The compilation of evidence against brothers George and Alfred Degiorgio accused of planting and triggering the bomb killed journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia continues this morning.Pardoned middleman Melvin Theuma continues to testify. George De...

The reported problems with the Astra Zeneca vaccine are very few in number and are ‘likely coincidential’, the President of the Medical Association of Malta Martin Balzan told The Malta Independent.Balzan was contacted by this newsroom as...

A plan to murder  "a police officer" was being concocted at the same time that Daphne Caruana Galizia's assassins were plotting her execution, Vince Muscat has testified.Without mentioning the name, under cross-examination by parte civile lawyer...

More professional staff is being added to the contact tracing and case management teams to deal with the backlog in cases, the Ministry of Health has confirmed.This newsroom reached out to the ministry to ask about the backlog the teams are facing, a...

The daily Covid-19 figures remain high, and it does not look like they will be decreasing any time soon. While it might be a bit too early to say whether the recently introduced measures are working, it is probably safe to say that the spread of the ...

313 new cases of Covid-19 were reported on Tuesday, as three more patients passed away during the last 24 hours.Health authorities said in their daily update that two 70-year-old women and a 73-year-old man had passed away at Mater Dei Hospital while...

Prime Minister Robert Abela has asked the police to identify the minister mentioned by Vince Muscat in connection with a 'big job', which also allegesly involved Chris Cardona, Lovin Malta reports.Testifying in court on Tuesday in the Caruana Galizia...

There were 821 people detained within the Corradino Correctional Facility in February 2021, the majority of whom - 763- were men.The information was tabled in Parliament by Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri, in response to a set of parliamentary ...

In the second hearing of the Interpretation Act, opposition members of parliament Adrian Delia and Joseph Ellis expressed harsh criticism of the proposed changes with Delia threatening to challenge the changes constitutionally, in court, if it passes...

Vince Muscat's testimony in court continues to show the ties between organised crime and the Labour Government, PN MP Karol Aquilina said in a statement."For the second time in a week, testimony in court has shown Prime Minister Robert Abela's lied w...

The alleged hitmen behind the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia were also planning to murder somebody working within the police force at the same time, Vincent Muscat has told a court.Muscat – one of the three who was accused of carrying out the...

The Ministry for Finance and Employment has announced that Malta received, from the European Commission, the second tranche of €123 million nominal in financial support in the form of loan given on favourable terms under the SURE Instrument."Thi...

Suspended Parliamentary Secretary Rosianne Cutajar said she is holding the owner of Mdina property at the centre of a scandal responsible for damage to her political career.In a counter protest filed in court, Cutajar has also denied claims that she ...

The US embassy in Malta has nominated Matthew Caruana Galizia for the US Secretary of State’s International Anti-Corruption Champions award.Matthew, who is the son of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia – who was assassinated in 2017, is an...

St. Julian’s, Marsa, and Hamrun are amongst the nine localities which will be added to Malta’s community policing scheme in the coming weeks to help residents feel more secure. The extension of this community policing scheme was announced...

From Tuesday, the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA) is receiving applications for authorisation in terms of the Company Services Providers (CSP) Act. This applies to individuals and entities providing corporate services such as, the provision...

The European People's Party (EPP) Group has called for a debate to be held in the European Parliament over the revelations relating to the murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.The debate the EPP wants would include a resolution and would be he...

Infrastructure Malta is planning to reconstruct the Bugibba breakwater in order to offer safer landing facilities and a passenger terminal, Transport Minister Ian Borg announced on Tuesday.This will lead to the extension of Malta’s ferry transp...

The Parents Benefit Scheme will be reintroduced due to school closures, Minister of Finance and Employment Clyde Caruana and Minister for Social Justice and Solidarity, the Family and Children's Rights Michael Falzon announced. The scheme was also in...

Britain’s Prince Philip returned to Windsor Castle on Tuesday, following a month in the hospital during which he was treated for an infection and underwent a heart procedure.Philip, 99, the husband of Queen Elizabeth II, was admitted to the pri...

