A French student has been left desperate after being transferred to a 5-star hotel after testing positive for Covid-19 and being told that she has to pay €100 a night for the accommodation. The young woman told The Malta Independent that she arr...

All remaining lockdown restrictions in England will be lifted in a week despite a sharp rise in coronavirus cases, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson confirmed Monday. He said it was “the right moment to proceed” as schools close for su...

Spanish regions are bringing back curfews as well as restrictions on socializing and nightlife to contain a sharp rise in coronavirus infections as the fast-spreading delta variant races through the country's unvaccinated young people.Catalonia and V...

A review of the best, worst and downright strange at this year's European Championship:BEST MOMENTIt was beautiful, touching and uplifting, so soon after a near-tragedy. Shaken fans inside the Parken Stadium were waiting for updates after Denmark mid...

Thousands of fans packed Rome's sidewalks to wildly cheer Europe’s new soccer champions as Italy toured the city in an open-topped bus on Monday evening, crowning a day that saw them honored at the presidential palace and premier's office and c...

Italy’s Euro 2020 throws up a number of points of reflection, especially when it comes to the Maltese footballing landscape.The Azzuri’s triumph came after a ground-up rebuild: with Roberto Mancini raising a country from the footballing d...

Labour MP Rosianne Cutajar “insinuated many times” that she wanted a brokerage fee, even though she didn’t explicitly say it, as there is enough evidence for the conclusion of her breach of ethics, Standaards Commissioner George Hyz...

The European Commission has expressed its concern about Malta’s most recent decision to bar travellers who are not fully vaccinated and in possession of a vaccine certificate from entering the country.“It is true that member states can im...

179 new cases of Covid-19 have been reported by health authorities as the number of active cases has continued to shoot upwards.Two people have recovered, and no deaths were recorded in the last 24 hours – meaning that the number of active case...

73 cases of physical and sexual assault on minors have been reported to police in 2021 so far, Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri told parliament on Monday.Camilleri was answering a parliamentary question posed by PL MP Silvio Grixti.The 73 cases ...

Inclusion and Quality of Life Minister Julia Farrugia Portelli has said that ridiculing people who have a disability and spreading hateful comments and actions against them will become a crime punishable by imprisonment. The proposed changes to ...

Letters of intent submitted by Progress Press for a cash grant from Malta Enterprise did not include any references to consumables, the court has heard.The compilation of evidence against Keith Schembri and his co-defendants continued on Monday, with...

Health Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Chris Fearne is self-isolating after a family member of his tested positive for Covid-19, his ministry said in a statement on Monday.The Health Ministry said in a statement that Fearne has not tested positive...

The government’s €470 million industrial infrastructure plan is based on “revamping existing industrial zones through reorganization and better planning that shall create new spaces”, an Economy Ministry spokesperson told The M...

After 51 games in 11 cities around the continent with a total of 142 goals, the European Championship is over.Here’s a team of the tournament chosen by The Associated Press, comprising the standout players from the 24 competing nations:GOALKEEP...

Europe's soccer champions returned home at dawn on Monday to the ecstatic cheers of Italians who spent the better part of the night honking horns, setting off fireworks and violating all sorts of coronavirus precautions to celebrate their team’...

Football supporters descened onto the streets of Sliema and Paceville on Sunday night to celebrate Italy's Euro 2020 triumph.Italy beat England 3-2 on penalties in a dramatic shootout which saw Marucs Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka miss three...

Finance Minister Clyde Caruana said that Malta has started the process of declaring an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).Speaking in Parliament on Monday, Minister Caruana said that this zone would be located in the central Meditteranean, with the potent...

British police opened investigations Monday into the racist abuse of three Black players who missed penalties in England's shootout loss to Italy in the European Championship final.The Metropolitan Police condemned the “unacceptable” abus...

The wife of wheelchair-user Marcel Pisani, who disappeared last December, has begun constitutional proceedings against the Attorney General, claiming that she has been left homeless because of inexplicable delays in allowing her back into her home.Ma...

Murder suspects George and Alfred Degiorgio are claiming “inhuman and degrading” treatment in prison after they were placed in solitary confinement over an incident they were involved in.The brothers, who are being held in Division 5 at t...

A construction worker was seriously injured after falling from a height in Mgarr.The accident took place in Triq Fisher, at around 1130am, the police said.The man, 50, from Sannat, Gozo, fell from a height of one a half floors.He was assisted by a me...

Once more we find ourselves writing an editorial about poor road planning.In recent years we have seen controversy over the widening of Tal-Balal, the Central Link project and countless other projects where their planning and sustainability has been ...

