Visits to people residing in elderly people’s homes are being restricted to persons from one household unless an agreement is reached with the authorities, guidelines published today show.The Social Care Standards Authority has said that two vi...

Labour MPs have asked for an investigation by the Speaker into leaks from the Standards in Public Life Parliamentary Committee. In a statement on Thursday, Labour MPs Edward Zammit Lewis and Glen Bedingfield lamented that a report issued by Stan...

It is particularly worrisome that the Dean of the Faculty for Social Well-Being Prof. Andrew Azzopardi, speaking on his behalf and on behalf of all Faculty members is accusing ReLeaf Malta of being a profit-driven lobby group aimed at promoting the c...

A young man was grievously injured after falling a flight of steps in a residence in Swieqi.The police said the accident took place in Fomm Gheliem Street at 11pm.The 21-year-old, who resides in Birkirkara, was taken to hospital with grievous injurie...

Two men were arrested by the police in connection with a string of thefts between February and April.The thefts occurred from homes, garages and restaurants in Fgura, Kalkara, Vittoriosa, Paola, Zabbar, Marsascala and Zejtun.The two men, aged 41 and ...

Ambulances filled with breathless patients lined up in Brazil as nations around the world set new records Thursday for COVID-19 deaths and new coronavirus infections. The disease surged even in some countries that have kept the virus in check.In the ...

U.S. intelligence officials are painting a dark picture of the world's future, writing in a report released Thursday that the coronavirus pandemic has deepened economic inequality, strained government resources and fanned nationalist sentiments.Those...

The U.K.'s COVID-19 vaccination program is beginning to break the link between infection and serious illness or death, according to the latest results from an ongoing study of the pandemic in England.Researchers at Imperial College London found that ...

All basketball senior competitions for the 2020-2021 season have been cancelled after the health authorities did not lift restrictions on sport activities.On Wednesday, the government announced that sport activities are still prohibited to contain th...

Video footage has emerged online of another illegal party, complete with a fireworks show, in breach of Covid-19 regulations. The police are investigating.The videos, which were uploaded to Instagram last night, show people celebrating a birthday par...

55 new cases of Covid-19 and one new death were reported by health authorities on Thursday.A 76-year-old man became Malta 401st victim – a year to the day since the first victim of the virus – after passing away at Mater Dei Hospital.45 p...

The Labour Party has denied a claim that the secret company Egrant was used to fund their general election bid.The party was referring to a request for investigation made by independent candidate Arnold Cassola to the Electoral Commission.Cassola on ...

The Malta Medicines Authority has issued a statement on the Astrazeneca vaccine, addressing concerns.The European Union's drug regulator recently said there was a "possible link" between the AstraZeneca vaccine and a rare clotting disorder while reit...

Keith Schembri, Johann Cremona, Melvin Theuma and Europol experts are to be cross-examined by Yorgen Fenech's lawyers during one of the upcoming court hearings in the case against the businessman over the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia.Forensic exp...

An appeal has been launched by several members of the footballing community for help for one of their own after a player’s young son was diagnosed with cancer.The diagnosis came on the same day as the government’s announcement that organi...

Arsenal conceded in injury time to draw 1-1 with Slavia Prague in the first leg of their Europa League quarterfinal on Thursday, while Manchester United won 2-0 in Granada.Bruno Fernandes’ last-minute penalty put United in a commanding position...

Judge Giovanni Bonello, Chairman of the Strickland Foundation, has referred to the article entitled "Was this Moral - Alfred Sant replies to The Strickland Foundation" published online on The Malta Independent website on Wednesday 7 April 2021, and i...

A protected Marsh Harrier was allegedly the victim of illegal hunting, this newsroom is informed.Contacted, BirdLife Malta confirmed with The Malta Independent that a Marsh Harrier was recovered by BirdLife Malta volunteers from Chadwick lakes, after...

The Nationalist Party has said in a statement that it is still waiting for “truth and justice to take place” two years after some of its members received mysterious letters containing cocaine.The statement was signed by Karol Aquilina, Ja...

The Ministry for Research, Innovation and the Co-ordination, together with Ministry for Energy, Enterprise and Sustainable Development, the Malta Enterprise, and the Malta Council for Science and Technology (MCST), announced that four projects were a...