Over 86% of people over the age of 80 have been vaccinated, the Ministry of Health has announced.The statistic was shared on the Health Ministry’s Facebook page on Tuesday morning.The ministry urged those over the age of 80 who are mobile, livi...

A planning application to demolish a disused soft drinks factory in Qormi and construct flats instead is set to be decided on Thursday.The proposal deals with the disused General Soft Drinks site on Triq l-Imdina, Triq il-Vitorja and Alexandra Street...

Repubblika has again called for Commissioner of Voluntary Organisations to withdraw his conclusions regarding Repubblika, and will only then sit down with him for a discussion.Repubblika was accused of breaching NGO law through “instigating pol...

Nine European organisations have expressed their support to the Maltese government in its effort to develop new laws to ensure that the rights of sex workers are protected.“Our organisations, after careful consideration, consultation and resear...

Last week, The Malta Independent on Sunday revealed that Covid-19 contact tracing was, give or take, nine days behind.This information came from people working in contact tracing and case management, who explained that Covid-19 case management and co...

213 new cases of Covid-19 were reported by health authorities as three more patients passed away while positive for the virus,Authorities said that during the last 24 hours, two women aged 82 and 69 years and an 84-year-old man had passed away at Mat...

15% of Customs officials have received the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine, the Customs Department told The Malta Independent.An anonymous complaint was sent to this newsroom highlighting that Customs Department management failed to secure vaccina...

Malta’s iGaming industry made it to the prestigious Forbes website for all the wrong reasons on Monday as the subject of an article which decried the industry’s ties to the Daphne Caruana Galizia murder and to organised crime in Italy.The...

St Paul’s Bay had the highest number of domestic violence and theft reports in 2020, data tabled in Parliament shows.The information was provided by Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri in reply to Parliamentary Questions by PN MP Beppe Fenech...

Labour media chairman and Valletta Culture Agency boss Jason Camilleri was paid over €18,000 by the infrastructure ministry in 2018 for work related to the Ta' Qali National Park upgrading project.The information was included in a list of direct...

Businesses which have suffered during the past year due to Covid-19 should expect more measures to be introduced in the coming weeks to help them get back on their feet, Minister for Energy, Enterprise and Sustainable Development Miriam Dalli told pa...

An afforestation exercise is being carried out at L-Inħawi tar-Ramla tat-Torri u tal-Irdum tal-Madonna.This was announced by the Minister for the Environment, Climate Change and Planning Aaron Farrugia, who said that the area is in the vicinity ...

The Eurovision is back and approaching soon, and Malta has now learnt what song will be representing the country in the competition.Having been unable to represent Malta during the 2020 edition of Eurovision due to its Covid-induced cancellation, Des...

An amendment to a Legal Notice governing the closure of schools as from today empowers the Health Superintendent to allow the opening of government childcare centres, The Malta Independent can reveal.The Legal Notice was amended on Sunday. Schoo...

Medical experts are being sidelined in order for the Prime Minister to make his own decisions, Nationalist party MPs Stephen Spiteri and Claudette Buttigieg said during a press conference on the pandemic situation in Malta.In light of recent events, ...

The spike in Covid-19 cases seen in recent weeks has resulted in Malta having the third highest number cases per capita in the European Union according to data gathered and published by the European Centre for Disease Control (ECDC).In data published...

The Government and Opposition did not see eye to eye when it came to a legal draft being discussed in Parliament which gives regulatory authorities more power to impose penalties and fines without the need of courts.By introducing the legal draft 198...

The authorities fined 1,701 people over breaches of Covid-10 regulations over the past week.750 of these fines were issued by the police, while the remainder were issued LESA, the Malta Tourism Authority, Transport Malta and the Environmental Health ...

The Commissioner for Voluntary Organisations, Anthony Abela Medici, has denied claims by civil society NGO Repubblika and insisted that he has no political interference and has always acted autonomously.The NGO claims the government is trying to sile...

The Vatican decreed Monday that the Catholic Church cannot bless same-sex unions since God “cannot bless sin.”The Vatican’s orthodoxy office, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, issued a formal response Monday to a quest...

