According to the “Competent Persons Report – CPR” company, Montenegro owns 51 billion cubic meters of gas and 144 million cubic meters of liquid resources, which equal to 438 million barrels of oil. The preparation of the exploration activities, on two areas off the southern coast of Montenegro, granted to the Greek company Energean Oil & Gas, is an integral part of the first three-year exploration phase, which includes seismic surveys and geological and geophysical studies.

(ITALPRESS/MNA).

Source: medNews

Malta observed a national day of mourning in honour of the Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia assassinated on the 16th of October by a bomb placed in her car. The bomb detonated minutes after the journalist left her home in Bidnija.

Hundreds of people paid their respect to the journalist during the funeral held at the Rotunda of Mosta. The journalist’s family decided that the funeral will not be broadcast and prohibited access to local and international media representatives both at the church ceremony and at the cemetery. The Mass was celebrated by the Archbishop of Malta, Charles J. Scicluna.

In his homily, Archbishop Scicluna warned the assassins of Caruana Galizia. “To who has been involved in the assassination of Daphne, I have this message to say to you: however difficult it is to evade legal justice, you can never escape the justice of God. Repent before it is too late!”.

Scicluna also sent a message of hope to journalists. “I encourage you to never tire out in your mission to be the eyes, ears, and mouth of the people. Do this without fear and with full respect to the truth. Dear journalists, we need people in your profession to be free, smart, curious, honest, serene, safe and protected”.

Furthermore the Archbishop asked for solidarity by the Maltese people, “Please stop the disrespectful words with which you can demonize and degenerate. We can enjoy the true freedom and prosperity that comes from solidarity”.

Scicluna gave courage to the sons of Caruana Galizia, Matthew, Andrew and Paul. “Every time your mother was abroad, she used to light a candle in the church for each one of you, a silent prayer of a mother for her children, remember the words of the Gospel announced today, he who speaks the truth comes to light, your beloved mother suffered a cruel death by the hidden hand of someone who wants to put darkness to the light. See that you will always be the children of light.”

The President of the Republic Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca did not attend the ceremony as she was previously informed by a family friend that her presence was not welcome.

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat and the leader of the Opposition Adrian Delia did not attend either. The Caruana Galizia family made a public announcement that the presence of the Maltese state was not wanted. Muscat and Delia were targeted by the murdered journalist in articles published on her blog accusing them of abuse of power and links with criminals respectively.

On the other hand Antonio Tajani, President of the European Parliament, was personally invited by the Caruana Galizia family and was present for the religious ceremony.

Following the Maltese Government’s decision to declare a day of national mourning, flags on all government buildings were flying at half-mast.

(ITALPRESS/MNA).

Source: medNews

Four announcements of FEAMP for the period 2014-2020 were published in the Official Gazette of Slovenia: “Production investments in classical aquaculture”, “Production investments in aquaculture (environmental)”, “Environmental impact assessment and transition to ecological aquaculture “and” Processing of fishery and aquaculture products “. Calls are only for micro, small and medium-sized businesses. For the first three projects, beneficiaries may be natural or legal persons registered in Slovenia for aquatic organisms which are: companies, cooperatives, individual companies or those responsible for integrating farms, while for the last call, beneficiaries must be registered is the processing and storage of fish, crustaceans and molluscs. The contribution per single request ranges from a minimum of € 3,500 to a maximum of € 500,000, except for the call for “Environmental impact assessment and transition to ecological aquaculture”, where the contribution will be counted according to a specific ranking. For all four applications, contributions must be submitted through the dedicated electronic system for the period from 13/11/2017 to 12/12/2017 by 24.00.

(ITALPRESS/MNA).

Source: medNews

According to Algerian Minister of Commerce Mustapha Benmeradi, Algeria plans to reduce the value of imports by 10 billion US dollars in 2018. The Algerian Government intends to implement measures aimed at reducing imports from the 40- 41 billion dollars in 2017 to 30 billion dollars in 2018. Among these measures, Mustapha Benmeradi cited the increase in customs duties, reintroduction of customs duties and domestic consumption tax for some imported finished goods. The Minister also referred to a quota for other product groups whose imports have a strong impact on the trade balance. According to the Minister, some twenty products have been accounting, in the last 10 years, for half of Algerian imports. Next year, the import licensing system will be maintained and the product list will be reviewed. As for vehicles, import licenses will not be issued this year. The Minister said that the suspension of imports falls under the protection of national production, stating that a register was created at the level of the Algerian Ministry of Commerce in which the various requests for protection identified by economic operators are identified. This register will allow investigations to be made in order to ensure that these operators fully or partially cover national demand, respecting the conditions of quality, price and competition. This operation will imply the suspension of imports of similar products from abroad.