Victoria, Gozo, and Vittoriosa are the two cities which have applied to be the European Capital of Culture in 2031, the Valletta Cultural Agency said on Thursday.The Expression of Interest for the European Capital of Culture 2031 was launched in Nove...

Infrastructure Malta will start drilling for the Gudja roundabout underpass on Friday, the agency said in a Facebook post.The project forms part of the Kirkop tunnels and airport intersection project.IM said that the southbound carriageway of Aviatio...

Deputy Health Minister Chris Fearne call for Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine to be acquired through a joint European Union (EU) approach has been rejected by EU Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides.On Wednesday evening, according to a Politico repo...

The government has plans to create an area of woodland purposely to commemorate the people who have passed away as a result of Covid-19 in Malta.The news was announced in a tweet by Deputy Prime Minister and Health Minister Chris Fearne on the first ...

In the first year of the pandemic, between March 2020 and March 2021, the Women on Web organization sent 227 abortion pills to Malta.The Malta Independent sent questions to both Doctors for Choice and Doctors for Life to get their view on this. Women...

A man has been found dead in a public convenience in Lija, police told The Malta Independent.A police spokesperson told this newsroom that the man was found seemingly unconscious at the public convenience in Vjal it-Trasfigurazzjoni in Lija at around...

The Malta Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry said it is pleased to note that the restrictions adopted in response to the spike in Covid-19 cases a month ago have so far had the desired effect. The President of the Chamber, Marisa Xuereb, sa...

The Covid-19 pandemic battered English language schools, with the number of students coming to Malta to learn English decreasing by 80.3% in 2020 when compared to the previous year.Statistics published by the National Statistics Office showed the eff...

British authorities recommended Wednesday that the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine not be given to adults under 30 where possible because of strengthening evidence that the shot may be linked to rare blood clots.The recommendation came as regulators in ...

Schools will physically reopen their doors as from next week, while non-essential shops and services will be opened as of 26 April.Addressing a press conference, which can be viewed below, Prime Minister Robert Abela said that education and the elder...

An article on Malta Today penned by President Emeritus Marie Louise Coleiro Preca, who before reaching the top institutional post in the country had served the Labour Party for decades, ruffled some feathers in the past days.Coleiro Preca, who was th...

Gender equality issues took center stage Wednesday in Brussels a day after Ursula von der Leyen, one the EU's most powerful executives, was treated like a second-rank official during a visit to Ankara.Von der Leyen — the European Commission pre...

The European Union’s drug agency said Wednesday that it found a “possible link” between the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine and a rare clotting disorder but recommended that vaccinations continue in adults, saying the benefits of th...

Malta’s Covid-19 death count hit the 400 mark on Wednesday as 65 new cases of the virus were reported.A 78-year-old woman became the country’s 400th victim after passing away at Mater Dei Hospital in the last 24 hours.47 people meanwhile ...

Restrictions on organised sports should have been eased alongside the easing of other measures announced in the Office of the Prime Minister’s (OPM) press conference on Wednesday morning, the Nationalist Party said.The press conference saw...

The Malta Football Association has today expressed its dismay at the Covid-related measures announced by the Government and the Public Health Authorities.The MFA said that for the past weeks, it has been asking the authorities to lift the current pro...

Restaurants and catering establishments should open as soon as possible, the Association of Catering Establishments (ACE) has said.In a statement released on Wednesday afternoon, ACE said the easing of measures announced on Wednesday morning is cater...

Labour MEP Alfred Sant has replied to the Strickland Foundation, which took him to task over a commentary which was published on The Malta Independent on 1 April.This is Alfred Sant’s reply:In replying to my blog (01 April 2021) for THE MALTA I...

The Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association (MHRA) has welcomed the announcement made by Prime Minister Robert Abela that on 1 June, Malta will be open for the tourism industry but expressed its disappointment that there is no target date yet announ...

Kylian Mbappé scored twice to lead Paris Saint-Germain to a 3-2 win at defending champion Bayern Munich in the first leg of their Champions League quarterfinal on Wednesday.Mbappé was a constant threat while Neymar had two assists as th...

