Mika the missing Chow Chow safely found and back home

Feb 10 2022

After going missing on Sunday evening, Mika, the four-year-old Chow Chow was found after a family member returning from work spotted her in the Magħtab area.

Dylan Drago, Mika’s owner, revealed to newsroom Times of Malta that it was another family member, Nicole, who spotted the dog in the early hours of the morning.

Drago explained how his cousin Nicole had just finished work, being an independent taxi driver, and spotted the fluffy silhouette of Mika as she was returning home in Baħar iċ-Ċagħaq.

She spotted the dog after deciding to drive in the area instead of passing through the main roads. Unfortunately, Mika ran away after Nicole tried to chase her, but she was soon accompanied by Dylan, his father and uncles.

Dylan expressed his joy at seeing Mika, who was found within minutes, breaking into tears along with his cousin. ‘It was a moment of relief for all of us’ he said, thanking everyone, including Times of Malta and other newsrooms, for reporting on the case.

He had initially suspected Mika to have been taken by someone, but Dylan said that had not the media attention helped their search, he would have gave up on the prospect of finding the dog.

Mika herself is doing well, settled back home and resting. The family had initially offered a €1,500, but Nicole refused it. Drago however revealed that they want to help her out in her new business, ‘so no regrets whatsoever.’

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Photo Source: Dylan Drago FB

Cyber-stalking and bullying law could issue five year prison sentence

Feb 10 2022

A bill which has started the process of debate in parliament on Wednesday involves making cyberstalking and cyberbullying specific offences in the Criminal Code.

The bill, which is piloted by Justice Minister Edward Zammit Lewis, provides that it shall be a crime for anyone, with the intention of causing fear or harm, to;

Stalk another person through the use of a computer or electronic communications device; to cause unauthorised computer function in a computer owned or used by another person and; to trace another person’s use of the internet or other electronic communication.

Those found guilty of such offences would be liable to a prison term between one and five years and/or a fine not exceeding €30,000. The punishment will be increased by one degree when the crime is committed against an underage person or a vulnerable person.

This is also applicable if the offence is committed by two or more persons working together. Introducing the bill, Minister Zammit Lewis said that despite people having the right to express themselves on the internet, criminal sanctions were needed against cyberstalking and cyberbullying because of the negative impact they had on people, leading even to self-harm or suicide.

He went on to present the provisions of the bill, explaining that the crimes can be caused through threats, intimidation, abuse or offensive words directed at the victim through the use of a computer or other electronic communication device.

When it comes to cyberstalking, the accused will be able to argue in court that they did so without malicious intent in the normal course of a lawful business or for the purpose of engaging in discussion or communication with respect to public affairs. The latter provision would protect journalists from such charges.

On cyberbullying, the crime would apply when the accused ought to have known that his actions would cause fear or harm to another person. This follows a 2017 plea by then President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca who said that the fight against such crimes should not only include strengthening existing legislation but enacting a specific law.

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Photo Source: Edward Zammit Lewis

Half of Maltese think politicians are corrupt reveals survey

Feb 10 2022

According to a new survey by the University of Malta, half of the population of the island thinks that the country’s elected politicians are corrupt, with only 15% disagreeing.

Carried out in January by the Faculty of Social Wellbeing, a sample of 600 people were asked about governance and the fight against corruption.

Respondents were asked to reply to the question ‘are politicians corrupt?’; and were asked to rank their answers on a scale from 1 to 5. 1 meant absolutely disagree, and 5 meant strongly agree.

Slightly under 30% strongly agreed that elected politicians are corrupt, with 20% agreeing. Another 35% were classified as neutral whereas 6% disagreed. Only 9% absolutely disagreed.

Young respondents and people with lower levels of education were the least to think politicians are corrupt – at an average of 3.1 and 3.3 respectively on the scale. Participants were also asked whether they would feel comfortable talking to a politician to get help or get referral services.

30% strongly agreed or agreed with the practice, with 19% falling into the neutral category of the scale. 16% disagreed but the largest amount, 35%, totally disagreed. People with the highest level of education and income were the most uncomfortable with seeking services from politicians.

On the other hand, participants who are currently inactive felt the most comfortable, with an average of 2.85 on the scale. The university survey found that the majority of respondents, 76%, consider the fight against corruption a very important matter, with only 5% considering it unimportant.

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Half of over 60s who died of COVID were unvaccinated with booster

Feb 9 2022

Superintendent for Public Health Charmaine Gauci revealed that almost half of all COVID-19 deaths among 60s this year were from the 5% of people in the same age group unvaccinated with the booster.

Figures are worse for over 60s who are completely unvaccinated, but they account for less than 1% of over 60s. One in every six (16%) deaths among this age group come from this cohort. Charmaine Gauci revealed the statistics in her Times of Malta column ‘Ask Charmaine’.

She went on to argue for the booster protection amongst older people. Further statistics show that around 95% of people aged 60 and older, around 120,000 people, have received a vaccine booster dose.

This leaves just 5% of that age cohort, around 6,000 people, who are either not fully vaccinated or not vaccinated at all. The much smaller group of over 60s have been more disproportionately likely to die while infected with COVID-19 in 2022. Gauci noted that this accounts for 40% of deaths within that age group.

Risk of death from the virus increases rapidly with age, and that rings true when looking at deaths related to COVID in Malta this year so far. More than 92% of those deaths have been people aged over 60.

A WHO regional study published in November 2021 calculated that Malta’s widespread vaccine uptake among over 60s managed to avert around 860 deaths up to that point. This means COVID related deaths within that age group would have been 74% higher had there been no vaccine.

Malta also has one of the world’s largest uptakes of COVID vaccines, with more than 77% of adults having received a booster dose of the jab on Wednesday. With the vaccine available for kids as young as five, the uptake among those younger, lower risk age groups groups is lower.

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