Italy and England will face off Malta for Euro 2024 qualifier

Oct 9 2022

Malta has been selected from a draw to welcome the likes of Italy and England for the Euro 2024 qualifiers to play ‘away’ fixtures during the international game.

Malta was drawn in Group C of qualifications alongside Italy, England, Ukraine and North Macedonia, less than two years from the tournament being staged in Germany.

This could be a massive opportunity for Malta’s tourism and sports sector to welcome some big names from the international scene and have them kick off the world-renowned football competition.

It will also prove a big challenge for Malta’s players given that the two are giants on the pitch. But given Malta’s recent successes in the sport, we will all be having our eyes peeled for our players’ performance.

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Malta and four EU nations call to stop human smuggling

Oct 9 2022

Malta, along with Spain, Greece, Italy and Cyprus, stated on Saturday that the European Union’s border agency Frontex needs to work within third countries to stop the smuggling and endangerment of lives of migrants.

Top officials from the aforementioned countries, who are the countries who receive the most migrant arrivals from the Southern and southeastern borders, stated that they will be pushing this proposal to EU leaders later this month.

The countries also call to set up asylum application centres in neighbours countries from which successful applicants can safely reach Europe instead of through risky boat trips.

This would help diminish the work of smugglers and would allow people with legitimate fears to find safety whilst travelling to Europe after their asylum claims are accepted.

Home Affairs Minister of Malta Byron Camilleri said that a lot of time has been lost making statements and pointing fingers. ‘Meanwhile, children and adults continue to lose their lives while we ignore the elephant in the room. How long is it going to take us Europeans to admit that the only way to save lives is to eradicate people smuggling once and for all?’

The claims were backed up by relevant and synonymous authorities from the there countries, who asked the EU to seriously consider these proposals and put an end to the smuggling of lives. They also ask the EU to adopt fairer migrant relocation policies so that the burden does not entirely fall on southern EU countries.

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New survey suggests declining support for both major political leaders

Oct 9 2022

A new MaltaToday survey shows that trust in both Prime Minister Robert Abela and Opposition leader Bernard Grech continues to decline, albeit it being worse for the latter leader.

Support for the Labour Party declined by around three points to 39.4% since July of tis year. However, the Nationalist Party showed a loss of six points since July, going down to 19.9%. This makes it the worst result under Grech’s leadership.

The trust rating of the Prime Minister dropped seven months into the signing in of his new mandate, dropping to below the 50% mark. This mean Abela’s trust rating sits at 46.9% whereas Grech’s sits at 18.1%.

Abela’s trust rating is still relatively high when compared to those of the PN leader. Meanwhile, the number of people dissatisfied with both political parties seems to be ever on the increase as 22.6% said that they will not vote. This is an increase of 8 points since July. 31.1% said they trust neither leader, which is an increase of seven points since July.

The losses for the two main parties was not mirrored by the alternative ADPD, which saw an increase by more than one point to reach 3.2%.

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Source: MaltaToday

Man grievously injured whilst competing in obstacle race

Oct 9 2022

A 30-year-old man resident of Gżira has suffered grievous injuries after he was injured during an obstacle course race in Għajn Tuffieħa.

Police were informed of the incident at around 1630hrs yesterday, and preliminary investigations showed that the man suffered grievous injuries during the last part of the race whilst sliding down one of the last challenges.

The man was taken to Mater Dei Hospital by Malta Red Cross who were present at the scene of the incident. He was later certified as having suffered grievous injuries.

Investigations are ongoing and an inquiry has been opened.

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