisanship.

“We build communities, involving farmers, dyers, loom workers, seamstresses, and they create magic. Our fashion is magic because it carries with it the spirit of all the people who touched it in the making.”

Each garment carries the symbolism of tradition and innovation, and she describes her inspiration as ‘tropical’. Surely her artwork isn’t for the wallflower, with bold colours and even bolder pairings.

Abrima is particularly proud of using only natural fibres and dyes, and of the versatility of recycled cotton, shredded and rewoven.

Her flagship craft is a black-and-white triangle-patterned full shirt, hand-woven in coarse yarn: “This is a classic piece that will be cherished for a lifetime.”

And should this skirt feel unpractical for your regular school run or rush hour on the tube, Studio 189, which has participated in countless New York Fashion Weeks, is well renowned for its vegetation-inspired handmade prints and for the azure palette obtained from the indigo plant, almost distilled directly from the crisp African skies.

The London influence is pretty palpable in Omer Asim’s work, which privileges stark western styles and colours, with a prevalence of monochrome and its infinite shades of grey, creating a severe display for the no-nonsense discerning customer who wants to spell out ‘dressed for success’ in their outfit.

The designer claims he doesn’t rely on sketching but creates impromptu on the mannequin itself, and describes his work as ‘regressive future’.

The week-long jamboree included a busy calendar of runway shows by the monoliths in the business, such as Gucci, Moncler, Max Mara, Prada, Bottega Veneta, Fendi, Moschino, Iceberg, Versace, Ferragamo, Boss, Fila, Laura Biagiotti, Jil Sander, Genny, Atsushi Nakashima and much more.

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MUM ON THE ROCK

HOW TO...

keep your children entertained during isolation

PACS – not just Parent and Child Society but also Play and Craft Suggestions!

Whether due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, other illness or bad weather, trying to keep your little ones entertained and active can be a hard thing for any parent or carer. This month Mum on The Rock is delighted to welcome our guest writers, Parent and Child Society Gibraltar (PACS) who are on hand to offer some helpful hints and tips to try and ease some of the pain….

Routine and keeping your children busy is essential, it is reassuring and calming especially during these difficult times. Thankfully with babies and toddlers, their lives naturally gravitate to routine. Get up at the same time. Structure your day naturally around naps, & feeds/meal or snack times, then bath & bedtime. Then try to have a plan of action and use short activities and play around the basic structure of the day.

Everyday life also must continue, chores, cooking dinner etc, so get your children involved. Toddlers can really enjoy washing up. When you cook dinner get older children involved in the prep, they can set the table. Or let them role play if they have kitchen toys, or use the pots pans, and wooden spoons to role play what you are doing.

Here are a few tried and tested play ideas we have for your little ones: as Mirror Mirror. Stand To burn off some energy, try games such have them attempt to and face to face with your child or children jacks, run on the spot, reach copy your movements, e.g. 10 jumping If your child is older, they face. silly a pull toes, your touch up high, them. copy must you time this and roles h can switc

Hide and seek, even babies like a game of peek a boo. Toddlers can play hide and seek, this game can easily be expanded, such as a jigsaw hunt, toy or Lego hunt game.

always include brushes, try Why not try a craft? Painting doesn’t as a potato masher to such ils utens en finger painting, use kitch dipped in paint and used make interesting prints. Sponges can be interesting snowflake patfor stencil painting; paper doilies make it for junk modelling. terns. Don’t throw out your recycling, keep

Finally, at the end of the day make some time for yourself. You may have had to meet the demands of your children, household chores, as well as working from home. Take the time to enjoy a long bath. Telephone loved ones who are self-isolating. Watch a film or read a book. Follow our Facebook Page for regular updates. And don’t forget, we are here for you if you need us.

Contact us for more information: pacsgib@gmail.com or on Facebook @ parentandchildsociety – PACS Gibraltar

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GIBRALTARINSIGHT.COM

PACS’ tried and tested

Playdough Recipe

Simple Cookie Recipe Ingredients: 50g butter (softened) 25g icing sugar

Ingredients:

I teaspoon of milk

3 cups of flour

¼ teaspoon of vanilla

1 & 1/2 cups of salt

essence

3 cups of water

75g plain flour

2 tbsp vegetable oil

Cookie cutters

1 tbsp cream of tartar

Baking tray and paper

Food colouring (strong gel ones give

Method:

the best colour)

1) Put the butter and sifted icing sugar in a bowl and mix together

Method: 1) Mix all ingredients in a pan, cook over a low heat, until the dough comes away from the edges and it becomes difficult to move the spoon 2) Remove from the heat, cool until it can be handled, place on the counter and knead3) When smooth, store in

until it’s creamy.

