Around mile-long queue of 20,000 people to see Queen lying at rest

Sep 13 2022

20,000 people waited in a mile-long queue to see Queen Elizabeth II’s coffin in Edinburgh, waiting outside St Giles’ cathedral.

People were reportedly only allowed a couple of metres away from the coffin. They can simply linger there for a bit and say a prayer, with many people finding the experience very moving.

The line trailed far back along the paths of the city’s Meadows, with mourners gathering late on Monday evening.

As people continued to join the queues, the Salvation Army vans were offering hot drinks and rolls for the cold night ahead, with toilets and water stops stationed along the queue.

#MaltaDaily

Peppi Azzopardi proposes statue for late 4-year-old migrant who died of thirst

Sep 13 2022

Xarabank host Peppi Azzopardi has called upon the relevant authorities to build a monument for Loujin, a four-yer-old migrant who died of thirst out at sea after being stranded for four days in a Maltese rescue zone.

Peppi revealed that he asked a friend of his, the artist Ġorġ Mallia, to create a depiction of the monument to be proposed. ‘This will be a monument which will continue to sting the Maltese nation’s conscience’ said Peppi.

Loujin sadly died after being stranded off the coast of Malta. Her last reported words were: ‘Mum, I’m thirsty.’

The tragic loss prompted many, including president Emeritus Marie Louise Coleiro Preca, to speak out about the disregard for human life that occurs when it comes to immigrants crossing the Mediterranean in search for refuge.

The former president said that she is immensely troubled that Malta’s name is on the list of countries who let such a young girl die so brutally. ‘Why has life lost its value in such a way? Why’ she asked.

This proposal by Peppi Azzopardi also comes at a moment when a petition was started to erect a statue for the late Queen Elizabeth II. The Xarabank host spoke about the issue in a video, depicting the irony of the situation wherein a monarch of a foreign country is grieved for whilst a four-year-old migrant right off our shores is left to die.

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Kanye West officially ends his Adidas and Gap partnership

Sep 13 2022

Kanye West, also legally known as Ye, appears to have found an answer to his creative roadblocks after publicly denouncing his two largest partners Adidas and GAP.

And he’s working around this by seemingly going solo, telling Bloomberg that his current contracts with the companies have run dry.

He now expects to take his creative endeavours into his own hands, saying that this is ‘fine.’ ‘I made the companies money. The companies made me money.’

‘We created ideas that will change apparel forever. Like the round jacket, the foam runner, the slides that changed the shoe industry. Now it’s time for Ye to make the new industry. No more companies standing in between me and the audience.’

Ye is still technically under contract with Adidas through to 2026 and GAP until 2030. You will definitely see a plethora of YEEZY sneakers and GAP apparel rolling out to the public.

This also comes as Ye expresses his wish to build Donda campuses across the US, hosting everything from farms, shopping malls and schools, all centred around creating more of his apparel.

#MaltaDaily

Free gender reassignment surgery is the next step reveals Prime Minister

Sep 13 2022

After attending this year’s Pride March in Valletta, Prime Minister Robert Abela revealed that the next step on the to-do list is free gender reassignment surgery for trans people.

Speaking on ONE Radio, Abela said that he wanted to convey the message that the government is carrying out further reforms to aid the LGBTIQ+ community.

He said that his, and other ministers and MPs’, presences at the rally symbolise what the government under the Labour Party did to support the community. And yet, more needs to be done, he said.

Referring the recent lifting off of the ban on gay men from donating blood, Abela said that the next step will be free gender reassignment surgeries as promised in the PL’s manifesto.

‘They will be placed on the national health service, which means the state will finance the procedure’ he said.

He also highlighted that another item on the government’s to-do list is the adoption of a five year strategy for the LGBTIQ+ community and the establishment of a one-stop shop to centralise public and social services for members of the community.

#MaltaDaily