LA VALLETTA (MALTA) (ITALPRESS/MNA) – An earthquake of magnitude 5.3 on the Richter Scale caused fear among several people around Malta and Gozo, with several people telling how this tremor was much stronger than they had ever felt. Several people who commented on social media explained how the tremor lasted for a few seconds, others said that objects in their house started moving and there were those who said they were asleep and woke up startled. The tremor was felt around 00:19 of Saturday, a little more than 110 kilometers south east of Malta, in the area of ??the Central Mediterranean where there have been several other tremors in recent months. The tremor was also felt in Sicily and Libya. On Friday evening, at around 8:13pm, another tremor occurred in the same area, but with a lower power that marked 4.4 on the Richter Scale.

Foto: screenshot da Ingv

(ITALPRESS).

Source: medNews

TRIPOLI (LIBIA) (ITALPRESS/MNA) – Libya faces being badly affected by the conflict in Sudan if urgent actions are not taken by the authorities. Sudan is Africa’s third biggest country and what happens there matters, to its neighbours and to the wider world. The stern warning came from the Head of the Military Organization and Administration Authority in southern Libya, Abdelsalam Al-Busaifi. He said that the ongoing clashes in Sudan will have an impact on the situation in Libya unless quick and serious steps are taken to avoid such repercussions. Al-Busaifi appealed to the authorities in the east and west, to quickly contain the situation now, close the borders and assign military forces to protect them and prevent any infiltration, in addition to using reconnaissance planes at Al-Kufra Airport. He also pointed out that the southeastern region adjacent to the northern regions of Sudan would be the most affected if the clashes extended to Libya. He said there is fear that the current military clashes in Sudan may result in a long-term war, and stressed that Libya should follow Chad’s decision to close all borders. The Sudanese capital Khartoum has been witnessing fierce clashes since Saturday morning between the Sudanese army, which is under the authority of the head of the Sovereignty Council, Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, and the Rapid Support Forces, which are under the control of Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemetti. The two military men at the centre of the crisis both served under the previous president, Omar al-Bashir, until they turned on him in 2019, after months of pro-democracy protests. They have large numbers of troops; Burhan has the regular military – around 120,000 strong – while the RSF has as many as 150,000, with a fearsome reputation for violence. They were part of a transitional administration that was supposed to pave the way for a democratic government. But in 2021 Gen Burhan staged a military coup, putting all that on hold.

photo credits: www.agenziafotogramma.it

Source: medNews

LA VALLETTA (MALTA) (ITALPRESS/MNA) – The inflation rate in Malta has increased slightly and it is highest than the average in the Eurozone. According to the National Statistics Office, , the inflation rate was 7.1 percent last month, an increase of 0.1 percent compared to last February. Meanwhile, official statistics confirmed that the inflation in EU countries was 8.3 percent and 6.9 in the Eurozone. The biggest increase in the annual inflation rate in March was in the food and non-alcoholic drink price index at 2.3%. This was mainly due to higher meat prices. Meanwhile, the Governor of the Central Bank of Malta Prof Edward Scicluna declared that tough decisions may be needed to fight what he described the “inflation monster”. During the launch of Malta’s Central Bank 2022 annual report, Scicluna warned that “inflation is likely to remain too high for too long”.  While declaring that the Central Bank’s mandate is to fight inflation, he declared “if interest rates need to rise, we will raise them, even if it comes at the cost of the Central Bank’s finances.” As a consequene of a series of interests raise implemented by the European Central Bank throughout 2022, local banks ended up under increasing pressure to raise their own interest rates, with potentially problematic consequences for home loan holders. However, the Governor of Malta’s Central Bank remarked that the Maltese banks have high liquidity, and this factor allowed them to limit the impact of inflation, without passing the costs on to their customers. Meanwhile, the President of the European Central Bank Christine Lagarde praised Malta’s “extraordinary economic growth” and congratulated the Central Bank on the “great confidence” it demonstrated throughout the years in transforming Malta into a modern economy.

Photo credits: www.agenziafotogramma.it

Source: medNews

VALLETTA (MALTA) (ITALPRESS/MNA) – The Maltese government spent over €60.8 million in public funds in 2022 on the early retirement scheme and the voluntary retirement scheme which were offered to Air Maltàs staff as the national airline, Air Malta, sought to downsize its workforce in a bid to survive.
Maltàs Finance Minister Clyde Caruana said in Parliament that 351 workers received a payout under both schemes, and received €60.8 million – an average of over €173,000.
Air Maltàs Chairman David Curmi declared that a new airline would be replacing Air Malta by 2023, as had happened in Italy when Alitalia made way for ITA in 2021. However, this was not confirmed officially by the Maltese government and declared that there are still ongoing discussions on pending issues with the European Commission. However, the Commission is reported that it did not accept Maltàs request for state aid of around 300 million euro to make Air Malta viable.
Unions representing the workers are asking for urgent meeting with the government.

– photo press office Air Malta –

(ITALPRESS).

Source: medNews

ROME (ITALPRESS/MNA) – “Italy will provide Ukraine with support as long as it is necessary and requested from every point of view, because not only the independence of the country is at stake, but also the future of peace in Europe. Other aggressions and attacks would follow We cannot allow this.” This was stated by the President of Italy Sergio Mattarella, in Bratislava, after the meeting with the Slovak President Zuzana Caputova.
Mattarella also answered a question about disinformation “which is fueled by a constant activity of the Russian Federation”. “It affects all countries, even in Italy,” explained the Italian Head of State, describing it as “an insidious action that must be countered more effectively and with more efficient tools than those put in place up to now”.
“This requires an awareness and responsibility of law enforcement instruments on the part of the European Union and NATO in an effective manner”, added Mattarella.