Italian soccer’s redemption story is complete. England’s painful half-century wait for a major title goes on.And it just had to be because of a penalty shootout.Italy won the European Championship for the second time by beating England 3-...

So close.It took just a few weeks to undo decades of pessimism for England fans, persuading millions that the team could defy decades of disappointment and win a major international soccer tournament for the first time since 1966.For much of Sunday&r...

Italians celebrated the European Championship soccer title as a new beginning not only for their youthful national team but for a country that's been yearning to return to normalcy after being hit hard and long by the coronavirus pandemic.A cacophony...

Visitors or those who are recently settled on the island may find the scenes which will no doubt ensue in Malta later tonight as somewhat bemusing, and even a bit bizarre.Everybody and their dog (or other house pet) knows by now that England and Ital...

Dog shelter Noah’s Ark in Mellieħa is calling out to the public to help it reach its €10,000 target as it enters its final month of the fundraiser campaign.Noah’s Ark launched a fundraising campaign in March with the aim of rais...

A controversial 3-year extension given to a Grand Harbour ferry operator is still pending due to a court appeal filed by Supreme Travel Limited against Transport Malta. The transport authority told this newsroom it is unable to give comments about ma...

Maltese citizens who were abroad when the government changed regulations on entering Malta can return home with a negative PCR test and without the need to quarantine, Superintendent of Health Charmaine Gauci said.Gauci said "we will be allowing Malt...

101 new cases of Covid-19 were reported on Sunday as the number of active cases continued to shoot upwards.Three people have recovered, while no new deaths were recorded in the past 24 hours for another day.This means that the number of active cases ...

The cannabis reform will be ‘the number one priority’ for Minister for Equality, Research, Innovation and the Co-Ordination of Post COVID-19 Strategy, as he believes that people who smoke cannabis should not be treated as criminals. Bonni...

Do you remember when Adrian Delia was Nationalist Party leader?Do you remember what used to happen each time there was a survey about the political situation in Malta? When, time and again, surveys showed that the Labour Party was firmly in command w...

Francis Zammit Dimech will not contest for the PN’s General Secretary role, with 26-year-old Michael Piccinino being nominated as a potential replacement for the long-serving PN stalwart.As election season looms, Opposition leader Bernard Grech...

PN leader Bernard Grech has blasted the government as being “arrogant, incompetent, and stubbornly refusing to listen to anyone” and described its handling of the Covid-19 pandemic as “management by crisis.”Grech was asked abo...

The reason why the Government took the “difficult decision” not to allow unvaccinated tourists in the country was to protect the livelihoods of Malta’s citizens, Prime Minister Robert Abela said in an interview on Sunday. In a press...

Two public service workers were injured on Sunday morning while doing their duties as part of the clean-up campaign run by the government.The two Ambjent Malta employees were caught between their vehicle and another which was being driven in Qawra, t...

Novak Djokovic tied Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal by claiming his 20th Grand Slam title Sunday, coming back to beat Matteo Berrettini 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-4, 6-3 in the Wimbledon final.The No. 1 -ranked Djokovic earned a third consecutive championship at...

A motorcyclist was grievously injured in a traffic accident in Burmarrad on Saturday evening.The biker, a German man aged 37 and residing in Mellieha, was involved in a crash with a Renault Clio, driven by a 55-year-old man of Mosta.The biker was tak...

BirdLife Malta have released a number of illegally trapped waders after they were found at an active trapping site and were confiscated by police and the ERA, the NGO said on Sunday.The birds were found at a location in the south of Malta following a...

An 18-year-old youth who was reported missing on Sunday has been found safe and well, police said in the afternoon.In a short statement in the morning, police had said that 18-year-old Neil Portelli was last seen in Zurrieq and Sliema and asked for i...

Swashbuckling entrepreneur Richard Branson hurtled into space aboard his own winged rocket ship Sunday in his boldest adventure yet, beating out fellow billionaire Jeff Bezos.The nearly 71-year-old Branson and five crewmates from his Virgin Galactic ...

A 38-year-old man has been sent to jail for a year and a half after he was caught pretending to be a policeman and charging tourists €50 for not wearing a face-mask.TVM reported on Sunday that Jon Charles Seabrook, a UK-national who now lives in...

Pirlo’s “Panenka.” Schillaci’s Golden Boot clincher. Another emotional goal celebration from Marco Tardelli.The major-tournament rivalry — if it can be called that — between Italy and England has been marked by a f...

To hear the England players giddily singing along with the Wembley Stadium crowd to "Sweet Caroline" — “so good, so good” — encapsulates the youthful exuberance and carefree spirit of a group unburdened by trying to end the te...

