LA VALLETTA (MALTA) (ITALPRESS/MNA) – An investigation by the Safeguarding Board of the Malta Football Association, has found the former Malta coach Devis Mangia guilty of improper conduct but not sexual harassment. Mangia may appeal the decision. In a statement, the Malta Football Association said that there was sufficient evidence to support the allegation of improper conduct, but not enough to back the accusation of sexual harassment. The italian coach was removed from his duties in september of last year, after two national team players reported him for improper conduct. As a result, he was immediately suspended and the case was reported to the police for further investigations. Mangia categorically denied the allegations of misconduct. Mangia was appointed Maltàs national team head coach in 2019 and had signed a contract until december 2023.
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(ITALPRESS).

Source: medNews

LA VALLETTA (ITALPRESS/MNA) – The Maltese government confirmed that an international company has asked the Maltese authorities to assist in the evacuation of its employees from Sudan.
Maltese Foreign Minister Ian Borg told Parliament that Malta is helping an international company to evacuate its workers, however, “none of the employees are Maltese.”
The Times of Malta reported that the international company is Corinthia Group, which is fully owned by the Maltese and has a hotel in Sudan’s capital Khartoum. No Maltese nationals are at the hotel, however, the hotel management is doing its utmost to secure the safety of all the workers and guests.
Fighting erupted between forces loyal to the Sudanese army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan against those of his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who commands the Rapid Support Forces.
The Maltese Foreign Minister also confirmed in Parliament that he will be visiting Ethiopia and Rwanda in the coming days to talk to African leaders about the conflict. He added that Libya, which borders Sudan, is anticipating problems, and the situation might affect Malta, as it is the first European state bordering North Africa.
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(ITALPRESS).

Source: medNews

ISTANBUL (TURKEY)(ITALPRESS/MNA) – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has canceled the engagements scheduled for today after falling ill during a live television programme which was aired yesterday. “Today I will rest at home on the advice of doctors,” he tweeted. Following a TV broadcast interruption, Erdogan returned to speak live with reporters stating of being absent due to a stomach bug and was feeling tired as a result of the many commitments related to the electoral campaign.
Today he was due to hold rallies in three Turkish cities. However, the rallies will be addressed by his deputy, Fuat Oktay. Erdogan is preparing for next elections scheduled on May 14 and he is being challenged by a coalition of opposition that supports Kemal Kiliçdaroglu.
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(ITALPRESS).

Source: medNews

LA VALLETA (MALTA) (ITALPRESS/MNA) – Maltàs national airline, Air Malta, will not be employing more people despite that recently it was advertising new job opportunities. Finance Minister Clyde Caruana assured Parliament that the current level of staff is perfect for Air Mata to operate eight aircrafts. He confirmed that Air Maltàs workforce was reduced to 375 from 1,000 employees. Malta is expected to have a new national airline by the end of the year. Recently, Air Maltàs Chairman David Curmi declared that the airline will close by the end of 2023 and will be replaced by a new national airline. Minister Caruana told Parliament that Malta will continue to have a national airline, however, he did not go into details. The Finance Minister only added that there are ongoing discussions between the Maltese government and the European Commission. The European Commission is not expected to give the go-ahead for more state aid. Although the Maltese government is requesting the European Commission to approve an aid of around 300 million euros, the Maltese Finance Minister declared that “this long-drawn saga has cost the country a lot of money” while adding that the Maltese government needs to be certain that with the decision taken, the problems faced by the airline will be concluded once and for all”.
(ITALPRESS).
-photo credit Air Malta-