2) Mix in the milk and vanilla 3) Sift the flour into the bowl and mix everything together to form a dough 4) Dust a rolling pin and surface and round out the dough until it’s 5mm thick

an airtight container

5) Cut out shapes and place on the baking tray and paper

4) We also use this gluten-free recipe which can be found

6) Bake in the oven at 180° for 8 minutes. Leave to cool on tray

at: http://celiacfamily.com/gluten-free-play-dough/

Variation: add food colouring or flavours when making the dough.

After baking dip in chocolate!

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HEALTH & WELLBEING APPLE CIDER VINEGAR, THE FERMENTED JUICE FROM CRUSHED APPLES, IS OFTEN CLASSIFIED AS A ‘WONDER FOOD’ ALONGSIDE THINGS SUCH AS GARLIC, TOMATOES, AVOCADOS AND OILY FISH. THERE IS NO SUBSTITUTE FOR A HEALTHY DIET, BUT ‘WONDER FOODS’ CAN GIVE THAT ADDED BOOST AND HELP IN A VARIETY OF WAYS THAT WILL AID HEALTH ISSUES AND HELP TO STRENGTHEN YOUR IMMUNE SYSTEM. APPLE CIDER VINEGAR IS FULL OF NUTRIENTS. IT CONTAINS TRACE AMOUNTS OF POTASSIUM, MAGNESIUM, IRON, PHOSPHORUS, MANGANESE, AMINO ACIDS AND ANTIOXIDANTS AND IS ONLY 3 CALORIES PER TABLESPOON.

A MYRIAD OF USES Apple cider vinegar has been used as a natural remedy for years; in ancient times for its health benefits and it is known that the Greeks treated wounds with it. In recent years, people have explored apple cider vinegar as a way to lose weight, improve heart health, and even treat dandruff. Recent evidence based research suggests that it may also be effective in improving cholesterol and in blood sugar control for people with Diabetes 2. An article in Medical News Today stated that a study on eight people found that those who consumed apple cider vinegar before eating a meal had lower insulin and triglyceride levels after the meal than those who had a placebo. It may also have antibacterial and antifungal properties. This is mostly attributed to its main ingredient, acetic acid.

Use apple cider vinegar as a detox for your body. It can help promote circulation and detoxify the liver. The acid can also bind to toxins which can assist in removing them from the body. Apple cider vinegar’s potassium content helps to break up mucus in the body and clear the lymph nodes.

HERE ARE SOME WAYS YOU CAN INCORPORATE APPLE CIDER VINEGAR INTO YOUR DIET: A great way to kick-start your day is by including apple cider vinegar into your morning routine. Dilute it into your morning tea or glass of lemon water. If you don’t like the taste, add spices like cinnamon or cayenne pepper which will boost your metabolism.

THE BENEFITS OF

Vinegar

your system. You may want to dilute it with water to protect your tooth enamel by mixing eight ounces of water with every 1-2 tablespoons.

Holland & Barrett have a range of apple cider vinegar products in liquid and supplement form. It is worth pointing out that not all vinegars are made in the same way. Apple cider vinegar is made through a two-step process. First, yeast is added to apple juice to break down the sugars and turn them into alcohol. Then, bacteria are added, which converts the alcohol into acetic acid. This bacterium is what is known as the ‘Mother’, because it is the catalyst that gives rise to the vinegar.

Raw, unfiltered organic Bragg Apple Cider Vinegar with ‘The Mother’ is high-quality, unfiltered vinegar made from organically grown apples. Some vinegar products remove ‘The Mother’, a cobweb-like substance that gives the vinegar a cloudy appearance, that forms naturally as the raw organic vinegar ferments but which is, in fact, the healthiest part of the vinegar.

‘The Mother’ consists of dozens of strains of good bacteria, which are also referred to as probiotics, which help keep your digestive system running smoothly and are good for your immune system. It also has enzymes which are essential for breaking down foods so that your body can make use of the nutrients you consume.

If you don’t like the idea of drinking apple cider vinegar then consider taking it in tablet form. Try the easy to take chewable New Nordic Apple Cider Gummies with ‘The Mother’ or Holland & Barrett’s Apple Cider Vinegar 300 mg tablets.

Apple cider vinegar won’t replace a balanced diet and exercise and it isn’t a miracle ‘cure-all’, but it can promote health and help you maintain it.

ADVISORY

INFORMAT

ION: Food supp le be used as ments must not a substitut varied and e for a balanced diet and a healthy lifestyle. If pregnant, you are breastfeed in g, taking any medic atio medical su ns or are under pervision, consult a pl ease doct professiona or or healthcare l and alway s read the label be fore use.

How about blending some apple cider vinegar into a smoothie? Add your favourite fruits or vegetables to give you all the nutrients and vitamins you need before you set off for work or start your daily routine. Another way to include the vinegar into your daily food is by adding it to salad dressings, mayonnaise or mixing it into soups.

