A member of the Saudi royal family successfully saw his name removed from the Government Gazette after personally raising the concern with former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, despite there being a government obligation to publish the names of all na...

Nexia BT's Brian Tonna told a parliamentary committee that he had "little to no contact" with the Labour Party before the 2013 election, although he said he did meet Keith Schembri and Joseph Muscat informally back then.Tonna was speaking at a Public...

A Gozo apartment block was being rented out to prospective IIP applicants despite not having been finished yet, an investigative journalistic collaboration has revealed.The Vista Point apartment block, situated in Marsalforn and managed by Trident Pr...

The Malta College of Family Doctors (MCFD) said today it understands the need for decriminalization of the possession of small quantities of cannabis for personal use, but it is felt that legalizing its use must be better balanced with the effects of...

Environment Minister Aaron Farrugia has apologised for his reaction over a satirical Facebook post.It all started on Wednesday evening, when a post making fun of the fact that Farrugia’s parents often step in to defend the minister was publishe...

A man was arrested by the police on Wednesday after he was caught in possession of synthetic drugs.The police said the arrest of the 19-year-old Egyptian was made in Herbert Ganado Garden in Floriana at 12.45am.Officers on patrol noted a few men who ...

A protected 19th century fortress that is in desperate need of repair has been occupied illegally for decades and the authorities seem to be powerless to do anything about it. We are speaking about Fort Bingemma, which has been occupied by the Buttig...

The Malta Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry said that Marthese Portelli will be joining its dynamic staff complement in the role of Chief Executive Officer as from 1 June 2021.A graduate in law, former PN MP Portelli brings with her a weal...

Slow out of the gate, the European Union has ramped up its COVID-19 vaccination efforts, with the distribution of the Johnson & Johnson one-shot product this week adding to the momentum amid doggedly high infection rates on the continent.The EU's...

One of the largest reports on COVID-19 vaccination in pregnancy bolsters evidence that it is safe although the authors say more comprehensive research is needed.The preliminary results are based on reports from over 35,000 U.S. women who received eit...

India reported a global record of more than 314,000 new infections Thursday as a grim coronavirus surge in the world's second-most populous country sends more and more sick people into a fragile health care system critically short of hospital beds an...

The Super League is far from dead and its clubs have not given up on the idea of the breakaway competition despite having to shelve the project just a few days after it was announced, Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez said on Thursday.P&e...

24 new cases of Covid-19 were reported by health authorities on Wednesday as 65 more people recovered from the virus.No new deaths were registered in the last 24 hours.The number of active cases of the virus in Malta currently stands at 522.1,992 swa...

People aged 40 and over are eligible to apply for their vaccine as from this Friday, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Health announced on Wednesday afternoon.Registration for this group will be made possible through SMS and online applications,...

A lawyer who was given a lucrative government direct orders before she received her warrant has terminated her contract, Transport Minister Ian Borg said Wednesday.Times of Malta reported earlier this week how Adreana Zammit had been awarded a €...

Just two days after Vince Muscat spoke to the police, while in prison, the Degiorgio brothers showed him that they knew of the contents of his conversation, the court heard yesterday.Muscat was testifying in the compilation of evidence against brothe...

The government should reopen restaurants next week and vaccinate all hospitality workers by 1 June, the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association said.It said restaurants, including those at hotels, which are currently not even allowed to serve breakf...

The idea of creating clear guidelines regarding adverts would help, but the laws is still clear and should be followed, Standards Commissioner Gerorge Hyzler told the Standards Committee.This comes after a report published by Hyzler had found that.OP...

Standards Commissioner George Hyzler has fired back at Labour Whip Glenn Bedingfield, dismissing claims by the MP as ‘unfounded.’On Monday, Bedingfield tore into the Standard Czar’s office, saying that Hyzler was failing to abide by...

A tough week for Manchester City and Tottenham, two of the rebel clubs in the aborted Super League project, got even more difficult when they fell behind on their return to Premier League action on Wednesday.Both teams recovered to register vita...

Inter Milan was held to a 1-1 draw at relegation-threatened Spezia but still extended its lead at the top of the Serie A table on Wednesday.Ivan Perišić canceled out Diego Farias’ opener for Spezia as Inter moved 10 points above sec...

