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Sophie Abela to continue her basketball stardom in Colorado

Sophie Abela to continue her basketball stardom in Colorado
Aug 1 2021 Share

More athletic success for Maltese youth as basketball player Sophie Abela heads back to Colorado for the upcoming season to continue her successful career. Following a transfer to University of Colorado-Colorado Springs, this will mark Abela’s second season spent there after making a Omer of herself with Otero Junior College in 2020. UCCS Athletics announced on their Twitter page that Abela will be forming part of the recruiting class heading into the 2021-22 seasons. 

After spending one year in Colorado with Otero Junior College and helping to lead the team through an amazing postseason run, Abela took the leap from JUCO to NCAA Division Two after committing to UCCS. She was described as having the potential to impact the team very positively as she has the ability to play the point position and create opportunities for teammates to score. 

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Photo Source: sophieabela4 IG, UCCS Athletics Twitter

14-year-old with two stabbing charges granted bail

14-year-old with two stabbing charges granted bail
Aug 1 2021 Share

A 14-year-old boy who was charged with stabbing another youth earlier this week in Sliema is also being charged for stabbing another person in Pieta. The boy’s name is being kept under wraps, but it is known that he has been granted bail at €500. Appearing in front of Magistrate Monica Vella, the teenage boy claimed he was defending himself on both occasions, despite police arguing that the self-defence was disproportionate given that he was brandishing a knife. 

The 21-year-old stabbed in Sliema was found after drops of blood leading out of an apartment were discovered. He was certified as having sustained grievous injuries whilst at hospital. The boy’s injuries however were found compatible with having received a beating. Despite prosecutors objecting to the request for bail, the request was upheld under several conditions. These include a €500 deposit, a €3,500 personal guarantee and not approaching alleged victims still awaiting to testify. 

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Photo Source: Kamra tal-Periti

Pregnant women in UK urged to get vaccinated amidst variant fear

Pregnant women in UK urged to get vaccinated amidst variant fear
Aug 1 2021 Share

British health authorities are urging more pregnant women to get their COVID-19 vaccination jab following a national study which found that the Delta variant increases risk of severe symptoms. Chief midwifery officer for England Jacqueline Dunkley-Bent wrote an open letter to GPs and midwives which urges them to encourage any expectant mother to get their vaccine. Described as calling on pregnant women to protect themselves and their babies, Dunkley-Bent was joined by The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) and the Royal College of Midwives in the move to encourage the pregnant mothers. 

Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are the two jabs being recommended in this scenario as it has already been given to around 130,000 pregnant women in the United States. A paper which concerns national data found that the number of pregnant women needing hospitalisation for moderate or severe infections rose significantly after the Delta variant dominated in the month of May onwards. 

The paper by the University of Oxford researchers concluded that pregnant women hospitalised during the wave of Delta variant infections were more susceptible to contracting pneumonia. A third of these admissions required respiratory support, making the situation far more concerning. None of more than 3000 pregnant women admitted to hospital with virus symptoms since February proved to be fully vaccinated. It was also shown through a RCOG survey that 58% of pregnant women offered vaccination declined it as they either feared harming the baby or were waiting on more safety information. 

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Photo Source: Weill Cornell Medicine Newsroom

Boris and Carrie Johnson are expecting their second child

Boris and Carrie Johnson are expecting their second child
Aug 1 2021 Share

Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s wife Carrie revealed that the couple are expecting a second child. Also revealing that she had a miscarriage at the beginning of 2021, the couple had married in secret at Westminster Cathedral in May, having had their first son Wilfred in April 2020. Announcing the expectation on her Instagram page, Carrie Johnson expressed her heartbreak at the miscarriage stating that despite feeling blessed to be pregnant again, fertility issues can be really hard for many people. 

The 33-year-old is expecting to give birth in December, ‘hoping for [their] rainbow baby this Christmas. Their first son was born just weeks after the Prime Minister himself left intensive care where he was treated for COVID-19. One of Wilfred’s middle names, Nicholas, pays tribute to a doctor who treated Johnson. Johnson himself however is known to father multiple children with different women, having had four children with ex-wife Marina Wheeler and a daughter with Helen Macintyre, an art consultant back in 2009. 

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Photo Source: Telegraph, Unsplash