(ITALPRESS/MNA).

Source: medNews

Officials from the Europol agency have joined the Maltese force investigating the assassination of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia. The investigation is led by the Police of Malta with the contribution of Dutch and American forensic and technical experts.

Meanwhile, the explosive material used in the car bomb that killed the Maltese journalist last Monday is currently being examined in European and local laboratories. In a statement, the Maltese police have denied a report featured on a local newspaper that TNT traces were found in the explosion.

In the meantime, the European Parliament is coordinating a visit for European deputies who will be going to Malta to investigate the rule of law in the country. In a tweet, the liberal MP and former Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt said that after meeting Daphne Caruana Galizia’s family he felt that “their account of the situation in Malta was upsetting”.

“Corruption seems widespread and has become a business model”,  Verhofstadt said. In a decision taken by the Conference of Presidents of the European Political Groups, the European Parliament will send a delegation to Malta to investigate “the extent to which the rule of law applies, what measures are being taken against corruption and how money laundering is being tackled”.

A debate and plenary resolution regarding the rule of law and money laundering in Malta will also take place on the 14th of November.

Meanwhile next Sunday, the civil society will organise the second national protest following the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia. The event will take place in Sliema whereby the civil society and opposition will enforce their appeal for the resignation of both the Police Commissioner and Attorney General.

Presently a group of female activists called ‘Occupy Justice’ is organizing a protest in front of the Maltese Prime Minister’s Office in Valletta. The group have declared that the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia “has exposed a state of concern for Malta, where the government has failed to ensure good governance and robust democratic institutions”.

(ITALPRESS/MNA).

Source: medNews

Owen Bonnici, the Maltese Minister of Justice dismissed statements made by the procurator of Catania, Carmelo Zuccaro who stated that the Maltese authorities did not cooperate with the Italian authorities investigating oil smuggling to Italy.
The Ministry of Justice described the allegations as “unreasonable, false and unfair”. But procurator Zuccaro accused the Maltese authorities of not responding for 18 months to an international co-operation request. The Maltese Justice Minister has negated the allegations regarding this case of organized crime. “The Attorney General’s Office in Malta has initiated proceedings at local courts to gather the evidence required”, added Minister Bonnici. 
The minister confirmed that magistrate Claire Micallef Stafrace has already held two sessions for the collection of evidence requested by the Italian authorities and a third session is already scheduled for the coming days. The Italian procurator said that there is a possibility that the oil smuggling and the assassination of the Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galicia are connected. He confirmed that Caruana Galizia had mentioned some names in her blog that result to be the same as those in his investigation. According to Maltese investigators, it appears that Caruana Galizia was recently investigating the Maltese connection to oil smuggling from Libya to Italy. 
(ITALPRESS/MNA).

Source: medNews

Rosy Bindi, president of the Italian Anti-Mafia Commission, reproached Malta for not doing enough to combat organized crime and money laundering. This statement was made during a press conference following a two-day official visit of the Commission in Malta.

She appealed for more collaboration between the Italian and Maltese parliaments to strengthen their commitment to fight organized crime.

Rosy Bindi reaffirmed that the Maltese political economy has become too dependent on the financial sector thus attracting the Italian Mafia making the island an extended territory for their illegal dealings. “Criminals and Mafiosi exploit this political environment and use it to their advantage to fund criminal activity such as money laundering”.

The President of the Anti-Mafia Commission appealed to the Government of Malta to take concrete action to address the existent legal loopholes.

Bindi insisted that not only the police should intervene to combat this criminal activity, but also the professionals in the financial services sector.

During the press conference, she complained to the Maltese authorities for not publishing the names of the foreign citizens who purchased a Maltese passport. In 2014, the Government of Malta introduced an individual investment program allowing foreign citizens to obtain a Maltese passport for € 650,000.

The visit of the Anti-Mafia Commission that had been scheduled from September, took place one week after the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia.

Meanwhile, at noon, members of the European Parliament observed a minute of silence in honour of the assassinated journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia. In view of this brutal murder in Malta, the parliament discussed freedom of the press and the protection of the Maltese and European journalists.

