A new Omicron COVID variant is currently under investigation

Jan 22 2022

The UK Health Security Agency is investigating a new COVID-19 variant, reportedly a sub-lineage of the Omicron variant titled ‘BA.2′.

Cases are believed to be very low, with 53 sequences found in the UK until January 10. Half of the cases in Denmark are BA.2 with primary studies revealing that so far, it has not caused any changes in the number of hospitalisations compared to the previous Omicron variant. Further data collection and analysis is required to extract more conclusive reports but UKHSA incident director Dr Meera Chand has stated that this new variant was expected due to viruses’ nature to evolve and mutate.

Statens Serum Institut (SSI) researcher told Danish station TV 2 that the variant may be “more resistant to the immunity in the population, which allows it to infect more,” albeit going on to state that “[they] do not know yet.”

In light of the emergence of this variant, some are concerned that the BA.2 may be more transmissible than BA.1 as researchers await further results to confirm these concerns.

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Malta’s court documents will go digital within one year, Justice Minister reveals

Jan 22 2022

All of Malta’s court documents will be shifted to digital media within a year, Minister for Justice Edward Zammit Lewis has revealed.

The Minister stated how this process boasts various advantages, amongst them less papers use and a decrease in bureaucracy. This process is part of the Digital Strategy for Malta’s Courts, which is being conducted with the European Commission and European Council. Chief executive of Court Services Agency Eunice Grech Fiorini stated that the court will benefit from an increase in security thanks to this system.

Court register Franklin Calleja went on to explain how this process is expected to take around a year, with 5 scanners being utilised to scan the documents.

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Pope Francis promises justice to victims of sexual abuse

Jan 22 2022

Following previously reported accusations of former Pope Benedict XVI failing to act on child sexual abuse cases, Pope Francis has stated that the Church, with the help of God, is committed to bring justice to victims of sexual abuse from the Church’s members.

Despite not referencing recent reports of former Pope Benedict XVI being passive in the face of abuse allegations while he was Archbishop of Munich, Pope said that the Catholic Church will continue addressing the abuse scandals.

Pope Francis noted that a while ago, the Vatican published its agenda to treat abuse cases with utmost efficacy. Whilst in a recent meeting with Vatican members who oversee such issues, the Pope revealed that simply meeting is not enough but it is the first step in granting justice to victims.

What do you make of this?

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Colder temperatures and isolated showers over remainder of weekend

Jan 22 2022

Various Maltese weather pages have reported a further drop in temperatures and isolated showers over the remainder of the weekend after a sudden shift in weather conditions across the Maltese islands.

Facebook page ‘It-Temp Madwarna’ has forecasted colder currents from the Balkans to hit the Mediterranean as a result of low pressure from Turkey and high pressure over England. Today’s weather will reportedly be partially cloudy with a 75 per cent chance of isolated showers while Sunday’s weather will be similar with 60 per cent of isolated showers.

These reports have been substantiated by other Facebook weather page ‘Malta Weather’, which reported isolated showers and strong winds across Malta and Gozo. Temperatures are expected to drop as low as 8°C.

Do you enjoy this weather?

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