BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Authorities on the European island nation of Malta have contested accusations made by a group of nongovernmental organizations a day earlier regarding a migrant boat in distress.
Rescue groups say Malta coordinated the return of 500 migrants to Libya instead of saving them
May 29, 2023 GMTBARCELONA, Spain (AP) — A group of non-governmental organizations dedicated to rescuing migrants in the central Mediterranean is accusing the European island nation of Malta of coordinating the return of around 500 people to Libya where they were subsequently imprisoned, in violation of international maritime law.
Mediterranean countries push for EU solidarity on migration
March 4, 2023 GMTVALLETTA, Malta (AP) — Less than a week after a deadly migrant shipwreck off Italy, five European Union countries on the Mediterranean Sea pushed back Saturday against their northern neighbors for not accepting asylum-seekers under a voluntary relocation initiative.
8 dead migrants recovered off Italian island of Lampedusa
February 3, 2023 GMTMILAN (AP) — The bodies of eight migrants have been recovered by Italy's coast guard during an operation overnight that also rescued 42 survivors in the central Mediterranean off the island of Lampedusa, authorities said Friday.
Nigerian stowaways found on ship’s rudder in Canary Islands
November 29, 2022 GMTBARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Three stowaways were found on a ship's rudder in the Canary Islands after an 11-day ocean voyage from Nigeria, Spain’s maritime rescue service said.
The men found on the Alithini II oil tanker at the Las Palmas port on Monday afternoon appeared to have symptoms of dehydration and hypothermia and were transferred to hospitals on the island for medical attention, according to Spain's Maritime Safety and Rescue Society.
Malta proposes bill to ease EU’s strictest anti-abortion law
November 21, 2022 GMTVALLETTA, Malta (AP) — Malta’s government introduced proposed legislation Monday to ease the European Union’s strictest anti-abortion law and allow the procedure in cases where the mother’s life or health is at risk.
4 EU members say they can’t take so many migrant arrivals
November 12, 2022 GMTATHENS, Greece (AP) — Four Mediterranean European Union nations have issued a joint statement on a dispute over a deal for Europe to jointly help asylum-seekers.
Italy silent as ships with 1,000 rescued migrants seek help
November 3, 2022 GMTABOARD THE GEO BARENTS (AP) — Humanitarian groups caring for nearly 1,000 rescued migrants on three ships in the central Mediterranean are sounding an alarm about deteriorating conditions, but Italy's new far-right-led government has not responded to requests for a safe portas it hardens its position against rescue boats.
NGO: Libyan Coast Guard threatened to shoot down plane
October 26, 2022 GMTBARCELONA, Spain (AP) — The German non-governmental organization Sea-Watch on Wednesday accused the Libyan coast guard of threatening to shoot down their monitoring plane that helps the group document the interception of migrants in the Mediterranean Sea.
New Italian rules could keep humanitarian ships out of port
October 26, 2022 GMTMILAN (AP) — The new Italian government has prepared directives that could be used to once again prevent humanitarian rescue groups from accessing Italy’s ports, according to Italian media reports Wednesday.
Report: More than 29,000 migrants to Europe died since 2014
October 25, 2022 GMTROME (AP) — More than 29,000 migrants have died trying to reach Europe since 2014, with 5,000 deaths in the last two years, the International Organization for Migration said in a report Tuesday.
Nearly 300 rescued migrants reach southern Italian port
October 22, 2022 GMTROME (AP) — Nearly 300 migrants disembarked in the southern Italian port of Taranto on Saturday after their rescue at sea in five different operations by the crew of a humanitarian vessel operated by Doctors Without Borders.
Italian coast guard finds bodies of 2 minors on migrant boat
October 21, 2022 GMTROME (AP) — Two minors were found dead Friday on a migrant boat carrying nearly 40 people in the Mediterranean Sea and a search was under way for a woman reported missing from the vessel, Italy's coast guard said.
Malta marks 5 years since journalist killed, seeks justice
October 16, 2022 GMTVALLETTA, Malta (AP) — Malta on Sunday marked the fifth anniversary of the car bomb slaying of investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, with calls for justice and praise for the courage of a woman whose death shocked Europe and exposed a culture of impunity on the Mediterranean island nation.
2 men get 40 years each for Malta reporter’s car-bomb murder
October 14, 2022 GMTVALLETTA, Malta (AP) — A judge in Malta sentenced two brothers to 40 years in prison each after they abruptly reversed course and pleaded guilty Friday to the car-bomb murder of an anti-corruption journalist, which had shocked Europe and triggered angry protests in Malta.
Brothers reverse plea to guilty in car-bomb murder trial
October 14, 2022 GMTVALLETTA, Malta (AP) — In a stunning reversal, two brothers who are on trial for the car-bomb murder of a Maltese anti-corruption journalist on Friday entered guilty pleas on the first day of trial.
