The following are the top stories in Malta's newspapers on Friday. Separately, the newspaper reports on the death of Miguel Borg, a 22-year-old man with cancer, who persevered through the disease to graduate from university. The Malta Independent reports on claims by an NGO that the Libyan coastguard allegedly threatened to shoot down a plane in Malta's search-and-rescue area. The newspaper also reports on the proposed downsizing of the Mellieha Bay Hotel. L-orizzont refers to comments by PL MEP Alex Agius Saliba on the need of a legal framework for the right to disconnect.

The 5+5 Joint Military Commission (JMC) discussed in the presence of UN envoy Abdoulaye Bathily in Sirte the implementation of the remaining subjects of the ceasefire agreement signed in October 2020. Bathily said on Thursday on his Twitter account that he was honored to chair the meeting of the 5+5 JMC in Sirte, adding that they had discussed the ceasefire agreement and he encouraged them to stand up to their moral responsibility and expedite its full implementation.

Libya has launched a consultation process for a national economic diversification strategy. The conference marked the launch of a broad consultation process to develop a national economic diversification strategy by mid-2024. “Increasing national income and defining a national economic diversification strategy is one of the priorities of the Ministry of Economy and Trade. The European Union is supporting the process of establishing a national economic diversification strategy for Libya through its “E-NABLE” project (https://bit.ly/3SC3IOx). “Economic diversification is one of the key pillars to achieve sustainable development.

Meta also plans to spend up to $87 billion in 2022 compared to initial estimates of $88 billion, the report read. It also expects expenses in 2023 to reach up to $101 billion, including $2 billion to consolidate its office facilities footprint. Explaining further, it said,“We expect the percentage growth rate of 2023 operating expenses to decelerate meaningfully as we curtail non-headcount related expense growth and keep 2023 headcount roughly flat with current levels. Meta also reported key successes across its Meta Quest store in October, namely during its Developer State of the Union address at the Connect 2022 event. At the annual event, Zuckerberg also debuted the Meta Quest Pro enterprise headset along with several key and strategic partnerships with massive tech giants such as Microsoft and Zoom.

🔴 BREAKING: The so-called Libyan coast guard threatens our airplane crew with force of arms in the Maltese search and rescue zone: "Get away from Libyan territory, otherwise we will shoot you by some missiles." In the footage, a member of the Libyan Coast Guard crew is heard saying “Get out of Libyan territory”, with a member of Sea-Watch rebutting that they are in a European search and rescue area. “Get away from Libyan territory otherwise we will shoot you [with] some missiles,” the Coast Guard is heard saying in retaliation. Sea-Watch claims that the Libyan Coast Guard was actually in Malta’s search and rescue zone, and not in Libyan territorial waters. Shortly after, the patrol boat belonging to the Libyan Coast Guard began to threaten the Seabird aircrew.

The Head of the High Council of State, Khalid Al-Mishri, discussed on Wednesday with the Head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), Abdoulaye Bathily, the latest developments in the political situation in Libya, briefing him on the outcome of his meeting with the Speaker of the House of Representatives Aqila Saleh in Morocco, as Bathily expressed support for such efforts that could lead stability and pave the way for elections. The discussion came in a meeting in Tripoli in the presence of the two deputies of the HCS, Naji Mukhtar and Omar Bushah. They also reviewed ways to end the political crisis based on sound constitutional framework to reach free and fair elections that put to rest the transitional periods.

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Rock legend Ozzy Osbourne is set to perform at a key metaverse festival along with some of the world’s biggest artists, it was revealed last week. In a tweet, top metaverse platform Decentraland announced it would open the Metaverse Music Festival 2022, a novel platform hosting over 100 artists, including the Godfather of Heavy Metal, rap superstar Soulja Boy, and electronic music icon Dillon Francis, among many others. Announcing Decentraland Metaverse Music Festival 2022 🤘 🗓️ Nov 10-13📍15 unique stages🎵100+ artists across all genres, including @OzzyOsbourne, @DillonFrancis, @souljaboy and more! — Decentraland (@decentraland) October 17, 2022Decentraland will host the festival’s second annual gathering from 10 to 13 November and plans to announce further artists over the next few weeks. Rise of the Web3 MusicianThe news comes amid a series of major collaborations with metaverse platforms, leading to large-scale promotions of emerging technologies.