Around 90% of people with downs syndrome and severe disability will not need to go before the medical board to assess their disability in order to receive disability allowances, Minister for Social Justice Michael Falzon said, thereby reducing red ta...

Two elderly people were grievously injured in a two-car crash in San Gwann on Monday morning.The accident took place in Triq Bella Vista at around 10:30am, the police said.The casualties, an 84-year-old man and a 77-year-old woman from San Gwann, wer...

A “cherished” church organ will be transferred to Malta for it to be restored and installed at the Basilica of Christ the King in Paola. The church organ belonged to an Anglican church; Holy Trinity church in Sunderland, however this...

Cystic fibrosis patient Mandy Vella is in Mater Dei hospital and is desperate for medication to help her condition, her father Edwin Vella has said.Edwin Vella shed light on his daughter’s deteriorating condition on Facebook, where he tagged Pr...

Hibernians FC president Tony Bezzina has passed away at the age of 72. Bezzina is the longest serving president in Maltese football, having served for 43 years at the helm of Hibernians and in 2019, the State awarded him 'Ġieħ ir-Repub...

Workers at the Covid-19 case management and contact tracing units are "drained and tired" and the whole process is up to nine days behind, three workers have told The Malta Independent on Sunday.Their account of the situation contrasts starkly with s...

LGBTIQ+ people are not an ideology, MP Rosianne Cutajar said, as she welcomed an initiative to make the EU an LGBTIQ Freedom Zone. Prime Minister Robert Abela also welcomed the intiative, saying that “equality and human rights are a fundamental...

The tragic murder of Sarah Everard in London has sent shockwaves through the UK, and ignited a renewed debate about violence against women on a global scale.On March 3, Sarah Everard – a 33-year-old marketing executive – left her friend&r...

The Covid-19 reproduction number, also known as the r-factor, is currently 1.4, statistician Vincent Marmara told The Malta Independent on Sunday in his weekly video blog.The reproduction number of the virus is one of the key figures which ...

268 new cases of Covid-19 were reported on Sunday as another patient passed away while positive for the virus, health authorities said.An 89-year-old man passed away at Mater Dei Hospital in the previous 24 hours, becoming Malta’s 351st victim ...

Although a number of medical specialist associations have welcomed the recent measures to curb the spread of the Covid-19 virus, they have insisted that household gatherings are curtailed over the Easter period. The associations stated that only...

Activist Godfrey Leone Ganado stoked anger after writing degrading and misogynistic insults at TVM Head of News Norma Saliba on a Facebook comments board on Sunday.Leone Ganado commented below a live broadcast of an interview Saliba was conducting wi...

All the countries around the globe are in the race to reach herd immunity by vaccinating against Covid-19 so that no more people succumb to the virus, and so that life could return to normal. Some countries have yet to start, while some - if they man...

Prime Minister Robert Abela said on Sunday that that “despite the challenges that the country and its people are facing due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the reality that we will defeat and overcome it, still exists.” Abela was speaking ...

Ireland has temporarily halted its use of the AstraZeneca jab after some reports of blood clots in vaccinated people.Ireland's Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Dr Ronan Glynn, recommended "the administration of Covid-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca be temporaril...

Stronger border screening at all of Malta’s entry points could have kept the UK variant out of the country, PN leader Bernard Grech said.The UK variant today is the main driver behind the record increase in Covid-19 cases in Malta, with health ...

The Chamber of Advocates was 'kept in the dark' by the government when it introduced the Bill to regulate the Legal Profession, the President and Secretary General of the Chamber said, adding that what is contained in the Bill is very different to wh...

While all children have had their learning impacted by Covid-19, 14-year-old Carla Cutajar remains one of the few children who hasn't attended school in a year. She hasn't seen her friends, participated in any dance classes, participated in any swimm...

The historic city of Ħaż-Żebbuġ is one of the oldest settlements in Malta. Said to be named after the large olive groves that were once to be found in the area, its motto 'Semper Virens', or 'ever green', aptly describes the beaut...

298 new cases of Covid-19 were found overnight, and four patients have died, the health authorities said.The number of active cases currently stands at 3,144 and the total number of cases is 26,267.The patients who died were; 2 males aged 72 and 74 w...