EU nations: Migrant departures should be stopped abroad
October 8, 2022 GMTPAPHOS, Cyprus (AP) — Several Mediterranean nations said Saturday the European Union’s border agency Frontex needs to work inside third countries to stop smugglers from endangering the lives of migrants by sending them off to Europe on risky boat trips.
EU takes Malta to court over passport-for-pay program
September 29, 2022 GMTBRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union’s executive branch said Thursday that it is taking Malta to court over its golden passport policy that allows wealthy people to buy EU citizenship, even after the small island country suspended the program for citizens of Russia and Belarus.
Malta coach suspended after misconduct allegations by player
September 28, 2022 GMTVALLETTA, Malta (AP) — Malta coach Davis Mangia was suspended because of an allegation by a national team player of “inappropriate conversation," the Maltese soccer federation said Wednesday.
The 48-year-old Mangia was suspended on Tuesday for what the Malta Football Association said was an “alleged breach of its policies,” with assistant coach Davide Mazzotta replacing the Italian for a 2-1 win over Israel.
Spanish charity rescues 372 in central Mediterranean; 1 dead
September 19, 2022 GMTABOARD THE OPEN ARMS UNO (AP) — The Spanish charity Open Arms has rescued 372 people seeking to cross the central Mediterranean to Europe in unseaworthy smugglers' boats and recovered the corpse of a man who had been shot by smugglers, officials said Sunday.
Once home to a princess, Malta remembers the queen
September 17, 2022 GMTVALLETTA, Malta (AP) — A dilapidated villa outside Malta’s capital where a young Princess Elizabeth and her husband lived for a fondly recalled period before she became queen has become a focal point of Malta's remembrance of the late monarch and her ties to the former British colony in the Mediterranean.
61 migrants rescued by freighter off Malta reach Crete
September 7, 2022 GMTATHENS, Greece (AP) — A group of 61 migrants picked up by a cargo ship from a crippled fishing boat in the central Mediterranean have safely reached the island of Crete hours after a severely ill child on the freighter died while being airlifted to Greece, Greek authorities said Wednesday.
61 migrants rescued by freighter off Malta landed on Crete
September 7, 2022 GMTATHENS, Greece (AP) — A group of 61 migrants picked up by a cargo ship from a crippled vessel in the central Mediterranean have safely reached Crete hours after a severely ill child on the freighter died while being airlifted to the Greek island, authorities said Wednesday.
Relatives lose contact with Lebanese migrant ship near Malta
September 6, 2022 GMTBEIRUT (AP) — Activists and relatives of Lebanese and Syrian migrants aboard a fishing boat taking on water near the island of Malta in the Mediterranean Sea said Tuesday they lost contact with the vessel overnight.
European charity seeks safe port for 460 rescued migrants
August 31, 2022 GMTMILAN (AP) — The SOS Mediterranee charity is urgently seeking a port to safely unload 460 people rescued from the sea in 10 different operations last week who are now packed onto its Ocean Viking rescue ship.
Cameroon becomes a go-to country for foreign fishing vessels
July 27, 2022 GMTDOUALA, Cameroon (AP) — Off the coast of West Africa, the Trondheim is a familiar sight: a soccer field-sized ship, plying the waters from Nigeria to Mauritania as it pulls in tons of mackerel and sardines — and flying the red, yellow and green flag of Cameroon.
Cyberattack blocks Albania’s public online services
July 18, 2022 GMTTIRANA, Albania (AP) — The Albanian government on Monday said its webpage and all those of the public institutions have been shut down following a cyberattack from an undisclosed source.
A statement said a “wide and complex” cyberattack started Friday afternoon following which all government infrastructure and systems were isolated.
Woman who had miscarriage in Malta taken to Spain to abort
June 24, 2022 GMTPALMA DE MALLORCA, Spain (AP) — A pregnant American woman who suffered an incomplete miscarriage while vacationing in Malta was receiving treatment Friday in a hospital on the Spanish island of Mallorca because Maltese law prohibits abortion, the woman’s partner said.
Woman who had miscarriage on Malta trip can’t get abortion
June 23, 2022 GMTROME (AP) — A pregnant American woman who suffered an incomplete miscarriage while vacationing in Malta will be airlifted to a Spanish island on Thursday for a procedure to prevent infection because Maltese law prohibits abortion under any circumstances, the woman's partner said.
Malta activists protest, seek to decriminalize abortion
June 15, 2022 GMTVALLETTA, Malta (AP) — Abortion rights activists filed a legal protest in Malta’s courts on Wednesday demanding the legalization of abortion in the only European Union member where the procedure is criminalized.
