Malta 15th best out of 43 countries for IVF treatment policies

Jan 11 2022

In a comparative index, Malta ranked 15th out of 43 European countries with a score of 71% in the Atlas of Fertility Treatment Policies.

Malta has been classified as having a very good score in the same category as England, Sweden, Spain, Finland and Denmark by the atlas which is a joint initiative between Fertility Europe, a lobby group, and the European Parliamentary Forum for Sexual and Reproductive Rights.

Malta is ahead of other countries which have been offering IVF services for far longer such as Germany, Italy, Ireland and Cyprus.

The report uses three indicators, the first of which focuses on legislation which includes regulation and available treatments. Malta passed 14 out of the 18 sections after failing to provide PGT testing and strictly anonymous gamete and embryo donation.

In regards to public funding, Malta also scored high as IVF and intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection are partially government funded. The island however scored low reading patient’s perspectives as it does not provide state-funded fertility education programmes, with an infertility patients association non-existent.

Malta was still awarded points for providing psychological support however. Health Minister Chris Fearne revealed on Monday that in 2021, 41 pregnancies resulted from IVF. He also said that it was a positive year for the Embryo Protection Authority (EPA), with the number of pregnancies higher than in 2020.

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Uno release Uno All Wild with just the special cards

Jan 11 2022

The point of beloved, but also rage inducing, card game Uno is to discard your hand one card at a time by matching colours or numbers to the previously played card.

However, Mattel, the company which owns the game, has decided to create a variant of the classic game by removing all the numbers and colours and keeping just the wild cards.

It is not some sort of joke – it’s real and available at Mattel.com for just six bucks. Players are handed a hand from a deck of 112 cards. Players then take turns playing cards from their hand until they get rid of all their cards.

With all cards being wild, players can play at any turn as there’s no need to match colours or numbers. Despite this making it theoretically faster, special cards can slow things down.

There are of course skip and double-skip cards, reverse cards as well targeted ‘draw 2’ cards as well. These cards also allow players to choose which of their opponents have to expand their hand.

There are also cards which force hand swaps, meaning players have to switch their entire decks with others. Its Uno, but not really. It also retains the necessity of having to shout out ‘UNO!’ when someone has one card remaining – something everyone definitely remembers to do.

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The past seven years have been the hottest on record says satellite data

Jan 11 2022

According to new data from the EU’s satellite system, the past seven years have been the hottest ever on record.

The Copernicus Climate Change Service said 2021 was the fifth-warmest year, with some regions registering record-breaking heat. The amount of warming gases in our atmosphere continued to increase as well to alarming numbers.

Scientists have been warning that time is fast running out, with governments now committed to limiting global temperature rise to 1.5C to curb climate change.

Europe just lived through its warmest summer, with temperature records in western US and Canada broken by several degrees. Raging wildfires in July and August burnt down almost entire towns and forests, killing hundreds.

Copernicus Climate Change Service director Carlo Buontempo said that these events are a stark reminder of the need to change our ways, take decisive and effective steps towards a sustainable society and work towards reducing net carbon emissions.

The data comes from a constellation of Sentinel satellites that monitor the Earth from orbit as well as measurements taken at ground level. 2021 was deemed the fifth-hottest on record, just marginally warmer than 2015 and 2018.

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Free lawyer assistance for persons with less than €13,000 income

Jan 11 2022

The amount of money bank accounts and the last year income of persons who qualify for legal assistance in Court cases increased from €7,000 to €13,000.

Director of the Agency for Legal Assistance Bruno Zahra said that the increase has been adjusted with the inflation rate and in the same level of the minimum income for social assistance.

Zahra stated that applications for legal assistance will be available online through the e-id, to register their request for legal and specify the case. He used the example of housewives who had bank savings but were unemployed and maybe exceeded more who were not able to continue with their case in Court.

Justice Minister Edward Zammit Lewis state that consideration will be also made to an individuals’ expenses so that more people can access the service when needed.

‘An individual with a net income, not mentioning maintenance payment and rent payment, the person will benefit form legal aid in the civil camp. It is good to emphasise that this includes the care and custody, access to minors and family law issues.’

Legal assistance services will thus be applicable from home through this system. The Minister added that this service is being strengthened with the increase in legal assistance lawyers as well as with continuous contact with lawyers on cases they are assisting.

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