Man pleads not guilty to shooting field owner in face on New Year’s Eve

Jan 3 2023

A 66-year-old man was remanded in custody yesterday evening after being charged with shooting the owner of a field neighbouring his own in the face on New Year’s Eve.

The pensioner from Paola, Martin Delia, was arraigned on Monday at around 2000hrs and was accused of attempted murder and the destruction of evidence.

Delia was accused of firing at the owner of a field neighbouring his from a 5 metre distance. He also went on to destroy CCTV footage which could have potentially incriminated him.

Delia was arrested shortly after the shooting on Saturday morning but plead not guilty to the charges. Other crimes he was accused of were attempted homicide, grievous bodily harm, carrying a weapon during the commission of a crime against a person and without a police permit, and tampering with evidence.

Request for bail was rejected due to the grave nature of the offence and due to civilian witnesses still having to testify.

However, the court also ordered that the prisons director ensure that Delia receive the medical treatment he needs due to him suffering from terminal kidney disease, is on dialysis and is losing his eyesight.

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Babies named ‘Lionel’ increase by 700% since World Cup final

Jan 3 2023

Following Argentina’s win during the Qatar 2022 World Cup, more babies than ever are being named after star player Lionel Messi.

According to Argentine outlet La Capital, one in every seven babies in the Santa Fe province registered in December were either named Lionel or Lionela.

This is an approximately 700% increase to the previously monthly data available for baby names in the province that encompasses the city of Messi’s birth, Rosaria.

Others have also predicted a baby boom in around nine months following the victory itself. World Cups are known to give a kick (pun intended) to birth rates in the winning countries.

Meanwhile, Messi himself was born the year after Argentina last won the World Cup, which saw Diego Maradona bringing in the victory in Mexico.

The baby naming phenomenon was reported following the 1986 victory, which saw many fans naming their children Diego. According to other statistics from 2014, babies in Argentina had around a 1% of being named Diego in the 18 months before the victory. The numbers rose to 5.5% during the week of the final and they did not drop to normal until six months after the final.

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21 Savage wants to be frozen so he can be alive in 2121

Jan 3 2023

While some have opted for the standard “get back to the gym” or “start eating healthy” as their New Year’s resolutions, Atlanta-based rapper 21 Savage has his eyes set on a much grander plan.

Hours before ringing in the new year, the London-born Grammy Award-winner took to Twitter to share that he wants to be frozen so he can live to see the year 2121. The 98-year-freezing would allow the Her Loss rapper to live in the year which he coincidentally ad-libs in each and every one of his songs.

I Just Want To Be Alive For 2121 Somebody Freeze Me Right Quick

— Saint Laurent Don (@21savage) January 1, 2023

Whilst 21 Savage may be joking, cryopreservation is something which modern-day scientists have been looking into for a while, particularly the freezing of human bodies and organs for research.

That being said, if 21 actually made it 2121, he would be 129 years old, 7 years older than the oldest person who ever lived.

For around 50 years after his death, it was also widely rumoured that animation giant Walt Disney was frozen, with various videos & theories debunking the rumour down the line.

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1,202 charged with prostitution over 3 years in Marsa

Jan 3 2023

A total of 1,202 persons in Marsa were charged with prostitution and loitering over the past three years, The Malta Independent revealed via police crime records sources.

Source from the National Police System (NPS) and the Local Enforcement System (LES) revealed the statistics regarding prostitution starting from 2020 up until this point.

In 2022, 664 persons were charged in Marsa up until the 30th of November. In 2021, 519 persons were charged with both prostitution and loitering in the same locality.

Only 19 individuals were charged with prostitution in 2020, but 519 were charged in 2021, indicating a massive increase.

The Malta Independent also revealed that there were significantly less people charged for the same crime in Hamrun and Gzira. 24 were charged with prostitution over 3 yeas in Hamrun, with 19 being charged in 2022.

Just 4 were charged in 2021, with one individual charged for prostitution in 2020 in Hamrun.

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Source: The Malta Independent