Solid defensively and precise in attack, Chelsea took a big step toward returning to the last four of the Champions League by defeating Porto 2-0 in the first leg of the quarterfinals on Wednesday.Mason Mount and Ben Chilwell scored their first Champ...

The reviewed Covid-19 measures communicated on Wednesday morning are “clearly a manifestation of the breakdown of Social Dialogue,” the Malta Chamber of SMEs said.The Chamber welcomed the visibility given to some sectors, which it said gi...

Romelu Lukaku scored one goal and set up another as Inter Milan moved a step closer to its first Serie A title in more than a decade with a 2-1 win over Sassuolo on Wednesday.Lukaku headed in the opener in the 10th minute and provided the assist for ...

Two men were grievously injured while using power tools in separate accidents on Wednesday.In the first case, a 53-year-old man was injured while working with a chaser inside a farm in Garibaldi Road, Paola. The accident took place at around 11:15am,...

The Union of Professional Educators (UPE) has called on the authorities to heighten and improve social distancing measures and contact tracing procedures as well as focus on a prompt revision of the risk assessment with regards to the physical re-ope...

The Malta Union of Teachers (MUT) hopes that the return to in-school teaching will not cause another spike in Covid-19, after stating on Monday that physical schooling should not be one of the first measures to be relaxed after 11th April. The M...

The police are set to charge a number of people who were filmed in the midst of a fight in Sliema.Quoting a police spokesperson, TVM said that the case, part of which was caught on video, concerned an argument between a group of people on 1 April at ...

The last 100 Covid-19 deaths arrived in just 47 days, almost an average of two deaths per day.The 400th victim of the disease was reported today by the health authorities.Malta had reached the 300th figure on 17 February, and it took just another 47 ...

An agreement between the Malta Council for Science and Technology and the Ministry for Inclusion and Quality of Life will be instrumental for people with disabilities to benefit from the various learning and entertainment experiences offered by Esplo...

Allied Group and the Times of Malta are victims of the alleged crimes which have been emerging in court over the past weeks, not the perpetrators, the Strickland Foundation said in a right of reply on Wednesday.The right of reply is reproduced in ful...

Robert Hornyold-Strickland has said that it is for the courts to decide whether his claims are justified “and not for the Strickland Foundation to assume that I am pushing my unjustified claims”. Hornyold-Strickland has penned a right of ...

The Occupational Health and Safety Authority said it has identified two workers shown in a photo that went viral on social media and will be taking the “necessary” action.The photo in question showed two people working on a balcony &ndash...

Every household in Malta and Gozo is to receive a package containing a mix of wildflower seeds, as well as a leaflet on how to sow seeds and care for flowers. This was announced by the Minister for the Environment, Climate Change and Planning Aaron F...

The government has decided to accept the Ornis Committee’s recommendation to open the spring hunting season for quail.Despite all the problems the country is currently facing, despite the fact that Malta has limited countryside where families c...

A stunning 610 Xgħajra residents and property owners have signed a letter to the Planning Authority declaring their unequivocal opposition to the proposed three high-rise towers on the Xgħajra seafront, NGO Moviment Graffitti said...

A judge will decree on whether statements given by Vince Muscat to the police will be admitted in the murder case against the Degiorgio brothers.In a short sitting this morning, Judge Edwina Grima heard submissions on the matter from the prosecution ...

A top official at the European Medicines Agency says there's a causal link between AstraZeneca's coronavirus vaccine and rare blood clots, but that it's unclear what the connection is and that the benefits of taking the shot still outweigh the risks ...

Nexia BT partners Brian Tonna, Karl Cini, Manuel Castagna and their employee Katrin Bondin have been granted bail.The four accused, who all pleaded not guilty, were charged with money laundering. In September 2020, Tonna and Cini lost their warr...

The over 100 migrants who, according to NGOs, were in distress in the Mediterranean have reached Italian shores safely, the Armed Forces of Malta said, as they rejected notions that the boat was left adrift.Referring to recent reports by NGOs that a ...

64 new cases of Covid-19 were reported by health authorities on Tuesday as the number of active cases decreased marginally.67 people have recovered from the virus, meaning that the number of active cases now stands at 528.No new deaths were recorded ...

