Energy Minister highlights impacts on Malta’s energy sector due to Ukraine invasion

May 3 2022

Speaking during a meeting of EU energy ministers discussing the impact of Russia’s invasion of neighbouring Ukraine, Energy Minister Miriam Dalli explained that Malta is being impacted by high wholesale prices for electricity imported via the inter-connector from Italy.

When the provision of electricity faced danger, the Minister called for solidarity with everyone without any distinction. She went on to explain how Malta’s geographic location makes the impacts more pronounced and challenging to address.

‘The energy market disruptions affect freight costs, leading to higher prices and inflationary pressures. Exacerbating the issue further is the lack of choice of transport for Malta’s businesses, where all raw materials have to be imported’ she said.

Dalli pointed out how Malta supported a coordinated approach in such circumstances. However, she highlighted, member states should be allowed a degree of flexibility to best address their required needs.

Speaking in Brussels, she said that all EEU countries should be linked to the European energy grid to ease this growing issue. She went on to say that it was important to scale up investment in renewable energy.

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Obesity epidemic killing 1.2 million yearly in Europe warns WHO

May 3 2022

The World Health Organisation warned that ‘epidemic’ overweight and obesity rates are resulting in over 1.2 million deaths across all of Europe per year.

Calling for urgent and quick policy changes to reverse the trend, obesity rates were reported to have risen by 138% in the past five decades.

The WHO linked this to a series of cancer and cardiovascular diseases, with nearly a quarter of adults in Europe now obese. This is higher than any other region except the Americas.

The European office of the world health body said that overweight and obesity rates have reached epidemic proportions across the entire region, and are still escalating.

WHO regional director Hans Kluge was quoted in the report as saying that ‘raised body mass index is a major risk factor for non-communicable diseases’. Obesity causes at least 13 different types of cancer and is likely responsible for at least 200,000 new cases of cancer yearly.

The organisation has warned that the figure is set to rise in the coming years, with the COVID-19 pandemic also being linked to the trend. The report found that lockdowns promoted an unhealthy diet or sedentary lifestyle.

“People living with obesity were more likely to experience severe outcomes of the COVID-19 disease spectrum, including intensive care unit admissions and death,” Kluge said.

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Malta fourth worst EU country for media freedom, according to Politico Europe

May 3 2022

A new article and ranking released by prestigious international news portal Politico Europe classed Malta as one of the worst five EU countries for media and press freedom.

Our island was classed in 4th place, right above Poland, but below Greece, Bulgaria and Hungary respectively. The data was provided by Reporters Without Borders’ annual World Press Freedom Index.

Writing in their report, Politico noted how ‘those responsible for the murder of journalists Daphne Caruana Galizia in Malta and Jan Kuciak in Slovakia have yet to be convicted.’

Despite this, the worst offenders against press freedom are non-EU countries, with China, Belarus, Russia, Iran, Myanmar and North Korea classifying in this list. However, press freedom in European countries has been reported to have deteriorated, with Italy, Austria and Slovenia taking hits as well.

The European Parliament will debate the issue of journalists’ safety on Tuesday at the plenary session in Strasbourg, where Transparency Commissioner Vera Jourova will highlight plans to propose a Media Freedom Act.

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First three months of 2022 saw 23 cruise-liners dock in Malta

May 3 2022

Apart from 23 cruise-liners docking in Malta in the first quarter of 2022, the total cruise passenger traffic amounted to 25,200. The increase to 23 cruise liners was one of 14 compared to the corresponding quarter of the previous year.

The National Statistics Office said that transit passengers accounted for the absolute majority of total traffic, reaching 24,559.

On average, every vessel that berthed in Malta carried 1,096 passengers, which is 211 more than 2021. This indicates a improvement as COVID-19 measures continue to be eased.

Passengers from the EU made up 79.1% of total traffic, with the major markets being Germany. These accounted for 28.2% of total passengers, followed by a 18.3% of Italian passengers. The total number of passengers from non-EU countries stood at 5,276.

38.9% came from the United States, and 37.3% came from the UK. 52.5% of the total were female passengers and the biggest share of passengers fell within the 40 to 59 age bracket.

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