517 kids under 18 were homeless in Malta in past 10 years

Mar 9 2023

According to the new study ‘Homeless Human Evolution’ by YMCA, a total of 517 children under the age of 18 faced homelessness in Malta in the past 10 years.

The most common age bracket from 2012 to 2022 was that of between 25 and 34 years old with a total of 762. This was followed by those aged between 18 and 24 at 683 and finally those between 35 and 44 at 593.

The study also revealed that, in 2022, the under-18 age bracket of 0 to 4 faced the highest risk of homelessness in 2022 with a total of 40, followed by 5 to 9 and 10 to 13.

‘This indicates that families are increasingly becoming at risk of homelessness, this can also be attributed to the post-pandemic recession, whereby the cost of living and rise in rent and property costs accompanied by many people having lost their job during the pandemic resulting in families not being able to provide, losing housing, and becoming homeless or roofless’ the study explained.

Meanwhile, the majority of people who become homeless are young men between 18 and 34 years of age, with a total of 208 males in 2022 and 152 females in the same year.

‘Gender distribution of people seeking shelter at YMCA is mostly male, standing at 63.4% between 2012 and 2022.’

In terms of nationality, 52.9% of people seeking shelter from 2012 to 2022 were Maltese whereas 47.1% were Non-Maltese.

In 2022, 50.13% of 367 referrals seeking shelter were Maltese, with 46.59% being Non-Maltese and the remaining of unknown nationality. The study noted how the most common nationality amongst referrals were Somali, followed by Libyan, Eritrean, British and Sudanese.

33.0% of people seeking shelter from 2012 to 2022 were European whereas 67.0% were Non-European. For the full report, please report to the YMCA official page.

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Adidas might just literally burn $500 million Yeezy stock

Mar 9 2023

Adidas is seriously considering the possibility of burning – literally setting fire to – its $500 million stock of Yeezy sneakers.

The footwear giant, which dropped its partnership with rapper Kanye West following anti-semitic remarks, could face a significant loss if it cannot sell the stock of once highly sought after sneakers.

CEO Bjorn Gulden reported to The Washington Post that the company might not be able to sell its Yeezy inventory this month. The entire Yeezy sneaker collection is estimated to be around $300 million to $500 million.

Whether or not the footwear company rebrands the shoe, it will still be massively impacted by the current inability to sell them. Publishing its financial guidance for 2023, the company revealed that not selling the shoes might lower revenues by around $1.2 billion and operating profit by around $500 million.

“Against this background, Adidas expects currency-neutral sales to decline at a high-single-digit rate in 2023. The company’s underlying operating profit is projected to be around the break-even level.”

The Washington Post went on to report that one of the options of getting rid of the remaining Yeezys was to literally burn them. However, the CEO still remained hopeful that the company could successfully rebrand them whilst becoming profitable once more.

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Women’s Day March in Valletta calls out inaction by Malta’s court

Mar 9 2023

During yesterday’s demonstration in Valletta on International Women’s Day, various protestors lay down on the steps of Malta’s court building holding placards resembling tombstones to protest the lack of action against violence by authorities.

Behind them sat three masked figures, representing Justice Minister Jonathan Attard, Police Commissioner Angelo Gafa and Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri.

The placards read ‘Delays in court killed me’, ‘pointless police station reports’, and ‘orders uselessly released’.

The rest of the protest saw people carrying placards and banners commemorating victims of femicide, domestic violence and failed systemic assistance. Bernice Cassar, Rita Ellul, Sion Grech and Paulina Dembska were prominently commemorated during the protest as the most recent victims of male on female and/or gender based violence.

The demonstration was backed by various NGOs and activist groups, including Moviment Graffiti, MGRM, Doctors for Choice Malta, Young Progressive Beings, Men Against Violence, Dance Beyond Borders and many more.

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Metsola commemorates 20 years from Malta’s EU referendum

Mar 8 2023

Roberta Metsola took to social media to commemorate 20 years since Malta and Gozo applied to join the European Union, with the referendum on EU membership having been held on March 8th 2003.

Metsola, the first Maltese woman to ever hold the position of European Parliament President and, by extension, the highest political position a Maltese has ever held, commemorated the decision and how it changed the island’s future.

‘EU membership meant hope, enthusiasm, ambition, a united future. It meant opportunities, where the size of ideas, the strength of character and the depth of integrity overcome the limitations of geography’ wrote the EP President.

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A post shared by Roberta Metsola (@roberta.metsola)

This of course the Maltese freedom of movement through member states as well as to reside freely within the bloc.

On 1 May 2004 Malta officially became a Member State of the European Union, along with Cyprus and eight other Central and Eastern European countries. This so-called ‘Big Bang’ enlargement of the Union was a significant milestone in the history of the continent.

Malta joined the EU when Nationalist Party Leader Eddie Fenech Adami was president. Today, Malta of course has its own MEPs participating in a larger world of politics, seeing Malta contribute to bigger projects and aims which impact not just the tiny Mediterranean island, but the entire world.

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