All accommodation and catering taxes due for 2020 and 2021 would be paid over a period of 5 years (2022-2027) under a PN Government, the PN said as it announced its tourism strategy today.The PN launched a 10-year plan titled ‘2+8’, signa...

In recent days, graffiti vandals have targeted the Curia offices in Floriana as well Independence garden in Sliema, defacing premises by spray painting anti-vaccine messages on the walls. The spray painted on the recently-restored façade ...

Opposition Leader Bernard Grech said that the proposed reforms with regards to pre-1995 rents are “beneficial as it is always better to do something rather than nothing, but they are not enough.”Speaking in Parliament on Wednesday about t...

Atlético Madrid, Inter Milan, AC Milan and Juventus all dropped out of the Super League on Wednesday, leaving the new competition essentially extinct before it even started.Only Spanish clubs Real Madrid and Barcelona are still officially invo...

ADPD – The Green Party’s  Executive Committee decided to take legal action before the Constitutional Court to ask it to declare that the corrective mechanisms on proportionality and the gender top-up in the electoral law are discrimi...

Toyota Malta has warned about a WhatsApp scam using its brand name.These messages, which purport to celebrate the company’s 100th anniversary, are encouraging users to click on a specific link to be able to win gifts. The company said that thes...

The magisterial inquiry into Pilatus Bank does not fall under the remit of the State Advocate, the office said in a statement.The office was referring to comments made by Nationalist MP Jason Azzopardi who lamented that no action had been taken again...

In March, the number of persons registering for work stood at 2,387, increasing by 262 when compared to the corresponding month in 2020, the NSO said today.Data provided by Jobsplus for March 2021 indicate a year-on-year increase of 223 persons regis...

Joseph Muscat says that he has paid his political price for all that happened under his watch. He believes that his resignation, which came soon after his right hand man Keith Schembri was arrested in connection with police investigations into the mu...

A 38-year-old man is expected to be charged with drug trafficking after he was arrested in Marsa by police.Police said in a statement that the man, who lives in Marsa, was arrested and caught with around 70 packets of drugs suspected to be cocaine an...

The European Union reached a tentative climate deal that should make the 27-nation bloc climate-neutral by 2050, with member states and parliament agreeing on the targets on the eve of a virtual summit that U.S. President Biden will host.“Our p...

The deficit that Malta is expecting for the year 2021 is forecasted at 12.1%, but the Government expects the GDP growth to be the highest in the EU, Minister for Finance and Employment Clyde Caruana said today. In spite of this, the government d...

A Magisterial inquiry into Pilatus Bank has cost, up until last March, €7,501,664.50, Justice Minister Edward Zammit Lewis said in Parliament.He was responding to a question posed by PN MP Jason Azzopardi.The inquiry is believed to have conclude...

Experts at the agency that regulates drugs for the European Union said Tuesday that they found a “possible link” between the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine and very rare blood clots after a small number of cases were reported in t...

Former Minneapolis Officer Derek Chauvin was convicted Tuesday of murder and manslaughter for pinning George Floyd to the pavement with his knee on the Black man’s neck in a case that triggered worldwide protests, violence a...

Just 13 new cases of Covid-19 have been reported by health authorities, while two more patients have passed away while positive for the virus.It is the lowest number of cases found in a day since 31st July, when 10 cases were found – a mere fiv...

Malta has remained 81st in the 2021 World Press Freedom Index, with Reporters Without Borders, who published the index saying that Malta’s press freedom climate “remained cause for serious concern.”Malta has dropped from 47th in 201...

The number of foreigners living and working in Malta stood at 69,919 as of September 2020, Minister for Finance and Employment Clyde Caruana said in parliament on Tuesday. Answering a parliamentary question by PN MP Jason Azzopardi, Caruana said...

A memorandum of understanding between the University of Malta and the Polish International Centre for Cancer Vaccine Science (ICCVS) will provide a framework for Maltese and Polish scientists and researchers to benefit from opportunities to collabora...

Finance Minister Clyde Caruana will be heading to Brussels in order to discuss with the European Commission the possibility to give State Aid to Air Malta, he confirmed on Tuesday.The struggling airline is looking to get around €290 million in g...

