Last Sunday, Lionel Messi and Lamine Yamal crossed paths in a football stadium under the watchful eyes of millions of people across the globe. But this wasn't the first time the two did so.

The first time was in 2007, and no one knew, except a photographer named Joan Montfort and a young couple, the parents of a 5-month-old baby named Lamine Yamal.

Shortly after the birth of their son, the Yamals entered a raffle run by the Catalan newspaper Sport in conjunction with Barcelona shirt sponsor and international children's charity Unicef. The highlight of this event was that those selected at random would have their babies photographed with a Barcelona player. The young Lamine was among the winners, and he was paired with Messi by chance.

A chance encounter, captured in a now iconic photo of arguably one of the best footballers of all time, and his heir to the crown. The photo documents a somewhat shy Messi, then a 20-year-old Barcelona player, cradling and bathing a 5-month-old Yamal.

Spain won and I had personally predicted, from before the start of the World Cup, that they would win. They played massively better than Argentina, depriving Messi of ending his illustrious international career on a high. Spain has every reason to be proud of its extraordinary achievement. As the referee blew his final whistle and jubilant Spain lifted the World Cup trophy, the verdict is unanimous: Yamal has what it takes to become one of the greatest and to walk in the footsteps of the man who once bathed him - Lionel Messi, the GOAT. 

Football is the beautiful game.  What's best is that it brings the world together.  The World Cup will always remain one of the best events which captures the imagination and emotions of the whole world.

Morocco

I supported Morocco during the World. Theirs was a brilliant performance, finishing in the quarterfinals-their second consecutive appearance in the last eight after their historic semifinal run in 2022. The Atlas Lions, as they are affectionately known, have a blend of experienced and talented young players.  Only God knows what would have happened had Lamine Yamal chosen to play with Morocco rather than Spain when he started his international career ... the team would had been truly formidable!  

In the US, Morocco demonstrated strong teamwork and tactical discipline, earning their place among Africa's most respected international teams.  Who knows, maybe Morocco would win the World Cup some time in our lifetime?

HEAT AND ELECTRICITY

At the time of the writing of the article, various families and businesses are suffering not only from immense heat exceeding 40°C, but also from disruptions in electrical supply which are causing hardship at large. 

It is important to set a context to understand better the current extraordinary circumstances.    On the 21st of July, our country registered a record demand for electricity to the tune of 741MW, much more than the previous record of 663MW (Summer 2023).  I am saying this to understand better the context in which we are operating in.

The Government has been intervening to improve the electrical infrastructure.  Following the Summer of 2023 the program of investment in the network was accellerated and more than €161 million were invested between 2022  and 2025.  

A further €300 million will be invested in the coming years.  The priority of the Government is clear: that the situation goes back to normal asap and that we keep investing in a more resilient system.

At the same time I would like to thank all the Enemalta employees for giving their absolute 200% in the current conditions to bring back the service as quickly as possible.  

In the meantime the Government has reissued the reimbursement scheme which was issued in the past to compensate families and businesses which experienced outages of six hours or more during the heatwave.

"The compensation mechanism, which has already been applied in previous years, is intended to provide support to those affected by prolonged interruptions to their electricity supply," the Government said.

Rent freeze

There will be no future rent increases for pensioners living in Housing Authority accommodation. I announced it last week, and the feedback was positive. It was not part of the Labour Party electoral manifesto, but we always go the extra mile. This decision was one of them. We gave pensioners peace of mind, and nothing makes me prouder.

Stability

Pensioners, living in Housing Authority accommodation, have often expressed their concern, or rather their fear, that a future rent increase would cause them significant financial hardships. They asked for stability, peace of mind, safe in the knowledge that their rent would not increase. We took action and gave them peace of mind. The amendment will also apply to pensioners whose rents have already been recalculated during the current review exercise, ensuring equal treatment for all eligible households.

The decision follows the first review of the DSA Policy introduced in 2022. While recent improvements to the rent calculation mechanism have already resulted in fairer and more favourable rent assessments for tenants, we identified the need to provide an additional safeguard for pensioners who rely primarily on their pension income.

This reform is at the heart of the new Labour Government's commitment towards the elderly by recognising the contribution they have made to our society. It reflects the Government's belief that our elderly should be able to enjoy retirement with greater financial stability and peace of mind, without the unnecessary anxiety of future rent increases.

We care

This measure complements the many initiatives introduced over recent years to improve the well-being of older persons: pension increases for 13 years in a row; subsidized water and electricity prices; the provision of affordable and social accommodation, and this latest measure, which gives the elderly further financial security and peace of mind. Care - it is what Labour does best.

 A ban

Last week, the UK Government announced that teenagers aged 16 and 17 will no longer be able to use social media between midnight and 6 a.m. This means that platforms such as Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube will be set up so that they are automatically unavailable to these young people during those hours.

For safety

UK Online Safety Minister Kanishka Narayan defended the new rule, saying that it is a step closer towards a "more technologically resilient United Kingdom." This new rule follows another announcement made last June, stating that children under the age of 16 in the UK will be completely prohibited from using social media platforms.

In Brussels

The EU, too, is in the process of going down the same route. Ursula Von Der Leyen, the President of the EU Commission, is a staunch advocate of the online ban, which some deem too drastic, and others insist that it is a much-needed decision, and that the sooner it is implemented, the better.

Locally

Malta too shall be acting on this matter, with a public consultation process having been conducted and concluded in the last legislature. I, too, believe that safeguards for child safety online need to be implemented soon.