The government’s reopening plan will be “very cautious” and will give priority to education, Prime Minister Robert Abela said on party media on Tuesday.Speaking on ONE radio, Abela said that health authorities were in the process of...

Prime Minister Robert Abela needs to take political responsibility and apologise to the general public on behalf of the Labour Party, the Nationalist Party said on Tuesday afternoon.The press conference, led by PN candidates Paula Mifsud Bonnici and ...

MaltaPost has issued a warning over scam messages.Posting on Facebook, MaltaPose said: "We have received reports by customers receiving messages via SMS seemingly originating from MaltaPost that directs users to click on a link to arrange for a deliv...

Although the Malta Police Force has not received any “formal report” regarding a recent Facebook data leak, they are still “monitoring the situation”, a police spokesperson told The Malta Independent. This comes after a r...

Still opponents rather than teammates, Phil Foden showed Erling Haaland there's already a 20-year-old excelling at Manchester City.Foden netted City's 90th-minute goal to clinch a 2-1 victory over Haaland's Borussia Dortmund in the first leg of their...

Vinícius Júnior finally came up with the type of performance Real Madrid fans have been expecting from him.The Brazilian forward netted his first double for the club on Tuesday, leading it to a 3-1 over Liverpool in the first leg of the...

The government is expected to announce a review of the current Covid-19 measures tomorrow, The Malta Independent is informed.The current measures, which threw Malta into a semi-lockdown which was similar to that which the country found itself in this...

Fin whales passing Malta is not a rarity, but a yearly occurrence during late winter and early spring, marine biologist and university professor Alan Deidun said in a Facebook post on Tuesday morning. On Monday evening, a video of a fin whale su...

A total of €200,000 is being awarded to 13 different projects for Digital Research and Development as part of the RESTART Schemes 2021 managed by Arts Council Malta. Addressing a press conference to outline further details about this scheme, Min...

Malta’s citizenship-by-investment scheme, and its shortcomings, have once again found themselves under the media spotlight, this time ona Dutch TV documentary.The tv report refers to the IIP, which has now been phased out and replaced by a new ...

Darren Debono has been granted bail as he continues to face charges relating to international fuel smuggling and money laundering.Debono and Jeffrey Chetcuti – both of whom were former international football players – were arraigned in co...

Malta should be promoted as a safe and responsible country, not a reckless and unsafe country for tourists flying to Malta this June, the Medical Association of Malta (MAM) has said.The Malta Independent contacted the MAM to ask for its reaction to t...

The Medical Association of Malta said today that the re-opening of economic activity should be very gradual and that large parties should be the last to be allowed when restrictions are eased. In a statement, MAM said the current practice of fre...

Hitman Vince Muscat testified behind closed doors in the public inquiry into Daphne Caruana Galizia’s death on Tuesday.Muscat, known as il-Kohhu, admitted to his part in the murder in February, getting a 15 year prison sentence in exchange for ...

The Malta Tourism Authority has denied that it is planning large scale parties to be held after Covid-19 restrictions are eased.It was replying to a Medical Association of Malta statement which said that large parties should be the last to be allowed...

The Malta Chamber of SMEs has said that in light of the current Covid-19 situation, “the government is keeping people in the dark.”On behalf of the chamber, the Chief Executive Officer Abigail Mamo, has said that when it comes to the re-o...

A number of civil society NGOs have demanded answers about the fate of over a hundred migrants who remain stranded in Malta’s search and rescue area. The Maltese government has been criticised for “refusing” to aid a number of migra...

Archbishop Charles Scicluna was an angry man last Thursday.While celebrating Maundy Thursday, the day when Jesus Christ established the institution of the Eucharist, he expressed his disappointment that the Holy Week celebrations were being held in e...

The secretary of the Association of Catering Establishments (ACE), Matthew Pace, has called for stricter enforcement against wrongdoers once catering establishments reopen.Last month government announced a number of new measures, including that of ke...

The unemployment rate for the month of February was 4.4%, identical to the previous three months, the National Statistics Office said on Tuesday.The unemployment rate has remained at 4.4% since November last year, having peaked at 4.6% in July and Au...