Nationalist MP Jason Azzopardi during Tuesday's parliamentary sitting made reference to BNP Paribas and Pilatus Bank "who put shame to Malta's reputation by association."Azzopardi stated that the relevant authorities need to answer as to why official...

A hacker group has threatened to publish sensitive documents obtained from a breach on the PN’s IT systems unless the party “cooperates” within ten days.The PN said on Monday that some of its data could have been stolen in a cyber-a...

The re-introduction of canopies, combined with more a more visually impacting outdoor seating area in a couple of Marsalforn restaurants raised some questions by residents, who told this newsroom that outdoor structures were recently removed until wo...

Nexia BT’s Brian Tonna is set to appear before Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) for the second time on Wednesday,  as he will have to face questions related to the Electrogas deal after the Speaker’s ruling on Monda...

The Customs Department has intercepted a container containing over 900 AK47 dummy replicas.The cargo was declared as ‘crafts’, but the dummy weapons were found inside during a physical inspection, the department said.The AK47 replicas are...

The European Court of Justice has decreed that the Prime Minister’s power to select candidates for the judiciary which are short-listed for eligibility by an independent commission is not against EU law.The decision, which came after a request ...

Brothers Alfred and George Degiorgio, accused of murdering Daphne Caruana Galizia, have filed a judicial protest after their request for a presidential pardon was turned down by Cabinet.The brothers had requested a pardon in return for informati...

Seeking a weak link in the unity of 12 rebel clubs in the Super League, UEFA on Tuesday targeted owners in England who signed up to the project that threatens to tear apart soccer's traditional structure including the Champions League.UEFA president ...

Victims of sexual assault will be provided with more support services and therapeutic care with the signing of a new social public partnership agreement, Minister for Social Justice and Solidarity Michael Falzon announced on Tuesday afternoon.Falzon,...

The deceptions, distrust and divisions in European soccer erupted in public on Monday between teams and even within the clubs breaking away to form a Super League that could leave them and their players outcasts in the global game.Condemnation of the...

1,137 Covid-19 related fines were handed out by authorities last week as a number of Covid measures remain in place.663 people were found in breach of mask-wearing regulations.  People must wear a mask outdoors unless they are smoking or eating....

Malta is at high risk for impacts of climate change, and this requires ambitious action and collective change. This is not a simple educational campaign, but a call for a change towards more sustainable lifestyles. There is a need for tangible change...

Now that the Royal Family has said farewell to Prince Philip, attention will turn to Queen Elizabeth II’s 95th birthday on Wednesday and, in coming months, the celebrations marking her 70 years on the throne.This combination of events is remind...

Green space in Malta is shrinking. It has been for the past 20 or so years. Now, obviously, with an increasing population, built up areas are bound to change or spread, but what we have witnessed in recent times goes beyond what is needed, and defini...

The Conference on the Future of Europe should aim to reflect politically how, given the Covid-19 experience, we could improve the way by which Europe functions to make it more clearly responsive to the needs of its citizens, Alfred Sant said in the E...

The Cabinet has decided to advise the President of Malta not to accept the presidential pardon requests filed by brothers George and Alfred Degiorgio and Vince Muscat.The government said that the refusal recommendation was in line with the recommenda...

The Nationalist Party said on Monday it suffered a cyber-attack and some if its information could have been illegally accessed.In a statement, PN Secretary General Francis Zammit Dimech said the party’s IT system could have been accessed withou...

Prime Minister Robert Abela said he still needs to “establish the facts” surrounding a lucrative contract given to the daughter of one of infrastructure minister Ian Borg’s advisors.Times of Malta reported on Monday that Adreana Zam...

Nexia BT's Brian Tonna is to be recalled to appear before the Parliament's Public Accounts Committee (PAC) after a ruling made by Speaker of the House Anglu Farrugia.PN MP Beppe Fenech Adami, who is the PAC's president, told the Times of Malta that T...

Standards Commissioner George Hyzler is fast to highlight the PLs faults yet doesn’t look at his own, PL Whip Glen Bedingfield told Parliament on Monday.“Let’s start with the obvious, where standards are supposed to be held but they...

