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CAIRO (EGYPT) (ITALPRESS/MNA) – Morocco chaired the plenary session on guaranteeing migrants’ right of access to basic services, as part of the second regional review of the United Nations Global Compact for Safe, Orderly Migration and regular, known as the Marrakech Pact. The session, which was held in Cairo, was attended by representatives of Arab governments, international organizations, institutions and NGOs interested in migration issues. Ismail Chekkouri, representative of Morocco and president of the plenary, underlined the importance of the effective implementation of Objective 15 of the Global Compact, which consists in working to guarantee migrants’ right of residence and access to basic services.
The challenges and crises facing the Arab region have not prevented these countries, particularly Morocco, from making progress by implementing programs and developing good practices that allow migrants to access basic health services, such as health, education and professional training, he specified. At the conclusion of the work, Chakouri called for joint efforts to highlight the positive contribution of migrants to the achievement of the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Goals and to the fight against the increase in hatred, racism and discrimination.
(ITALPRESS).
– Photo: Map source –

MILAN (ITALPRESS/MNA) – The Mayor of Palermo, Roberto Lagalla, who was at Palazzo Marino, participating at the Milan-Palermo Forum “Mediterranean Genius”, in the presence of the Mayor of Milan Giuseppe Sala said that Milan and Palermo “are imagining being able to pass everything that is common and shared, and what will be able to share further in terms of administrative policies, culture, social integration and inclusion, and good management practices”. However, Lagalla remarked, “above all in terms of hybridization between a Central European and a Mediterranean culture, for the construction of a new Euro-Mediterranean identity, which affects the two cities and I think the entire country”.

– Foto xp2/Italpress –

(ITALPRESS).

LA VALLETTA (MALTA) (ITALPRESS/MNA) – Malta has registered the second unemployment rate in the European Union, according to Eurostat statistics. The Eurostat said that unemployment rate in May was the lowest in Poland with 3%. Malta and Slovenia with 3.2% had the second lowest unemployment rate in the European Union, while Germany followed with 3.3%. The average EU unemployment rate is 6% and 6.4% among euro zone countries.
Eurostat agency said that there were over 13 million persons registering for work in May in the European Union. More than 11 million were registered as unemployed among euro zone countries.
Compared with the same month last year, Eurostat said that unemployment rose both in the EU and in the Euro Zone.
(ITALPRESS).
– Photo credit: Agenzia Fotogramma –

ROME (ITALPRESS/MNA) – “The Mediterranean has an increasingly central role for Europe. The new EU Commission needs to work hard on maritime connectivity, preferably with a commissioner for the Mediterranean”. This was declared by the Deputy Minister for Infrastructure and Transport Edoardo Rixi following a meeting with Maltàs Transport Minister Chris Bonnet.
Both sides highlighted the need for the revision of the Directive on the extension of Emissions Trading System (ETS) to the maritime sector, the backing of a European regulatory intervention to strengthen the role of logistics and maritime connectivity as an instrument of European strategic autonomy, and the promotion of investments at European level in new fuels.
“The discussion with Minister Bonnet was useful for strengthening coordination on the actions to be implemented and it is precisely our belonging to different political groups that gives greater strength to our proposals, because they are of general interest. Maintaining strong cohesion between maritime countries, will be fundamental for the future of European competitiveness”, said Rixi.

– Photo Ministry for Infrastructure and Transport –

(ITALPRESS).

LA VALLETTA (MALTA) (ITALPRESS/MNA) – Two Maltese engineers have managed to create a system to store energy so that the electricity generated from wind farms at sea can be more efficient. This project is among the inventions which have a chance to win a prize in the European Inventor Awards which for the first time will be hosted by Malta on July, 9. According to the European Environmental Agency, in the last 40 years more than 85,000 people have died around Europe as a result of climate change. Daniel Buhagiar, the student who developed this system, said that there are countries such as the UK, France and Germany which already utilise large wind farms. “Our challenge was to come up with a system which works like a battery, you give it energy and it gives it back without using new processes which in this environment are never used, as that would be very difficult”. He explained how, contrary to other countries such as the Netherlands, the Mediterranean Sea is deeper and therefore technology known as “floating winds” needs to be used; these turbines are tied up like a ship when it is anchored. The way it works is that it uses the electricity which it needs which is stored in order for the pump to work, it then pushes the liquid, which can be sea water, which eventually arrives inside a tank.
Professor Tonio Sant from the University of Malta said that in this way , energy is stored in the form of compressed air which is being stored at sea. He said this is a great advantage for Malta because apart from not needing space on land, one is avoiding the visual impact and the noise. “When we speak about offshore wind farms, one turbine today is enough for the wind conditions in Malta to generate enough electricity in one year for 10,000 families.