Source: medNews

ROME (ITALPRESS/MNA) – All the Italians who have asked to leave Sudan have been evacuated. This was announced by the Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni late on Sunday evening.
“After a day of anxious waiting, all our compatriots in Sudan who have asked to leave have been evacuated. There are also foreign nationals with them. “Italy leaves no one behind,” said the Prime Minister, adding “I want to thank all those who participated in this very difficult operation, in the middle of a combat zone, my applause goes to Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani and to the Farnesina Crisis Unit, to Defense Minister Guido Crosetto, Undersecretary Alfredo Mantovano, the Chief of Staff at the Defense Ministry, Giuseppe Cavo Dragone, the COVI commander, General Francesco Paolo Figliuolo, to our ambassador in Sudan, Michele Tommasi, and to the Security Services. Also on this occasion I want to renew my appeal for an end to the war, for the opening of negotiations that lead to a civilian government. Sudan needs peace”.
Defense Minister Guido Crosetto thanked the effort and professionalism of the Italian Armed Forces. The first 107 Italians aboard one of the C130s landed in Djibouti at 10 pm Italian time, 7 had already arrived a few hours earlier and another 40 returned on an aircraft in collaboration with the Spanish armed forces. “All Italian civilians have been evacuated to Djibouti where a refreshment area has been set up awaiting the subsequent return to Italy”, explained Crosetto.
On Monday, a C130 will take the Italian ambassador to Sudan and the commander of the Extraction Force who implemented the operation back to Djibouti.
“Thanks to the commitment of our air force and our special forces of the army, navy and carabinieri,” the minister reiterated, “the operations will continue until the complete safety of all the Italians. Everything takes place in the closest cooperation with our European partners. To the Operational Command of the Joint Forces Summit and to the soldiers who are carrying out this delicate and risky mission, I want to express the gratitude of the government and of the whole nation”.
“All the Italians who wanted to leave the country are now in Djibouti and will return to Rome with an Air Force flight at around 6 or 7 pm at Ciampino airport. They are all fine. There are some Emergency volunteers left and I think some missionary who did not want to leave the country, it is their free choice”, said the foreign minister Antonio Tajani, upon his arrival at the European Foreign Affairs Council in Luxembourg.
“I want to thank the Farnesina Crisis Unit and all the soldiers who participated in the evacuation operation. It was a difficult, risky and complicated operation, but everything went the right way. I have remained in contact with the leaders of the two factions that are fighting each other, they have respected their commitment to guarantee the safety of our convoys, I thanked them for this”, explained Tajani.

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(ITALPRESS).

Source: medNews

TUNIS (TUNISIA) (ITALPRESS/MNA) – During the last hours, 15 boats full of migrants fled from Tunisia towards Italy, however some of the boats were stopped by the Tunisian authorities. This was confirmed by the international NGO Alarm Phone in an alert via Twitter confirming that it is also aware of more boats are preparing to leave from the Tunisian coasts.
Alarm Phone said that some of the boats were intercepted by the Tunisian authorities, preventing them from crossing the Mediterranean Sea. It added that the Tunisian authorities removed the engines from other boats and migrants left abandoned. The NGO urged the Tunisian authorities to stop this assault on people who are trying to escape from Tunisia which is considered dangerous and safe following the recent political developments and the economic situation which is in a bad state.
Earlier, Alarm Phone confirmed that a group of 38 migrants were adrift off Al Amra. The southeastern coastal town which is around 250 km away from Tunis is one of the departure points for migrants in their attempt to start a clandestine voyage to Italy.
Alarm phone was alerted by a group of people who tried to flee Tunisia but got attacked by the Tunisian National Guard who stole the engine. The NGO urged the authorities to stop this violence and to launch an immediate rescue operation.

– photo Agenziafotogramma.it –

(ITALPRESS).

Source: medNews

LA VALLETTA (MALTA) (ITALPRESS/MNA) – According to Eurostat, Malta registered the lowest increase in average hourly wages and salaries in the euro area during 2022. However, the hourly wages and salaries grew within every member state of the European Union, an average increase of 4.4% in the EU and 4% in the euro area. But among the Eurozone members, Malta was one of three countries, including Italy and Finland, where the hourly wages increased the least, by just 2.3%. Within the EU, only Denmark just barely registered a lower growth in average hourly wages and salaries, registering a growth of 2.2% last year. The biggest increase in hourly wages and salaries was recorded in Hungary (16.4%), followed by Bulgaria (15.5%) and Lithuania (13.4%). Lithuania is the country that registered the fastest growth within the euro area. Within the EU, hourly wages and salaries grew by 3.2%, mainly in the non-business economy and by 4.9% in the business economy, with a 4.6% increase in industry, 5.2% in construction and 5% in services. (ITALPRESS).

Photo Credits: www.agenziafotogramma.it

Source: medNews

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.

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(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