Since the opening of the spring hunting season, bird casualties of illegal hunting are being encountered on a daily basis, BirdLife Malta said."These include birds found injured by members of the public, hunters shooting at turtle-doves under the smo...

60 new cases of Covid-19 were reported on Monday by health authorities.No new deaths were registered for another day, meaning that Malta’s death count remains 409.41 people meanwhile have recovered – meaning that the number of active case...

DB Group owner Silvio Debono and the Caruana Galizia family have reached an agreement which has seen the businessman drop 19 libel suits which he had filed against Daphne Caruana Galizia four years ago.The lawsuits were filed in March 2017 in respons...

Florentino Pérez, the founding chairman of the Super League, on Tuesday said the new competition is being created to save football for everyone, not to make the rich clubs richer.The president of Real Madrid, one of the 12 clubs behind the bre...

The UEFA Executive Committee has chosen Malta to host the UEFA U19 European Championship in 2023, the Malta FA said.“Today’s decision rewards the efforts of the Malta FA to get to this unique milestone,” the association said.In his ...

The Nationalist Party has demanded answers on why the Cabinet decided to reject pardon requests by the Degiorgio brothers and Vince Muscat.The government said earlier it was acting on advice given by the Attorney General and the Commissioner of Polic...

A man was grievously injured on Monday after he fell off the roof of a factory in Marsa.The accident took place in the Marsa industrial estate at around 2:30pm, the police said.The man, 28, from Rabat, fell from a height of two storeys. He was carryi...

Former Vice President Walter F. Mondale, a liberal icon who lost one of the most lopsided presidential elections after bluntly telling voters to expect a tax increase if he won, died Monday. He was 93.The death of the former senator, ambassador and M...

Malta needs more transparency and more space for consultation to take place when it comes to the environmental authorities and NGOs, the PN said.In a press conference, PN MPs Robert Cutajar and Kevin Cutajar voiced their concerns over the Labour Gove...

Tributes have poured in after the death of Julian Spiteri, a 19 year old law student from Attard who died in a car crash on Sunday, as family and friends mourn his loss.Spiteri died in a traffic accident in Triq tal-Infetti in Rabat, when he lost con...

Recent legal changes have left small voluntary organisations with no choice but to stop operating, the Dean of the Faculty of Social Wellbeing, Andrew Azzopardi, has said.In a press release published on Monday, Azzopardi said that the Faculty of Soci...

The Controlled Leases Reform bill should be introduced so that it would solve the problems for both the tenants and property owners, Prime Minister Robert Abela told Parliament on Monday. The objects and reasons of this Bill are to revise contro...

The Planning Authority has given the thumbs up for the Ta’ Qali Badger Karting race track to become a garden centre.The Badger Karting raceway, which has been closed since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, was Malta’s only commercial go...

Arnold Cassola has requested an investigation by the Standards Commissioner into the award of a €62,400 direct order to the daughter of one of Ian Borg’s advisers.The request was submitted on Monday after the Times of Malta reported that A...

The White Paper on cannabis reforms was not devised as a tactic to garner votes for the upcoming election to alienate youths away from the Nationalist Party, the Labour party said in a press conference on Monday afternoon.Minister for Home Affairs, N...

Pharmaceutical company BioNTech and its U.S. partner Pfizer say they will provide 100 million more doses of their coronavirus vaccine to the European Union this year.The two companies said Monday that the 27-nation group’s executive Commission ...

A group of 12 elite English, Spanish and Italian clubs dramatically split European football on Sunday by announcing the formation of a largely-closed Super League. They are leaving the existing UEFA-run Champions League structure despite warnings the...

Germany paid tribute on Sunday to the nearly 80,000 people it has lost to the coronavirus, even as the country argues about how to get a grip on another rise in infections.President Frank-Walter Steinmeier led a memorial event at Berlin’s Konze...

Nationalist MEP Robert Metsola has been appointed to lead EU Anti-SLAPP efforts, together with S&D MEP Tiemo Wölken. “We want this to be a cross-party effort to support journalism and the truth-seekers,” she said in a Facebook po...

