First successful male contraceptive pill tested on humans

Aug 4 2021

American scientists have successfully completed a trial of male contraceptive pills on humans. Despite such contraceptive measures being common for women, men will soon be able to contribute in their own way so as to avoid any unwanted pregnancies. When used for a month, the levels of two hormones needed for sperm production dropped drastically. With 40 participants used a pill daily for a month, with 10 of the men picked at random to take a placebo.

Most men in the trial did not have any side effects, and the few who did reported fatigue, acne and headaches – which are side effects women using contraceptive pills are all too familiar with. Five of the men reported a slightly decreased sex drive and two reported mild erectile dysfunction which somehow did not affect sexual activity. All safety tests were passed with side effects reversing after the pill was stopped. None of them allegedly stopped taking the pill as a result of the side effects. Despite further tests being required, it was shown how the pill decreases sperm production whilst preserving libido.

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Photo Source: BBC, Prevention

Venezia and Kappa stun everyone with beautiful kits

Aug 4 2021

Football has been ever present this summer, mainly consisting of competitions like the Euros, Copa America and the Olympics. As a result of all these games fans were able to watch, kit launches have gone quite under the radar, except for Venezia. This year Venezia and iconic Italian sportswear brand Kappa teamed up to release three charming kits, resembling the beautiful city of Venezia. New York design agency Fly Nowhere were also brought in to help and their contribution is evident. The club nowadays is known by many football fans as one of the most fashionable teams out there.

The kit consists of Venezia’s legendary trio of colours, Arancio (Orange) Nero (Black) Verde (Green) which is also the club’s nickname. In Italy it is customary for club’s nickname to be based on their colours like Nerazzuri (black and blue) for Inter and Bianconeri (white and black) for Juventus. The kit also contains gold, to symbolize the ancient architecture of the city, most notably Basilica di San Marco found in the city square.

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Venezia F.C. have had a crazy past few years. In 2002 they were relegated from the Serie A and later on suffered financial difficulties, which led them to Serie D, rock bottom in Italian football. The club slowly started moving up the ranks and whilst most people would think that the club would be forgotten that wasn’t the case. Venezia knew that they could capitalize from the club’s name and coulors for monetary reasons. Once owner Duncan Niederauer moved in, the club teamed up with many fashion companies like Nike, Fly Nowhere and later Kappa. Knowing that it would take long until the club could mount a promotion challenge, Venezia instead stayed relevant because of their fashionable kits and brand.

We wish Venezia F.C. the best of luck in their first Serie A season in 19 years.

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A dry autumn with initial storms expected for Malta

Aug 4 2021

Malta’s autumn season is set to endure a dry and scorching experience, with some severe thunderstorms earlier on thrown in the mix. Facebook weather page ‘Malta Weather’ posted how autumn 2021 is set to be warmer and drier than usual, as warm seas and the tail end of a cold front concoct some bad weather for the island.

The night is not about to offer any respite as the lowest temperatures are set to fluctuate between 26 and 29 degrees Celsius. The incoming heatwaves will also record higher temperatures as they reach higher than the 10°C average (a heat wave is defined as three or more consecutive days with temperatures which overcome that time period’s usual average by 5°C or more). Were it only heat, the sea could offer some possible cooling off, but the predicted storms will surely instigate some weather-induced confusion.

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Photo Source: Inlingua Malta

82 COVID-19 cases registered with 293 recoveries

Aug 4 2021

Malta has registered 82 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours from 3,346 swab tests, while 293 patients have recovered. No deaths were registered in the past 24 hours. This information was announced by the official Facebook page of Malta’s Ministry for Health.

As of Tuesday 3rd August 2021, 765,417 vaccine doses were administered of which 401,644 were 1st doses. 387,400 people are currently fully vaccinated.

To date, Malta has registered 34,590 COVID-19 cases in total, of which: 32,438 have recovered, 423 died and 1333 are still active.

Mater Dei Hospital is currently treating a total of 30 COVID-19 positive patients, five of whom are in the ITU. The average age of yesterday’s cases was 37.

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