– photo press office Quirinale –

(ITALPRESS).

Source: medNews

KRAKOW (ITALPRESS/MNA) – “Today, once again, the European perspective is precious for the states close to us, which they find in the accession to the EU a reason for hope and strength to claim justice, rights, and peace, and to widen the circle of countries that testify their adherence to the values ​​of people’s rights and of the nations. It is the realization of the evocative power and transformative European perspective that led to a historic decision to grant the candidate status to Kyiv and Chisinau, whose peoples must know that Europe will not leave them alone to face the challenges ahead of them.” This was stated by the Italian President Sergio Mattarella who was speaking at the University of Krakow. “The rapid conclusion of the EU accession process of our Balkan neighbors, which started many years ago, is a goal that Italy fully supports, to secure their aspirations and not to give space to forces hostile to the values ​​of coexistence and who are ready to degenerate the democratic system. A step that must be taken without any delay, an indispensable step in order not to create dangerous instability for the continent,” he added.
– photo Quirinale –
(ITALPRESS).

Source: medNews

LA VALLETTA (MALTA) (ITALPRESS/MNA) – 69 human rights organisations from various countries, including Tunisia, Italy and, Malta are urging the European Union to stop cooperation with Tunisia on migration control, insisting the north African state should not be considered safe. The EU is being requested to provide safe routes for people wanting to leave Tunisia and stop border control funding to the country. Between 2016 and 2020, more than €37 million from the EU Trust Fund for Africa were granted to Tunisia for the “management of migration flows and borders”, the groups said, adding that more millions were earmarked for the process. They raised concerns over Tunisiàs treatment of sub-Saharan immigrants and Tunisian citizens opposed to the current regime, which is increasingly becoming authoritarian. The statement comes amid an increase in irregular boat departures from Tunisia towards the Italian island of Lampedusa. There are two main concerns as Tunisian immigrants who actually make it to the EU are not afforded international protection and are repatriated back to their country while the Tunisian coast guard intercepts boats and forces them to return back. The organisations claimed that people rescued at sea and returned back to Tunisia are at “high risk” of being subjected to human rights violations and detention, irrespective of whether they are Tunisian citizens or not.
(ITALPRESS).
-photo credit agenziafotogramma.it-

Source: medNews

LA VALLETTA (MALTA) (ITALPRESS/MNA) – Maltàs national airline, Air Malta, will be liquidated “by the end of the year” and a new airline will take its place and start managing Air Maltàs operations. This was confirmed by the Chairman of Air Malta David Curmi in a report published by The Times of Malta. He explained that the transition will be without any extra obstacles. Curmi said that the European Commission is expected to reject the request made by the Maltese Government to inject €300 million to prevent Air Malta from bankruptcy. He added that the European Commission does not want a “photocopy” of Air Malta. The Maltese government presented to the European Commission a five-year plan which, according to Curmi, would lead to an airline that could profit. In October last year, the Minister for Finance Clyde Caruana had said in Parliament that the European Commission was not positive about the viability of Air Malta “because many promises in the past were not kept”. He admitted that the new airline which will replace Air Malta, will not operate like the airlines that offer cheap prices but that it will be offering great service. Regarding the future of the workers who are still with Air Malta, Curmi said that they will end up unemployed but they will be able to apply with this new airline. Minister Caruana had confirmed in Parliament that 351 former Air Malta workers chose to take the Early Retirement Scheme or the Voluntary Redundancy Scheme and were given a sum of money.
Curmi explained that ground handling, which was one of Air Maltàs problems, is now being handled by an Italian company Aviation Services SpA. However, this decision led to other problems because hundreds of Air Malta workers who were working in the ground handling operation ended up unemployed after the work started to be done by this company.
(ITALPRESS).
-photo credit Air Malta-

Source: medNews

MILAN (ITALPRESS) – “Tunisia is not a problem, but an extraordinary opportunity for Italy and the European Union, if both take a holistic approach towards a relationship based on cooperation. There is not only the issue of immigration, but there is culture, rural development, energy, infrastructure and agriculture”, declared Kamel Ghribi, President of GKSD Holding, adding that “the Mediterranean Sea should unite instead of dividing”.
While explaining that the inter-religious dialogue ensures peace, security, stability and prosperity, Ghribi added that this was the reason for organizing the Iftar dinner in Rome in the presence of the Imam of Palermo, that of Rome and with the participation of Monsignor Vincenzo Paglia. “You have to be committed and believe. This is the secret of cooperation between Italy and the European Union with Tunisia. As far as I’m concerned, I believe it,” he declared.
– photo Gksd –
(ITALPRESS).

Source: medNews

LA VALLETTA (MALTA) (ITALPRESS/MNA) – A 45-year-old Sicilian man is facing trial accused of importing over 500,000 dollars worth of cannabis in October 2018. D.B. stands is being charged over a secret plan to traffic narcotics, importing the drugs and aggravated possession of cannabis. He was arrested by the police, together with two other men during a raid in a garage in Sliema. The raid led to a discovery of over 25kg of cannabis hidden inside the premises. The drugs, which had arrived in Malta from Sicily in a shipping container, had been packed in tissue packets and declared as “food goods”. D.B. had signed for the consignment himself.
foto Malta Police Force
(ITALPRESS).

Source: medNews