Mediterranean nations criticize EU solidarity on migrants
June 4, 2022 GMTROME (AP) — Five European Union nations on the Mediterranean who fear possible waves of refugees driven by hunger out of Africa called Saturday for an end to the EU's “voluntary” solidarity on migrants and a better way to redistribute the burden of caring for them.
‘A huge demand’: Ukrainian women train to clear landmines
April 30, 2022 GMTPEJA, Kosovo (AP) — Learning to identify and defuse explosives is something Anastasiia Minchukova never thought she would have to do as an English teacher in Ukraine. Yet there she was wearing a face shield, armed with a landmine detector and venturing into a field dotted with danger warnings.
Pope clears schedule for medical checks on painful knee
April 22, 2022 GMTROME (AP) — Pope Francis cleared his schedule Friday to undergo medical checks on his right knee, as his strained ligaments have made walking, standing and getting up from his chair increasingly difficult and painful.
Oil tanker runs aground off Tunisian coast
April 16, 2022 GMTTUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — A commercial oil tanker carrying more than 750 tons of diesel ran aground overnight from Friday to Saturday in the Gulf of Gabès in southeastern Tunisia.
According to the Environment Ministry, the ship sank late Saturday morning due to water seeping into the engine room.
Pope still working on meeting Russian Orthodox patriarch
April 3, 2022 GMTABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE (AP) — Pope Francis said Sunday he was still working on arranging a meeting with the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, despite that leader's seeming justification for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and said he wouldn't rule out travelling to the region if it would help.
Pope prays for end to ‘sacrilegious’ war, refugee welcome
April 3, 2022 GMTVALLETTA, Malta (AP) — Pope Francis prayed Sunday for an end to the “sacrilegious” war in Ukraine and for the world to show compassion to refugees as he concluded a two-day visit to Malta that was dominated by his concern for the devastation unleashed by Russia’s invasion.
Pope blasts Russia’s ‘infantile’ war, EU-Libya deal in Malta
April 2, 2022 GMTVALLETTA, Malta (AP) — Pope Francis said Saturday he was considering a possible visit to the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv and blasted the leader who launched a “savage” war, delivering his most pointed denunciation yet of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Pope heads to Malta; Migration, Ukraine war top his agenda
April 1, 2022 GMTVATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis heads to the Mediterranean island nation of Malta on Saturday for a pandemic-delayed weekend visit, aiming to draw attention to Europe’s migration challenge has only become more stark with Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Refugee drama to dominate pope’s weekend trip to Malta
April 1, 2022 GMTVATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis heads to Malta this weekend, with the refugee exodus from Ukraine casting a haunting backdrop to the European migration drama that for years has focused on Malta and other Mediterranean countries and the plight of desperate people who arrive on boats seeking refuge.
Group wants Malta to take in 32 migrants rescued at sea
March 30, 2022 GMTROME (AP) — A German humanitarian group appealed Wednesday for Malta to take in 32 migrants who were rescued off Libya this week by the Ukrainian captain of a container ship.
The request came as Pope Francis, who is scheduled to visit Malta this weekend, encouraged the tiny European Union nation in the central Mediterranean Sea to welcome refugees in general.
EU wants to end golden passport schemes, targets Russians
March 28, 2022 GMTBRUSSELS (AP) — The European Commission recommended Monday that EU nations end golden passport schemes that allow wealthy people to buy their way into the bloc's citizenship, and urged them to assess whether Russian oligarchs linked to the Kremlin or who support the war in Ukraine should be stripped of citizenship rights previously granted.
Malta premier claims election win for latest Labour triumph
March 27, 2022 GMTVALLETTA, Malta (AP) — Maltese Prime Minister Robert Abela on Sunday claimed victory in his nation’s parliamentary election hours ahead of official results.
If the win is confirmed, that would mean the Labour Party will start its third consecutive term in office, beating out its traditional rival, the Nationalist Party.
Maltese vote in general election with some firsts for nation
March 26, 2022 GMTVALLETTA, Malta (AP) — Voters in Malta headed to the polls Saturday to elect a new Parliament and decide which party will be in government for the coming five years on the Mediterranean island nation.
Malta to hold March 26 vote to decide next government
February 20, 2022 GMTVALLETTA, Malta (AP) — Voters in Malta will elect a new Parliament in a few weeks in balloting that will also decide the island nation’s next government.
During a political event on Sunday, Maltese Prime Minister Robert Abela announced that the election will be held on March 26 in the European Union nation.
Pope visits Malta in April after virus postponed 2020 trip
February 10, 2022 GMTROME (AP) — Pope Francis' first foreign trip of the year will be to the Mediterranean island nation of Malta, the Vatican said Thursday in announcing an April 2-3 visit that had originally been scheduled for 2020 but was postponed because of the pandemic.
Ex-EU commissioner pleads innocent in Malta to bribery
February 9, 2022 GMTVALLETTA, Malta (AP) — A former European Union health commissioner pleaded innocent in a Maltese courtroom on Wednesday to charges of bribery and influence trading bribery charges.
