Increase in reports of domestically abused elderly in 2020

Jun 15 2021

Police have received just under 200 domestic abuse reports on elderly persons in 2020, reaching a five-year high as they continue to increase. A majority include claims of psychological abuse, with 2020 having 141 such cases. There were 121 cases reported in 2016, 124 in 2017, 143 in 2018, 167 in 2019 and 194 in 2020. Spokespersons for police speaking to Times of Malta reported that some cases involve adult children scaring their elderly parents, with others concerning issues between spouses.

Financial abuse of elderly persons is also on the rise, with people receiving 122 reports of elderly people being defrauded in 2020. Other reports include crimes such as deliberate injury (81 in 2020), armed robbery, mugging and grab cases, but these have all declined. Authorities urge those in need of help to call 179, which provides immediate assistance to those seeking aid and information.

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Photo Source: A Place For Mom

€5 million for Sport Malta to prepare athletes for Small Nations Games 2023

Jun 15 2021

€5 million will be given to Sport Malta by the NDSF in an initiative to aid the Maltese Olympic Committee to invest in Maltese athletes for the upcoming 2023 games. The financial aid will be able to help prepare the athletes for Games of the Small States of Europe, with Sport Malta chairman Luciano Busuttil and NDSF Chief Executive Raymond Ellul confirming and signing the new deal. Parliamentary Secretary for Citizenship and Community Alex Muscat and Parliamentary Secretary for Sport, Recreation and Voluntary Organisations Clifton Grima were also present for the signing.

Grima stated that Sport Malta has already invested in new facilities which include a basketball complex in Ta’ Qali, a squash centre in Marsa, a judo and tennis centre in Pembroke, and two pools. The Parliamentary Secretary stated how this financial investment will cost the athlete’s preparations for their upcoming competition. Muscat highlighted how Malta benefits greatly from the good generated from such initiatives.

Through such financial aid, the committee will be able to employ professional coaches, finance participation and invest in more adequate equipment for athletes to use. Athletics, basketball, judo, rugby, shooting, squash, swimming, table tennis, tennis and sailing will all be receiving aid from the financial investment.

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Long traffic with 121 road projects under way on Maltese streets

Jun 15 2021

There are currently 121 road projects on Maltese roads, with the signage and lanes allegedly leading to further confusion. Drivers are having to drive through multiple traffic congestions as they encounter more and more unfinished and ongoing works on the roads. Many projects are scheduled for completion by June/July, but others are scheduled for later completion.

With projects underway everywhere from Attard to Birgu to Birzebbuga to Dingli and Floriana just to name a couple, drivers are expressing their concerns over road hazards such as misplaced plastic barriers, overly narrow lanes, merging of several lanes, etc. Alternate routes are also ending up experiencing abnormally long traffic as many attempt to find different routes to arrive to their destination.

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COVID-19 lab-leak theory denied by Chinese scientist

Jun 15 2021

Dr Shi Zhengli, a Chinese scientist who is locked in the centre of all COVID-19 outbreak theories, has responded to the idea of the virus leaking from a lab in rare comments to the media. Zhengli asked The New York Times how she can provide any evidence for something for which there is none at all. The pandemic is theorised by some to have leaked from her specialised lab in Wuhan, responding to these claims by wondering how the world has come to a point which pours filth on an innocent scientist.

US intelligence agencies were ordered by President Joe Biden to investigate the pandemic’s origin, including the lab-leak theory. Ex-US President Donald Trump had made reference to this theory beforehand, but was widely dismissed as a conspiracy theory. Despite being an expert on bat coronaviruses, Shi stated that experiments conducted in her lab were only concerned with how viruses jump among species and not how to make it more dangerous.

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Photo Source: Financial Times