Because of its strong flavour, some people prefer to mix apple cider vinegar with something else to disguise the taste.

However, taking a shot or a tablespoonful is a fast and effective way to get it into

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HEALTH & WELLBEING

Although it hasn’t been recognised and listed as a mental disorder, because of its usually fast remission and sporadic occurrence, the Jerusalem syndrome is a mental phenomenon affecting visitors, mostly first-timers, of the Holy City with religious-themed obsessions, delusions and even psychotic episodes, regardless of the absence of underlining or ongoing mental conditions, and no matter their religious background or devotional depths.

A similar behaviour, albeit less intense, may be observed in Rome, especially in Vatican City, while mental health issues manifested in Mecca are connected to the sheer volume of pilgrims, constricted space, and repetition of rituals, if not collective hysteria, according to some psychological studies.

Jerusalem syndrome arises in subjects who have no known psychiatric history, displaying a balanced lifestyle and clean bill of mental health, enjoying a rational relationship with their religion, or lack thereof, and visiting Jerusalem for purposes that aren’t strictly of worshipping.

immediate remission when the subject was removed from the streets, administered mild medication or sedated.

When in Jerusalem THE HOLY SIDE OF SIGHTSEEING SOME CITY BREAKS LEAVE A MARK ON YOU, UPLIFTING YOUR SPIRIT, ENLIGHTENING YOU WITH THEIR LANDMARKS, CULTURE AND PEOPLE; OTHERS WILL GO BEYOND THIS AND TRIGGER A MYSTICAL EXPERIENCE - LITERALLY

Muslims may be struck by the urge of impersonating the Prophet or more simply just attending daily prayers with clockwork precision and dedicating extra time to scriptures reading. As well, the Jewish response prompts adherence to alimentary prohibitions, prayer times and religious studies, and the impulse of manically stuffing handwritten prayers in the Western Wall’s cracks.

Non-monotheistic religions adepts may be affected too, curiously, and more curiously, there aren’t so far scientific recordings or studies of equivalent psychological phenomena developing at Hindu or Buddhist sanctuaries, where nevertheless a large volume of pilgrims is attested, daily or on high holidays.

There are indeed patients who land in Jerusalem already predisposed to the onset, temporary or long term, of this condition, because of deep rooted idiosyncratic ideas and a cultural obsession on the symbolism of the Holy City.

Usually the person experiences a sudden, sometimes unpleasant urge, rather than a mystical calling, to step up their devotion, extending their itinerary to all or most churches, donating to charities, fasting or performing genuflection and flagellation, overspending on souvenirs and attending confession and mass obsessive-compulsively, forsaking the secular aspects of their trip, like dinners, theatre, shopping or spending time with their families.

Delusions are different from revelation of true vocation, and one must consider lucidly whether to pursue one’s newfound devotion, perhaps seeking expert advice once back home, before hastily signing up for the cloister. Jerusalem syndrome is a powerful suggestion that works on one’s mind only in the proximity of holy sites, so the persistence and consistence of beliefs weeks after the removal of the affected person should be an indicator of his or her true purposes.

In fact, acute symptoms drop once the visit to Jerusalem is over, with a very few cases persisting in their delusion beyond one week after their homecoming.

However, severe cases can produce psychosis and manifest in personality imbalances, schizophrenia or paranoia episodes, the impulse of joining a monastery, a yeshiva or a madrasa - not necessarily according to one’s familial background, though - or even go round preaching, convinced to be on a mission to pave the road for the second coming.

Jerusalem syndrome has been described in medical and travel literature since the Middle Ages, but then it was kind of expected and welcomed, while in the late Nineteenth Century it was considered a form of hysteria, and collective hysteria.

Nowadays it is regarded with academic curiosity as well as concern, when its consequences may put someone’s life in danger with zealot-fuelled irresponsible conduct.

Cases have been recorded in which the affected person, usually a male subject, would claim to be Jesus and demand to carry the cross, or St. Peter going around preaching loudly and causing disturbance of the peace, and even an improvised St. John the Baptist with a bottle of soda. These acute psychoses went into

When Jerusalem syndrome is spontaneous and uncompounded with underlining mental health issues, the psychosis is acute and brief. It resolves in full recovery, and relapse is unlikely, even in the case of a future return to the Holy City.

Symptoms start with uneasiness, anxiety, agitation and absentmindedness and extend to the desire of declaiming psalms or verses louder than appropriate and singing hymns all the time.

This is the best telltale sign to alert hotels and holy sites personnel, as well as tour guides, about the potential triggering of a psychotic episode, which may end in hospital admission in 40% of the cases.