John Dalli, who is Maltese, served in the commission post from 2010 to 2012.
Amnesty seeks no charges for 3 migrants in 2019 ship revolt
January 31, 2022 GMTVALLETTA, Malta (AP) — An Amnesty International delegation is in Malta this week, calling for charges to be dropped against three rescued migrants accused of commandeering a merchant ship in 2019 and forcing it to go to Europe rather than back to Libya.
Knights of Malta warn Vatican reforms risk their sovereignty
January 19, 2022 GMTROME (AP) — A top leader of the Knights of Malta, an ancient aristocratic Catholic order that provides humanitarian aid around the world, warned the group’s members on Wednesday that the Holy See’s latest proposals to reform the order threaten its internationally recognized status as a sovereign state.
Malta legislator becomes 3rd female EU Parliament president
January 18, 2022 GMTBRUSSELS (AP) — Roberta Metsola, a Christian Democrat from Malta, was elected president of the European Union’s parliament Tuesday, putting women in three of the four biggest jobs in the 27-nation bloc.
Malta legalizes adult-use cannabis possession, cultivation
December 14, 2021 GMTVALLETTA, Malta (AP) — Malta on Tuesday decriminalized the possession and cultivation of cannabis for personal use by adults, and took steps to set up what could become Europe's first cannabis regulatory authority.
Migrants held at sea for weeks accuse Malta of rights breach
November 18, 2021 GMTVALLETTA, Malta (AP) — Some 32 migrants who were held for weeks at sea on tourism boats chartered by the Maltese government during the early phase of the coronavirus pandemic have filed a constitutional complaint in a Maltese court claiming their human rights were violated.
German rescue boat stuck in Mediterranean with 800 migrants
November 6, 2021 GMTMILAN (AP) — A humanitarian rescue boat stuck in the Mediterranean Sea carrying 800 migrants received a delivery of food and blankets Saturday while it awaits permission to come to shore.
The German rescue boat Sea-Eye 4 set a course for the southern Italian island of Lampedusa on Thursday after picking up 400 migrants from a sinking wooden boat, doubling the number of people on board.
German NGO rescues 800 in six operations, heading to Italy
November 4, 2021 GMTMILAN (AP) — A rescue ship carrying nearly 400 migrants picked up another 400 people from a two-tier wooden boat that had started to sink overnight in the central Mediterranean Sea, a German charity that operates the ship said Thursday.
Malta vows better journalist protections, reforms
October 19, 2021 GMTVALLETTA, Malta (AP) — The Maltese government on Tuesday responded to a critical European human rights evaluation by vowing to soon propose new legislation to better protect journalists in the wake of the 2017 assassination of investigative reporter Daphne Caruana Galizia.
Rights watchdog faults Malta for abortion, journalist safety
October 18, 2021 GMTVALLETTA, Malta (AP) — A European human rights watchdog recommended on Monday that Malta legalize abortion, improve gender equality and implement reforms to protect journalists, adding another international voice of criticism to the laws and culture on the Mediterranean island nation.
Switzerland to set up a dedicated embassy to the Vatican
October 1, 2021 GMTGENEVA (AP) — The Swiss government decided Friday to set up a dedicated embassy to the Vatican, for which Switzerland's ambassador to Slovenia is currently responsible.
Switzerland's governing Federal Council determined the current arrangement “no longer allows all the work entailed by Switzerland’s diplomatic relations with the Holy See to be accomplished efficiently,” a government statement said.
Maltese businessman indicted for journalist’s 2017 murder
August 18, 2021 GMTVALLETTA, Malta (AP) — Malta’s attorney general on Wednesday indicted a leading Maltese businessman in the murder of an investigative journalist nearly four years ago that triggered an international outcry against attempts to silence reporters.
Inquiry into Malta journalist’s slaying faults state
July 29, 2021 GMTVALLETTA, Malta (AP) — An independent inquiry into the murder of investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia released on Thursday has found that the Maltese state “has to bear responsibility” for the assassination due the culture of impunity that emanated from the highest levels of government.
Malta flies home COVID-positive language students amid surge
July 22, 2021 GMTVALLETTA, Malta (AP) — Malta on Thursday began flying home students who tested positive for COVID-19 while studying English at schools in the small Mediterranean island nation.
Malta's Health Ministry closed language schools on July 14 amid a spike in new cases, which included several hundred foreign students.
Red Cross staff to join migrant rescue boat in Mediterranean
July 19, 2021 GMTROME (AP) — A France-based migrant rescue organization soon will be getting medical and other assistance aboard its charity ship in the Mediterranean.
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, known as IFRC, said Monday that its teams will go aboard the Ocean Viking rescue ship starting in August in the central Mediterranean Sea.