An American man died on Friday evening after he fell inside his own residence in Senglea.The accident took place in an apartment block in Misraħ Dom Mawru Inguanez at around 8pm, the police said.The man, 59, tripped and fell down the stairs. He ...

The government should invest in a swab testing machine for Gozo and should also set up a dedicated contact tracing team on the island, the Nationalist Party said.In a statement signed by PN MP Chris Said, the PN said the government’s “irr...

Valletta: New British Dispensary, 109/110,St John Street; Marsa: San Raffael Pharmacy, 247, Qormi Road; Qormi: Pinto Pharmacy, 43, St Sebastian Street; Birkirkara: Rational Pharmacy, 74/75, Valley Road; Msida: Mayer Pharmacy, 33, Ta’ Xbiex Seaf...

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Many of the people appointed to prominent roles by Joseph Muscat, or who the former Prime Minister surrounded himself with, have been embroiled in serious scandals and have been forced to step down in disgrace.Many of them have been, or still are, th...

The leaders of Austria, Slovenia, the Czech Republic, Latvia and Bulgaria are calling for talks among European Union leaders about the distribution of vaccines within the 27-nation bloc.Austrian media reported Saturday that the five leaders wrote a j...

A man held up a shop in Cospicua on Saturday afternoon and made off with an undisclosed amount in cash.The case took place in Triq l-Oratorju at around 1.15pm, the police said. The man, who was allegedly armed with a knife, ran off after the cas...

The Maltese Indigenous Trees and Shrubs Nursery project administered by the FKNK has been chosen by the European Federation for Hunting and Conservation (FACE) as project of this month of March 2021 as part of the FACE Biodiversity Manifesto.Every mo...

A new ferry route has opened between Malta and Sicily, with Gollcher Company Limited running a route between Valletta and the Sicilian city of Palermo.Gollcher Company Ltd (as Agents for Grandi Navi Veloci) announced that GNV will have three weekly s...

This week saw more seismic developments in the Daphne Caruana Galizia case, with the first testimony of Vince Muscat in court against the two Degiorgio brothers who are accused of being his co-conspirators in killing the journalist.Muscat testified a...

Following the success of the autumn migration campaign held last year, BirdLife Malta has once again launched its #onthemove campaign to encourage people to enjoy, care about and protect migrating birds.This time round, with this second campaign, Bir...

In a rare public statement, former Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi has said that greater effort is needed to uncover the “web of evil” that led to the assassination of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.Referring to court proceedings on Thur...

Labour MEP Alfred Sant has urged EU funding programmes to support strategic investments in the area of health, a sector that urgently needs public support after years of dwindling investment and laissez-faire attitude by EU governmentsIn a statement ...

Two athletes training to qualify for the Paralympic games have taken their frustration to Facebook due to the fact that some athletes are being exempt from the Covid-19 measures whilst others have to continue abiding by all restrictive measures. ...

A 30-year-old Tunisian man has been arrested in connection with several robberies and fraud cases, the police said.The man was identified after several weeks of investigations by the St Julian’s, Valletta and Birkirkara districts.He was arreste...

The Covid-19 vaccine helpline – 145 – is completely unreachable.This newsroom has over the past week received several complaints by people who did not manage to get through to an operator on the freephone number.Over the past 24 hours, th...

In the port of Corfu in Greece, the cruise ship MSC Lirica caught fire early Friday afternoon.The starboard side of the ship (right side) was the scene of heavy smoke and flames which were clearly visible from afar. The fire seems to have originated ...

329 new cases were found over the past 24 hours, bringing the number of active cases up to 3,188 and the total number of cases so far up to 25,969, as Public Health Superintendent Charmaine Gauci addressed her weekly briefing on Friday.Five more pati...

Vince Muscat ‘il-Koħħu’, the man serving a 15-year prison sentence for his part in the assassination of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, has set Malta alight.In a five-hour testimony, the man who tracked Caruana Galizia’...

The driver at the wheel of a double-decker bus involved in a fatal accident that happened in Żurrieq three years ago was not driving under the influence of alcohol, a court has been told.Police Inspector Pierguido Saliba testified on Friday morn...

