A clash of personalities may be the root cause of the falling out of two colleagues at the Pulcinella restaurant in Monaco that resulted in a 30-year-old Italian of Albanian origin fatally stabbing his colleague, investigators believe.
Ricard Nika has confessed to killing Alfio Fallica, also 30, and Sicilian, on the evening of February 24. Mr Nika, a waiter, has been described by co-workers as taciturn and unstable, and also ambitious, but so far no one has been able to identify the real reason for the killing.
Nika remains in custody in Italy and has said nothing since his arrest in Bordighera, accept for admitting the facts, according to reports.
Twelve days ago, the body of Alfio Fallica was found in a pool of blood in the wine cellar of the popular upmarket restaurant on 17 rue du Portier at 5:30 pm on Friday night, and investigators believe he had been ambushed and stabbed to death. The two men had, reportedly, had a difference of opinion about a month before the incident, colleagues have said.
Photo: Manuel Vitali/Direction de la Communication
Serge Telle, Minister of State, recently presented letters of congratulation to a number of police officers who have been involved in incidents during which they acted with exception devotion to duty.
“I am especially pleased that we all pay tribute to those who ensure our daily security, with determination, courage, and talent. Security is the first of our freedoms. It is freedom that ensures our social contract. It is the guarantee of our future,” Minister Telle said during the ceremony at his residence.
The actions of the police officers will also be recognised during the next national holiday, at the request of the Minister of State.
On September 18 last year, four police officers prevented a person from committing suicide on Boulevard du Larvotto, while on December 22, 2016, fourteen police officers intervened during the hostage-taking and attempted robbery at the Graff jewellery shop in Monte-Carlo.
Their prompt actions allowed them to intercept the robber before he could leave the Principality. HE Serge Telle also wished to associate with this event the security officer of the Monaco Sécurité Privée company, who sounded the alert.
Finally, Minster Telle said that the Government had decided to improve working conditions for the police service with a revaluation of night hours, and to give the Directorate of Public Security new resources and material in 2017.
March 8 is International Women’s Rights Day, and Monaco is in the forefront of supporting gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls, as set out by the United Nations as part of its Sustainable Development strategy.
The right to education and economic empowerment are central to the vision of the Monegasque Cooperation and the Principality, through the Directorate of International Cooperation and the many projects it works with on the ground.
In its partner countries, for example, in Burundi, the Principality of Monaco, in partnership with UNESCO, provides schooling and vocational training for 2,000 girls in vulnerable situations. At the same time, their mothers, grouped in associations, benefit from literacy classes and activities enabling them to generate income for their families.
In Niger, the Monegasque Cooperation supports microcredits to enable vulnerable women to acquire, for example, a flock of sheep, while in Northern Mali, with the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation, Monaco’s involvement enables 1,000 women living in rural areas to develop market garden activities.
The Monegasque Cooperation also assists women in health matters, notably to improve maternal and child health in the Kolda region of Senegal. In partnership with the African NGO AMREF, under the “Stand Up for African Mothers” programme to train 15,000 midwives in Africa, the Monegasque Cooperation backs digital training to help make it possible to reduce the very high maternal and infant mortality rates in the region.
Research carried out by members of the team at the Monaco Scientific Centre (CSM) has thrown new light on the contribution to the environment made by submarine seagrass meadows.
Seagrass meadows are areas composed of flowering plants and, in Mediterranean regions, they are mainly composed of Posidonia. Hotspots of biodiversity, seagrass meadows are a major ecosystem, capable of reducing the effects of increasing carbon dioxide.
An international team, including a post-doctoral researcher from the CSM, Dr Jeroen Van de Water, has just highlighted a new role played by this ecosystem, as a water purifier.
The study shows that seagrass meadows can reduce the number of pathogenic bacteria for humans up to 50 percent. They also reduce the number of bacteria that are pathogenic to the environment, so corals near marine meadows are much less affected by bacterial pathologies.
To reach this conclusion, Joleah Lamb and colleagues worked in the waters off four Indonesian islands to assess the influence of seagrass beds on marine microbial pathogens. In coastal waters, researchers found that the amount of the Enterococcus bacteria was 10 times higher than the level of exposure to human health risk recommended by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Enterococcus levels were reduced three times in the presence of seagrass beds. The abundance of pathogens from several marine fish and invertebrates was also halved in the presence of healthy seagrass beds.
In addition, field surveys of more than 8,000 reef-building corals, adjacent to marine grasslands, showed a two-fold reduction in disease compared to corals without nearby meadows.
Unfortunately, coastal development has resulted in a loss of marine grasslands worldwide estimated at seven percent each year since 1990. This study is likely to strengthen the protection and development of this important ecosystem and its findings underscore the importance of marine ecosystems to the health of humans and other organisms. Not only could they contribute to improving water quality in ever-denser coastal areas but they could also play a key role in supporting the rapid growth of aquaculture in the face of global food shortages.
The elimination of human pathogens from water is essential for human health. Plants, with their natural biocides, play a vital role, which can offer significant economic benefits. For example, New York City has chosen in recent years to restore and develop wetland habitats in the watershed instead spending $8 billion to build a treatment plant, saving billions of dollars in capital and ongoing costs.
A strike by Italian rail workers will result in no trains running between Ventimiglia and Menton on Wednesday, March 8, from about 8:50 am until 5:37 pm. Since the stoppage is not due to start until after the main morning rush hour, the strike is not likely to have a major impact on the majority of cross-border commuters from Italy.
According to French rail operator SNCF, no trains will run from Menton to Ventimiglia after 9:49 in the morning and until 6:48 in the evening. This is likely to affect several thousand Italian employees returning home after a day’s work in Monaco.
In addition, a large number of scheduled services between Nice and Monaco have also been cancelled during the day due to industrial action on the French side of the border, once again making the daily commute more challenging.
A clash of personalities may be the root cause of the falling out of two colleagues at the Pulcinella restaurant in Monaco that resulted in a 30-year-old Italian of Albanian origin fatally stabbing his colleague, investigators believe.