European countries scrambled Monday to tamp down a surge in COVID-19 cases and ramp up vaccinations, hoping to spare hospitals from becoming overwhelmed by the pandemic's latest deadly wave of infections.The crush of coronavirus patients has been rel...

In recent months Gozo’s stream of proposed development applications has become an unstoppable torrent, threatening everything from open fields in Nadur to the skyscape around the Ġgantija Temples, NGOs said in a statement Tuesday.eNGOs Fli...

The authorities have informed the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association (MHRA) that they will know in a day or two whether catering establishments will be able to reopen after 11 April, the association’s president Tony Zahra told The Malta I...

Keith Schembri and his associates have been granted bail by the court.Schembri was charged together with his elderly father Alfio Schembri, a director of several of the Kasco companies, and business partner Malcolm Scerri and financial controller Rob...

A whale has been spotted off the coast of Gozo, specifically near Ta' Sanap cliffs on the southern side of the island.Uploaded by Facebook user Melania Bajada, the short footage shows the whale surfacing in the sea to get a breath of fresh air.The sp...

The Court declared that there is enough evidence for Keith Schembri and his associates to be placed under a bill of indictment in connection with money laundering and corruption charges.Earlier today Schembri and his associates were granted bail with...

The government has decided to accept the Ornis Committee’s recommendation to open the Spring Hunting season for quail, it said in a statement.The season will run from 10 April to 30 April, from two hours before sunrise until noon, including on ...

The Aquatic Sports Association of Malta, the Malta Basketball Association, and the Malta Football Association have today jointly renewed their appeal to the Government and the local health authorities to allow the return of competitive sport, albeit ...

The Ombudsman has taken up the Opposition’s request for an investigation into illegal works being carried out on Comino, the Nationalist Party said.The “illegal” roadworks near the Blue Lagoon were blasted by a number of environment...

56 new cases of Covid-19 were reported by health authorities on Monday, as the number of active cases continued to decrease – albeit not by as much as in recent days.One more person – a 55-year-old man – passed away during the last ...

West Ham jumped above Liverpool, Tottenham and Chelsea into the top four of the Premier League on Monday.Injuries to arguably its two best players might see the team struggle to stay there.Jesse Lingard inspired a 3-2 win over Wolverhampton as the mi...

Prime Minister Robert Abela met the Prime Minister of the Libyan National Unity Government, Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, during a visit to Tripoli on Monday.The two Prime Ministers discussed themes of common interest, including the economy, security and migr...

Investigators last year requested mobile data belonging to former police chief Lawrence Cutajar, a court heard on Monday. These details emerged as the compilation of evidence against Yorgen Fenech, who stands charged with masterminding the murder of ...

Lynn Faure Chircop has stated that her withdrawal from PL candidature was due to “professional reasons”.This was said in a Facebook post on Monday morning. “I would like to confirm that, although the media takes sound bites and quot...

The re-opening of schools to provide in-person education should not be one of the first measures to be eased, the Malta Union of Teachers (MUT) have said.The MUT spoke out against the physical opening of schools in a statement released on Monday morn...

Union of Professional Educators (UPE) chief Graham Sansone has told The Malta Independent that, given how Covid-19 cases have decreased, he would be comfortable with schools being given the green light to physically re-open.Schools were physically sh...

The Labour Party has no problem apologising to anyone who felt hurt, party deputy leader Daniel Micallef said today.He was reacting to an opinion piece written by President emeritus Marie Louise Coleiro Preca, a former Labour minister, who appealed t...

The French city of Lyon's main stadium opened as a mass vaccination center during Easter weekend, and thousands spent the holiday lining up for injections at hippodromes, velodromes or other sites as France tried to speed up shots amid a new rush of ...

While stressing Malta’s obligation to provide people rescued at sea who are disembarked in the country with access to the asylum procedure (for those seeking asylum) and accommodation in suitable and adequate reception facilities, the UNHCR als...

1,880 persons were fined for breaching Covid-19 regulations over the past week, the authorities said.Most of the fines issued were related to the wearing (or not) of face masks (1,222)  and breaches of the regulation restricting gatherings of mo...