The Nationalist Party has nominated lawyer David Bonello to the new Building & Construction Authority (BCA).In a statement, the PN said that the nomination had been made by Opposition leader Bernard Grech after consultation with the party’s...

European Commissioner Helena Dalli has become a grandmother for the first time, and she dedicated a European Parliament debate to her newly born grandson Benjamin.Speaking in the European Parliament a mere two hours after Benjamin was born, Dalli rec...

The new round of Covid-19 measures announced by the government on Wednesday came rather late, but they are welcome, nonetheless.The government, facing mounting pressure and skyrocketing daily infection figures, announced the closure of schools and no...

The Permanent Commission Against Corruption has found no evidence of corruption or bribery in the BWSC contract, Times of Malta reports.The €200 million contract to extend the Delimara power station had already been investigated by the National ...

Former Economy Minister Chris Cardona has dismissed claims heard in court yesterday as "utter lies" that can easily be confirmed as such by checking official records.Testifying in court on Thursday, Vince Muscat (il-Kohhu), said he would drive Alfred...

The Notarial Council has urged the general public to act responsibly and carefully in order to avoid increasing the spread of Covid-19 to other notaries, office employees, their families and the parties themselves.The Council issued a press release w...

Free internet and computers will be provided to students in need to ensure that they continue to receive an education when schools shut their doors on Monday, Education Minister Justyne Caruana said.Schools will remain closed until after the Easter h...

The UHM Voice of the Workers has instructed public sector and public service employees who have children aged 12 and under and who have nobody to look after them during working hours to work from home.This decision has been taken in the light of the ...

A man accused of the murder of his son, Antoine, has been released on bail after spending eight months in police custody after finding a third party to act as guarantor.Salvu Dalli, 68, was accused of the wilful homicide of his son Antoine, 37, ...

There was significant anticipation ahead of the first time that Vincent Muscat – known as il-Koħħu – took the stand as a state witness in the case against Alfred and George Degiorgio on the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia.The a...

Whilst Malta continues to face serious challenges in receiving relatively large numbers of asylum-seekers, this does not absolve the authorities of their international human rights obligations, the Malta Refugee Council said.It was echoing a statemen...

Vaccinations using the AstraZeneca vaccine are to go ahead as planned, the government has said.Earlier today, news broke that Malta was one of 17 EU countries to receive a batch of AstraZeneca vaccines which six countries have suspended from use afte...

The Archdiocese has published directives that come into place today, until 11 April.It said that churches can open for public worship, but they are not allowed to open for mass or other religious activities. Only funerals and weddings (in Church only...

283 new cases of Covid-19 were reported by health authorities on Thursday as four more patients have passed away while positive for the virus.During the last 24 hours, three men aged 79, 72, and 60 and an 80-year-old woman passed away at Mater Dei Ho...

Rosianne Cutajar and her political aide Charles Farrugia are being asked to refund €89,000 in brokerage fees by the owner of an Mdina property.The pair acted as brokers on the aborted sale of the property to murder suspect Yorgen Fenech in 2019....

The European Medicines Agency has authorized Johnson & Johnson’s one-dose coronavirus vaccine, giving the European Union's 27 nations a fourth licensed vaccine to try to curb the pandemic amid a stalled vaccination drive in the bloc.In a de...

Schools, gyms, and non-essential shops - amongst others - will close down while travel to Gozo is also being restricted, the government has announced.In a press conference on the day that Malta reported a record-setting 510 cases of the virus, t...

Prime Minister Robert Abela has appealed for the Nationalist Party to put aside their political disputes and join forces with the Labour Party to put the common good of the Maltese first in order to control the pandemic.An emergency parliamentary ses...

Malta is one of 17 EU countries to receive a batch of AstraZeneca vaccines which six countries have suspended from use after a person died of multiple thrombosis some days after receiving a dose of the vaccine.One person died of multiple thrombosis &...

Opposition Leader Bernard Grech said on Thursday that the Prime Minister should stop blaming the UK variant for the recent spike in Covid-19 cases. The government has known about the variant since December but failed to take the necessary measures, h...