Antonio Tajani, President of the European Parliament expressed his outrage at this assassination. “She was a brave woman. She had accomplished everything that is right for the profession. She searched for the truth, the real facts. She was not afraid to do all that was needed to fulfill her duty”.

Tajani said that the assassination of Caruana Galizia must not remain unpunished, and added; “I expect the authorities of Malta to do everything possible to solve this murder”.

He said that Daphne’s case should never be forgotten. In fact, the European Parliament decided to dedicate the Strasbourg press room to Daphne Caruana Galizia.

The assassinated journalist published over 20,000 articles denouncing abuse of power, corruption and organized crime.

(ITALPRESS/MNA).

Source: medNews

Today the Italian antimafia Commission will begin official talks with representatives of the Maltese democratic institutions. Rosi Bindi, the president of the Commission described the official visit as an opportunity for dialogue between Malta and Italy to support its commitment to fight organized crime. Yesterday afternoon, Rosi Bindi was present for the mass concelebrated by the Archbishop of Malta Charles J. Scicluna in the church of Bidnija, located just a few meters from the area where the journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia was killed last week. “Our presence here is the best example of solidarity with the Caruana Galizia family and the Maltese people,” said Bindi.

The president of the antimafia Commission confirmed the appeal of Archbishop Scicluna not to abandon or leave Malta alone. This was reinforced during their meeting. Rosi Bindi said that Italy has a long history of violent attacks against journalists, magistrates, police and other officials carrying out their duty. Bindi reaffirmed that Caruana Galizia was assassinated because she always performed her journalistic duty to inform the public.

The president of the antimafia Commission referred to drug trafficking, immigration, illegal gambling and smuggling of petrolium as the criminal activities of the Italian Mafia using Malta as their base.

(ITALPRESS).

Source: medNews

Thousands of people gathered in Valletta in a national protest organized by the civil society to express anger and challenge authorities to react to the brutal assassination of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia killed last Monday.
Several demonstrators demanded the resignation of both the Prime Minister Joseph Muscat and the Leader of Nationalist Party Adrian Delia. This morning Prime Minister Muscat declared that he will not attend the protest so that he does not offend the journalist’s family following direct and personal attacks on him by the son of the victim. On the other hand, the Leader of the Opposition Party, Adrian Delia also declined from participating after rebel members of parliament within his party decided not to accompany the Leader during the demonstration.
During the event, demonstrators carried billboards, protesting against Police Commissioner Lawrence Cutajar and Attorney General Peter Grech accusing them of procrastinating to take action on the case. Other billboards bore Caruana Galizia’s last sentence in her last blog, a few minutes before the assassination “There are crooks everywhere you look now. The situation is desperate”.
Christophe Deloire, Director of Reporters Without Borders addressed the crowd: “They want to silence us, but we will not give them more than a minute of silence,” adding that Caruana Galizia never gave up and neither are we.
At the end of the national protest, the civil society filed a request to the Prime Minister of Malta calling for the resignation of the Police Commissioner and the Attorney General, and requesting that the new constitutional representatives will be approved by a two-thirds vote of the Maltese Parliament.
The requests were also submitted to the President of the Republic of Malta Marie Louise Coleiro Preca. The demonstrators said that President Coleiro Preca should exercise moral authority to do justice. The President said that Monday’s assassination was an attack against the Maltese State and the people of Malta and appealed for national unity.
(ITALPRESS/MNA)

Source: medNews

The Malta Police with the help of American and Dutch experts is putting particular attention to certain blogs and writings published by Daphne Caruana Galizia at the beginning of last March and related articles in the following weeks. Sources close to the police investigation said that there are some very powerful writings that expressed concerns about some people that were dangerous to Daphne Caruana Galizia’s life. In these particular blogs she refers to both local and foreign people, involved in certain sectors and reveals several important things about them to the extent that she stated that her communication with them not only infuriated them but placed a threat on her life that she took very seriously. A group of experts working for the Police Force are analyzing in great detail all the journalist’s blogs both recent and those dating months back particularly those in which Galizia referred to threats in her writings. Meanwhile, the Malta Police have received two messages that Daphne Caruana Galizia had recently received and forwarded to her lawyer Roberto Montalto. The content of the messages was not revealed.

In another development, a farmer who happened close to the explosion, stated that there were in total three explosions that occurred within seconds of each other. Daphne Caruana Galizia died in the second deadly explosion. The Government of Malta is offering a €1 million reward for any information leading to the arrest of those responsible for Caruana Galizia’s assassination.

(ITALPRESS/MNA).

Source: medNews