Relatives and friends must be alerted by someone’s insistent demands of visiting Jerusalem alone, or unannounced splits from the group, as well as the sudden obsession with cleanliness and purity, especially with toenail clipping, or the odd request of taking on tour with them white bed linen borrowed from the hotel.

As harmless as it might appear, this psychosis, no matter how temporary, can escalate in reckless actions, and put the sufferer’s life in danger, or endanger life around him or her, with unpredictability and diminished responsibility.

Men are more affected with the urge to deliver disjointed speeches in public places, while women tend to keep their worshipping private, and enjoy a serious church crawl and prayer marathon, from the crack of dawn to nightfall.

If the sub ject claims to be the Messiah, this shouldn’t be confused with the Messiah complex, which is a topographically unrelated, and often long-term, state of mind triggered by delusions of grandeur and the belief they’re destined to save the world in their lifetime, and perhaps act upon it by offering unsolicited and unqualified help, one ‘sinner’ at the time.

This article aims at being informative only, with no medical or diagnostic pretenses. Seek medical attention if you suspect you or a relative may be experiencing a psychotic episode while on holiday.

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ARIES (MAR 21 – APR 21) April is a good month to awaken your inner soul, Aries. Take a good look at how well you are really looking after yourself. Decide what needs addressing and then make the time to do it!

TAURUS TAKEAWAYS

(APR 21 – MAY 21)

VEHICLE REPAIRS

Your heart usually knows better than your head Taurus. Even though you find it a bit tricky to do so, now is a good time to give it a go.

GEMINI (MAY 22 – JUNE 22) You find yourself drawn to environmental causes this month, Gemini.

So, make sure you have your recycling in hand and that you are using earth friendly products.

CANCER (JUNE 23 – JULY 22) This month Cancer, be truly honest with yourself and get clear on what is your heart’s true desire. Make sure that your career or hobby matches your true interests and not someone else’s.

LEO (JULY 23 – AUG 23) If you have been a bit hazy about your direction, Leo, then its time to get a vision board in place. You can manifest your clear intentions into reality … but you do need to be clear about you want.

VIRGO (AUG 24 – SEP 23)

BARS / PUBS

Your counselling and guiding skills will be called upon this month, Virgo, to support a younger person or maybe persons. Also remember to take care of your own inner child through play and laughter.

LIBRA (SEP 24 – OCT 23) This month, Libra you must learn to delegate. Ask others to help instead of trying to do everything yourself. You are not Superman or Superwoman so accept assistance where it is offered.

SCORPIO (OCT 24 – NOV 22) Know that the issue you are dealing with will resolve in a fair manner, Scorpio. Release any guilt you may be carrying and trust that things will end harmoniously.

SAGITTARIUS (NOV 23 – DEC 21) Be open to receiving his month Sagittarius, as it seems the Universe is pouring its abundance out to you. You have nothing to worry about and any new venture you are undertaking promises to be a financial success.

CAPRICORN INDUSTRIAL

(DEC 22 – JAN 20) April is a good time to delve deeper into your spiritual energy Capricorn. Work towards releasing tension and worry and allow yourself to feel deeper connections with the energies around you.

AQUARIUS (JAN 21 – FEB 19) Be gently with yourself this month, Aquarius. You may be feeling sensitive and so you must avoid harsh relationships, environments, situations and chemicals.

PISCES (FEB 20 – MAR 20) April is a time for new beginnings for you, Pisces. To embrace these new beginnings, you must release old outdated ways of being and even people who no longer think the same as you. Make space for the new to enter.

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Pimientos Asados – Roast Peppers

Ingredients 1 long Roasting Red Pepper 1 Long Roasting Green Pepper 2 Large tomatoes Olive Oil Vinegar 1 Medium Spring Onion

Method 1.

Line an oven dish with foil paper and place the peppers and tomatoes, whole, inside the dish.

2. Roast in the oven at 200°C until you see one side of the peppers and tomato flesh is roasted. Turn these over and repeat on the other side. This can take up to an hour depending on your oven.

3. Once roasted remove from oven and place in a food bag or container seal. This will allow the steam to continue gently cooking the peppers and tomato and separate them from the skin, making it easier for you to peel.

4. Peel the skin from the peppers and tomatoes and de-seed.

Slice up your peppers and place in a terracotta bowl or ceramic dish.

5. Dress with plenty of oil and a couple tablespoons of vinegar.

Thinly slice your spring onion to add some crunch and toss in with your salad.

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Kathy & Chris, married on 7th December 2019.

Photo by Radka Horvath.

Mariana & Francis, married on 17th January 2019.

Photo by Radka Horvath.

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Sophie & Kevin Gascoigne, married on 25th February 2019.

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Georgia & Aaron, married on 28th February 2019.

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