Tributes for 22 year old Ukrainian boxer who died defending country

Mar 30 2023

Olympian and European youth boxing champion Maksym Galinichev is being heralded as a war hero after he died defending his country of Ukraine in the Luhansk region.

The 22-year-old died on March 10th while serving with the 25th Separate Airborne Sicheslav Brigade in the village of Chervonopopivka.

Maksym was introduced to boxing at age 10 by his father and went on to win gold at the 2017 European Youth Championships and silver at the Summer Youth Olympics in 2018.

He was also awarded second place at the European Championship for boxers under age 22 in 2021. In 2022, Galinichev refused to participate in the European Boxing Championship to volunteer for the airborne assault troops as the war broke out.

Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser to the Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, confirmed the death of Galinichev in a Twitter post.

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76% of post-secondary & tertiary students travel by bus

Mar 30 2023

According to a new study completed by Malta Public Transport, it was found that 76% of students currently use public transport buses as their main mode of transport to travel to educational institutions.

The study, carried out during February and March 2023, took into account travel patterns of over 2,000 post-secondary and tertiary students from various educational institutions. 26% were from the University of Malta, 21% from Junior College and 29% from MCAST.

The study also revealed that 65% of students claimed that they have used the bus daily in the past six months. 91% of students reported to be willing to walk an additional 5 minutes to get to a bus stop that serves a direct and faster route.

90% of students would use public transport more if journey times are reduced by 25% whereas 87% of students consider a bus service with a frequency of 15 minutes to be efficient.

‘This clearly indicates that the demand for public transport will increase if buses are more frequent and take less time to arrive at their destination’ the study reported.

Building on the success of the student survey and as part of its ongoing strategy to update the current public transport network, Malta Public Transport is now calling on all members of the public to take part in a new mobility survey. The survey aims to gather information on travel patterns in the Maltese Islands to understand travel requirements in order to improve the current bus route network, in collaboration with Government and other stakeholders.

Malta Public Transport hopes that the current survey available to all members of the public will yield more valuable insights into travel needs and preferences so that the bus route network can be updated into one that meets the current and future needs of the population.

To participate in the Malta Public Transport survey, click here.

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Pope Francis hospitalised due to pulmonary infection

Mar 30 2023

Pope Francis has been hospitalised to receive treatment for a pulmonary infection, the Vatican revealed.

The 86-year-old Catholic Church leader had breathing difficulties and will thus have to spend a few days in a hospital in Rome. A statement however confirmed that the Pope does not have COVID-19 and that he would need ‘a few days of appropriate hospital medical therapy.’

This comes during a very busy time for the Pope as many events are scheduled for Easter weekend coming up ahead. BBC was informed that his closest staff are expected to stay the night at the Gemelli Hospital.

“Pope Francis is touched by the many messages received and expresses his gratitude for the closeness and prayer,” a statement added.

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Xagħra mayor suggests odd-even car plate traffic solution

Mar 29 2023

Taking to social media, Xagħra mayor Christian Zammit attempted to address the issue of heavy traffic polluting the Maltese islands.

Zammit proposed that cars with number plates ending with even numbers are allowed to go out on certain days and other days are reserved for those with odd numbers.

Zammit acknowledged that this is a drastic measure which, he argues, the island desperately needs. The exception to such a rule would be mini/buses, emergency vehicles, taxis and electric cars.

‘This would push more people to use free alternative transport more often’ as the number of vehicles would be decreased off from the street, he suggested.

The suggestion was met with mixed reactions, however a majority seemed to find loopholes in the idea: some suggested that an alternative would be to buy two cars with both even and odd ending number plates.

Others however commented saying that Zammit was at least trying to offer an alternative to transport and that his idea only needed some tweaking to work. Others agreed wholeheartedly.

What do you think of this proposal?

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