– Photo Agenzia Fotogramma –

(ITALPRESS).

LA VALLETTA (ITALPRESS/MNA) – A 31-year-old Sicilian woman died in a tragic accident in Gozo on Saturday night when the quad bike she was on fell off a cliff. Police said that the accident occurred at 8pm in Wied il-Mielaħ Street, Għarb.
A 47-year-old Italian man was driving a quad bike close to the cliffs and lost control of the vehicle. While he managed to jump off the vehicle in time, his passenger was not so lucky and fell off the cliffs and into the sea.
The police and the Armed Forces of Malta searched the area and recovered the woman’s body.
-photo Ipa Agency-
(ITALPRESS)

LA VALLETTA (MALTA) (MNA/ITALPRESS) – A European study is suggesting that the Maltese authorities should process freedom of information requests (FOIs) quickly and transparently and be held accountable if they fail to do so.

The report “Monitoring Media Pluralism in the Digital Era” and published by the Centre for Media Pluralism and Media Freedom concluded the “urgent” need for the Maltese authorities to bring the freedom of information requests in line with international best practice. “Freedom of information requests need to be addressed in a timely and transparent manner, and when authorities fail to do so, they should be held accountable,” said the report.

The report added, “access to information remains a pressing concern in Malta, and not only for government-critical media.”

The difficulty in accessing information on matters of public interest, such as public spending, for the purposes of this report is a testament to the culture of secrecy and lack of transparency, it said. Rating the right to information in the country as being at “high risk”, the report said it was more at risk than last year, highlighting “the general tendency of the government to sideline and ignore critical media”.

Citing a letter sent to Prime Minister Robert Abela last year where Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Dunja Mijatovic criticised Malta’s “unwarranted secrecy within state institutions”, the report said authorities’ refusal to release information wasted journalists’ time by reducing the news value of the information.

The Media Pluralism Monitor 2024 report also called for the Public Broadcasting Sevices to move out of state control and for party political broadcasters to “no longer enjoy the position whereby they get privileged access to information.”

The European University Institute also flagged politicians’ use of social media, which they said made it “easy” for them to “sideline” journalists and the mainstream media. Noting that the government had a “leading position” as a buyer of advertising on Facebook, the report said the layout of social media content made it difficult for viewers to distinguish it from news content.

The report rated the viability of the media in Malta as being at “high risk” and riskier than last year, pointing to the use of social media as a major factor.

Calling the representation of minorities and gender equality in the media “dire”, the report highlighted “issues of gender imbalance, low visibility of minorities, and limited access to people with disabilities”.

Rating the profession, its standards and protects as being at “medium risk”, the report noted that “many voices” in the industry called for more protections for independent journalism.

It said “public warnings” should be issued to media organisations that fail to observe “fairness and transparency” about its choice of experts and how they represent minorities.

Overall, the strength of the media in Malta was rated as being at “average risk”, with a score of 37% risk.

Denmark scored the highest (13%) closely followed by Germany (16%), while Turkey came in bottom at 75% and was rated as being at “high-risk” in four out of the five main categories.

(ITALPRESS).

Foto: Agenzia Fotogramma

RABAT (MAROCCO) (ITALPRESS/MNA) – The event “Higher Education, Research and Innovation Collaboration between Morocco and Italy” took place at the Rabat campus of the Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P) in Morocco. The initiative was promoted and organized by the Italian Ministry of Universities and Research (MUR), the Med-Or Foundation, the Moroccan Ministry of Higher Education, Scientific Research and Innovation, the Mohammed VI Polytechnic University, and the Italian Embassy in Rabat. The event was attended by the Italian Minister of Universities and Research, Anna Maria Bernini, the Moroccan Minister of Higher Education, Scientific Research and Innovation, Abdellatif Miraoui, and the Italian Ambassador to Rabat, Armando Barucco.
In the context of new opportunities in the field of research, education, and entrepreneurial activities, the Med-Or Foundation and the Ministry of Universities and Research signed a memorandum of understanding in March 2024 for collaboration within the framework of the Mattei Plan. In this context, the initiative represented the first stage of the roadshow on the Mattei Plan aimed at fostering collaboration between the Italian and Moroccan academic and industrial sectors in the field of higher education and research.
This initiative is in line with the cooperation agreement signed in September 2023 with the Moroccan Ministry of Higher Education, Scientific Research and Innovation in the field of higher education and scientific research, under which Med-Or committed to funding a PhD in STEM, awarded to a deserving Moroccan student.

– Foto: Agenzia Fotogramma –

(ITALPRESS).