Appeal to reach agreement on abortion bill by President

Dec 21 2022

Speaking in a Republic Day activity in Gozo, President of Malta George Vella reiterated his hope that an agreement could be reached when it comes to the ongoing discussion surrounding abortion.

The president repeated his appeal, albeit without referring directly to the bill, for there to be an agreement between the various parties on the current discussion.

This comes after the President revealed that he would consider stepping down from his position if abortion was introduced in Malta. However, should the wording of the bill be amended, this might not come to fruition.

The bill will decriminalise doctors and women who terminate pregnancies during through medical interventions if the life or health of the mother is at risk.

The president also used his speech to refer to Gozo’s environment, saying that Malta’s sister island is risking losing a lot.

‘I expressed my concern about how the erosion of natural beauty can also result in the loss in quality of the tourist product. We must take care of this island’s charm because if we lose it, much more will be lost’ he said.

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Ian Borg meets Pete Buttigieg in Washington’s Transport Department

Dec 21 2022

Maltese-American politician and the US Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg welcomed Malta’s Foreign Affairs Minister Ian Borg to the Department of Transportation in Washington DC.

Borg explained on social media that the two had the opportunity to discuss, among other successes, the leaps Malta is doing when it comes to the maritime registry and aviation sector.

The Minister revealed that he discussed with Buttigieg the improvement of collaboration and connectivity between the two countries when it comes to the respective countries.

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There will be more bottle vending machines says Minister

Dec 21 2022

Responding to a parliamentary question, Minister for Energy and the Environment Miriam Dalli said the the plan is to increase the number of Reverse Vending Machines.

Responding to the question by Nationalist MP Paula Mifsud Bonnici, Dalli said that this is to ensure having easier access for all of Malta to make use of the recycling scheme.

The Minister said that the government is discussing with the private operators who work on the scheme so that there are solutions to increase accessibility and remove difficulties pertaining to the scheme.

The Minister also revealed that in the zones where the vending machines are not established just yet, commercial outlets are still accepting plastic bottles. The government will see to it that the machines will be introduced in these areas as well.

The quantity of RVMs operating to date is 121 in public and 156 in retail.

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Not being horny enough can lead to an early death says study

Dec 21 2022

A new study published in the journal PLOS One suggests that men with a low libido are almost twice (1.82 times) as likely to suffer an early death.

The research comes from Yamagata University and it studied more than 20,000 people.

It sampled its data from 8,558 males and 12,411 females in Japan for over a decade and examined links between sexual interest and “all-cause” mortality.

These include cardiovascular diseases and cancer, with the study analysing the medical records and survey responses it could get its hands on. The study authors said that:

“Although sexual activity and sexual satisfaction are considered of benefit to psychological health and wellbeing in older groups, the association between sexual interest and longevity has not been investigated.”

Participants were asked to complete sexual interest surveys during health check-ins, with those reporting lack of sexual interest tending to be older, likely to drink more, suffer from diabetes, laughed less and suffered from some form of psychological distress.

Results showed that men over the age of 40 who had low libido were 1.94 times as likely to die from cancer and 1.36 times as likely to die of heart disease. Researchers noted that while women were more than twice as likely as men to report lower libidos, this did not link to there being higher mortality.

It has not yet been decided as to what the association is, but a constant lack of sexual interest can be a sign of poor habits that raise the risk of chronic disease.

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