Moviment Graffitti and the Qala Local Council, with the full support of Mayor Paul Buttigieg, have initiated legal proceedings with the Environment and Planning Review Tribunal to revoke the permit to construct a 63-apartment block in Ta' Kassja, Qal...

The past week saw Parliament’s Standards Commissioner George Hyzler find that a government minister – Carmelo Abela – had breached parliamentary ethics by using public funds to pay for an advert which was deemed to be intended on bo...

Tottenham fired Jose Mourinho on Monday after only 17 months in charge, and just as he was preparing to coach the club in the League Cup final.Mourinho was hired in November 2019 to replace Mauricio Pochettino, who unexpectedly led the London club to...

A 19-year-old man has died in a traffic accident in Rabat, while a passenger of the same age has also been seriously injured.The accident happened at around 11am on Sunday in Triq tal-Infetti in Rabat.TVM have named the victim - he is Julian Spiteri....

More people within the Nationalist Party are warming up to the idea of having veteran MPs voluntarily step aside to make way for new faces, The Malta Independent on Sunday is informed. The idea, first floated by Nationalist MP Claudio Grech last year...

No measures will be taken to ensure that cannabis is not consumed in front of minors should the White Paper on Cannabis Reform be approved, with the government saying it has faith in parents and guardians to observe the law. According to the rec...

Season 6 of the British series Line of Duty is based on the murder of Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, British media report.While the series is largely fictional, the show’s central case, that of Gail Vella’s murder, actually ha...

39 new cases of Covid-19 have been found, while 52 people have recovered from the virus.No new deaths were recorded in the last 24 hours, meaning that Malta’s death count remains at 409.Malta currently has 595 active cases of the virus.1,985 sw...

Former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat has chosen to remain silent and failed to answer questions sent by The Malta Independent on Sunday related to the latest developments involving Keith Schembri. Muscat’s former chief of staff was recently arra...

The first batch of the single-dose Johnson & Johnson has arrived in Malta, The Malta Independent can confirm.The vaccine doses however will remain sealed until the European Medicines Agency lifts a suspension on its use, which it imposed in order...

Max Verstappen eased to victory in an incident-packed Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix on Sunday as he comfortably beat Lewis Hamilton, who almost crashed out after a rare error from the world champion.Hamilton hit a wall in a race that was also temporarily...

We are edging closer to the time when Prime Minister Robert Abela will be calling an election. Labour’s second consecutive five-year term is set to end, give or take, in one year and the people will be asked to decide whether to give the PL a t...

The Buttigieg family has called Fort Binġemma home since 1981 even though their legal lease on the fort has been terminated since May 2009.Fort Binġemma has since become synonymous with the illegal occupation by members of the family, even ...

Nationalist Party leader Bernard Grech has warned that people who harbour the “wrong attitude” be them party members, members of internal party structures, or even MPs are not welcome within the PN.Grech was interviewed by The Malta Indep...

The corrective mechanism approved in parliament to increase female participation is an “historic moment” in establishing a fairer political system, Prime Minister Robert Abela said on Sunday morning.Abela addressed the approved bill in an...

This is one of the few times that no substantial increase in the number of Covid-19 cases was registered after a public holiday, in this case Easter, statistician Vincent Marmara said.In his weekly blog for The Malta Independent on Sunday, Marmara sa...

The goal scored by Kelechi Iheanacho didn't just send Leicester into a first FA Cup final since 1969. It was the first to be cheered by spectators at Wembley in more than a year.Not since March 2020 had fans been allowed into English football's natio...

Forget about extending its record run of nine straight Serie A titles.At this rate, Juventus may not even qualify for the Champions League.Atalanta, the Italian league's ongoing Cinderella story, beat the Bianconeri 1-0 with a late goal from Ruslan M...

Sitting by herself at the funeral of Prince Philip on Saturday, Queen Elizabeth cut a regal but solitary figure: still the monarch, but now alone.The queen sat apart from family members at the simple but somber ceremony at Windsor Castle, in accordan...

The Nationalist Party has managed to narrow the gap between it and the Labour Party, surveys have showed, but the gap remains wide nonetheless and more, much more, needs to be done to restore some semblance of balance between the two parties. After d...