This is not Libyan territorial waters, over,” a member of the Sea-Watch crew flying overhead responded to the Libyan authorities via radio. “Get away from Libyan territorial otherwise we’ll shoot you by some missiles,” the Libyan Coast Guard vessel allegedly responds back. A spokesman for the Libyan coast guard did not immediately answer phone calls and messages seeking comment. Last year, the European Union-funded and trained Libyan coast guard was caught on camera chasing and shooting in the direction of a migrant boat. “The so-called Libyan coast guard are carrying AK-47s with them and they have already used them several times,” Weiss said.

The Chargé d’Affairs of the U.S. Embassy in Libya, Leslie Ordeman, held talks in Tripoli today on “transparency and financial accountability” with several cabinet members of the Tripoli-based government led by Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh. Ordeman met with Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs Adel Juma, Communications Minister Walid Al-Lafi and Dbeibeh’s own cousin Ibrahim Dbeibeh. According to the American Embassy, they discussed “efforts to increase transparency and financial accountability in the public sector for sustainable and inclusive development throughout Libya”.

New French Ambassador to Libya, Mostafa Mihraje, arrived in Tripoli today to assume his post. He succeeds Béatrice Le Fraper du Hellen. On his arrival, Mihraje tweeted ‘‘Arrived safely in Tripoli to take up my duties and the direction of the French embassy in Libya. It is an opportunity for me to convey to the Libyan people the greetings of the French people.’’Mihraje was previously Consul General of France in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and served as France’s special envoy to the Organization for Islamic Cooperation in 2018.

The police have arrested four people in connection with organised crime over alleged drug trafficking and money laundering. The joint operation, which involved a number of sections within the Corps, was carried out after police received information that a drug deal was scheduled to take place. A 21-year-old man was also arrested at the Marsa shop, after he was found in the possession of objects related to drug trafficking, and cannabis which was ready to be trafficked. A search yielded cocaine, a weighing scale, a pistol, ammunition and a number of mobiles. The four men are being held at the Floriana lockup, as investigations by the police are still ongoing.

Libyan Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah signed two deals with Türkiye's defense minister on Tuesday, building on an agreement that was agreed in 2019. Another deal signed by Dbeibah on Tuesday aims to "boost the capacity of Libya's air force using Turkish expertise," read the statement, accompanied by pictures of him with Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar. Dbeibah was in Türkiye to visit the SAHA Expo defense and aviation fair. The latest deals come three weeks after Türkiye's Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu signed a deal in Tripoli allowing for oil and gas exploration in Libyan waters in the Eastern Mediterranean. Ankara’s support for Tripoli’s previous Government of National Accord (GNA) helped turn the tide of Libya’s civil war.

This is why “spatial audio” is now gaining so much attention. Here are some of the major reasons why businesses with an interest in XR should consider investing in spatial audio. With spatial audio, interactions feel more natural and human, as well as being easier to follow. Increasingly, as audio technology evolves, we’re also becoming more adept as human beings at recognising the presence of spatial audio cues. Customers will be able to tell the difference between the psychological experience of a VR environment enhanced with spatial audio, and a lower-level VR interaction.

A Maltese chartering company owner and four employees have been acquitted of supplying vessels for the evacuation of mercenaries from Libya in breach of EU sanctions. The boats were leased on the pretext that they were going to be used to evacuate 'geological survey workers' from Libya in 2019. The men had been released from arrest by police two days after the Maltese company that leased them the two RHIBs, Sovereign Charters, accepted to pay a €15,000 fine for immigration irregularities. Lodge claimed that Opus Capital Headquarters had informed him that they would be sending two RHIBs that had been leased from Sovereign Charters Ltd. The prosecution insisted that as the defendants had not sought the authorisation of the Sanctions Monitoring Board before sending the RHIBs to Libya, this constituted a breach of EU sanctions on Libya.