The Corradino Correctional Facility has claimed another life. Another family has been destroyed, joining the other eleven families of the inmates who died in prison over the past three years. Once again, all we have is a measly press release with sca...

Karl Izzo was born on 26 February 1969, is married to Diane nee Bonello and he is the father of Valerii. Karl is the son of Edgar Izzo and Patricia Nicholl. His father was a prominent personality in the local sport scene being treasurer of Sliema Wan...

The UK travel industry has described as “confusing” Malta’s surprise decision to ban all visitors unless they are double vaccinated, a development that has raised fears that other European countries will follow suit as the Delta var...

The number of Italian citizens who are being kept in quarantine in Malta has grown from 71 to at least 120, Italian media report.About 50 of them are positive to Covid-19, tgcom24.mediaset.it reports, adding that very few of them are adults.The rest ...

The number of new Covid-19 cases registered on Saturday is 109, while only two patients have recovered, health authorities said.It is the first time since 26 March that the number of new cases was more than 100 in a single day.The health authorities ...

English language schools were “unprepared and shocked” by the government’s “unexpected and rigid decision” to close down ELT schools, the Federation of English Language Teaching Organisations Malta (FELTOM) said. On Frid...

All those who love Malta, even if they are not Nationalists, should join the PN to work to change the country for the better, Opposition Leader Bernard Grech said on Saturday. He was speaking at the opening of the party’s General Council. Grech...

Valletta: Collis Williams Pharmacy, 15, Republic Street; Marsa: Vivien Pharmacy, Patri Magri Street; Qormi: Tal-Ħlas Pharmacy, Victory Street; Birkirkara: Remedies Pharmacy, Tumas Fenech Street; Pieta: St Anthony Pharmacy, 56, St Joseph Street; ...

Home Minister Byron Camilleri and police commissioner Angelo Gafa’ appealed for “responsible behaviour” from football fans as tomorrow England and Italy meet in the final of the Euro 2020 championship.It will be the first time that ...

The new rules Malta will introduce as from Wednesday in a bid to curb the spike in Covid-19 cases will ban unvaccinated people from being allowed into the island, sparking chaos among British travellers, British media report.Inews.co.uk says Malta, a...

Parliamentary Secretary for Citizenship and Communities Alex Muscat and National Development and Social Fund (NDSF) CEO Raymond Ellul have announced a solidarity contribution from the NDSF to alleviate the financial shortfall from the Telethon Techni...

Two Britons today were charged with vandalising the Pilgrims’ Cross in Mellieha. They were granted bail.The two, Robbie Scott Leach, 19, and Nerys Karen Cooke Spence, 21, were charged before Magistrate Ian Farrugia this morning.The couple, who ...

The head of Russia's state coronavirus task force says the number of deaths nationwide in June this year rose nearly 14% over June 2020, due to the spread of the delta variant that caused infections to soar and a record spike in deaths.Deputy Prime M...

TVM will be screening the Euro 2020 final between England and Italy on Sunday in both languages, using both of its stations, Public Broadcasting Services said.The national station has been under fire after the services of the Italian national broadca...

The Nationalist Party said today that mandatory vaccination for travel is an “extreme” measure that discriminates against those who are unable to get vaccinated.In a statement following the government’s decision that comes into forc...

There are 71 Italian students, all under 18 years of age, who are in quarantine in Malta, Italian media report.Of these, 21 have resulted to be positive to the Covid-19 virus, with the remaining 50 being kept in quarantine because they had been in co...

The Dominion Bond Rating Service (DBRS) has confirmed Malta’s ‘A’ (high) rating as it continues to maintain a ‘stable’ outlook trend, the government said in a statement.With reference to the recent FATF decision which pl...

Hundreds of migrants disembarked from a humanitarian rescue ship in Augusta, Sicily on Friday after Italy offered a safe port in response to warnings that food was running out and tensions were rising on board.The SOS Mediterranee rescue group said t...

It's being billed as the best team of the tournament against, in effect, the host nation.The European Championship final between Italy and England at Wembley Stadium on Sunday has all the makings of a tight and tense title match.Here's where the game...

After weeks of barely any Covid-19 cases, the pandemic has now reared its head on Maltese shores once again.Fifty-five new cases reported on Thursday and 96 reported on Friday have seen the number of active cases shoot up to 252.In writing about this...

The Covid-19 vaccine is the most important tool to stop the spread of this virus and its certification is much more reliable than any PCR test, the Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses said. Therefore, MUMN welcomed the measures which were announced on...

As from Wednesday, only people with a recognised vaccine certificate will be allowed to travel to Malta, while foreign language schools will be closed down again, Deputy Prime Minister Chris Fearne said on Friday. He was addressing a press confe...

The Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association (MHRA) said on Friday that while it understood the spirit behind the new measures announced by the government today in a bid to contain the spread of Covid-19, it expected to be given advance notice of the...

96 new Covid-19 cases were reported on Friday as a massive spike in cases continues to take hold of the island again.Three people meanwhile have recovered, while no deaths were recorded in the last 24 hours – meaning that the number of active c...

The vast majority of employers fear that Malta’s greylisting by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) will have a negative impact on Malta’s economy, a new survey by the Malta Employers’ Association (MEA) has found.In the survey, w...

For the third consecutive week Customs enforcement officials intercepted and seized narcotics arriving through our airport, the department said in a statement.During routine passenger screenings on a Madrid flight, a piece of luggage was flagged as s...

Two Britons have been arrested by the police in connection with vandalising the Pilgrims’ Cross in Mellieha earlier this week.The two, a 21-year-old woman and a 19-year-old man, will be charged with the offence on Saturday.The cross, a 12-foot ...

A Chinese man was grievously injured after he was hit by a car on Friday, the police said.The accident took place in Valley Road, Birkirkara, at 1pm.The man, aged 27 and a resident in Marsascala, was hit by a Peugeot 306 driven by a 56-year-old of Ba...

Pointing fingers at the arts and entertainment industry as the cause for the latest spike in Covid-19 cases is unfounded because the entertainment industry is still shut down, the Malta Entertainment Industry and Arts Association said on Friday.Speak...

Prime Minister Robert Abela has retained Rosianne Cutajar as an MP in spite of the fact that she is facing four investigations, the Nationalist Party said.In a press conference held at the PN headquarters, the two PN representatives on Parliament&rsq...

The Medical Association of Malta expressed its disappointment at the amateurism and lack of foresight of the Ministry for Tourism as the number of Covid-19 cases rise sharply again, with 55 reported on Thursday. Just 10 days ago, MAM said in a statem...

A man died on Thursday evening after he was caught beneath a plough in a field in Qormi, the police said.The accident took place in Bajjada Street at around 8pm.The 46-year-old, who resides in Qormi, was given first assistance by a medical team but w...

Minister for Energy and Enterprise Miriam Dalli launched a number of other initiatives for businesses on Friday in a bid to strengthen the economic activity of businesses in Malta and Gozo, The schemes announced together with the Malta Ente...

A man who called for the torture and public execution of a PN MP has pleaded guilty to criminal charges and apologised.Stephen Cauchi, of Qormi appeared before magistrate Simone Grech on Friday afternoon, as the case against him was called.Cauchi was...

Following the increase in active Covid-19 cases over the last few days, the Nationalist Party’s Covid action team stressed the importance of a more rigorous screening process for passengers arriving at the airport and sea terminals.In a press s...

Several Marsaskala residents together with Moviment Graffitti have taken the Planning Tribunal’s (EPRT) ruling giving the go-ahead for the construction of a waterpolo pitch, a clubhouse and a restaurant in Marsaskala to court. The development w...

Malta International Airport has called for cooperation by passengers as it prepares for a busy weekend ahead.Passenger numbers are expected to peak at 1,100 simultaneously.In order for processing efficiency to be maintained even during these peak hou...

A Syrian teenager was grievously injured when he was hit by a car in Hamrun on Thursday evening, the police said.The 19-year-old was hit by a Peugeot 107 driven by a 19-year-old of Hamrun.The accident took place in Guze Pace Street at 7.30pm.The Syri...

Italy on Thursday agreed to allow the disembarking of 572 rescued migrants following a charity ship's desperate plea that food was running short and tensions rising on the crowded Ocean Viking.Hours earlier, Luisa Albera, search and rescue coordinato...

Pfizer is about to seek U.S. authorization for a third dose of its COVID-19 vaccine, saying Thursday that another shot within 12 months could dramatically boost immunity and maybe help ward off the latest worrisome coronavirus mutant.Research from mu...

Over the past few weeks, we have seen several incidents where fires were caused by fireworks, with the result that several green areas, some of them protected, were ravaged. Such incidents highlight three points: the first is that fireworks can be ve...

Member of the European Parliament Josianne Cutajar, in a plenary meeting in Strasbourg this week, spoke about the importance that Malta, as an island country that suffers from geographic seclusion from the rest of the European continent, continues to...

The majority of people who tested positive for Covid-19 on Thursday were not vaccinated, but none of the patients have required admission to hospital, sources have told The Malta Independent. This newsroom is informed that, out of the 55 new cases, 3...

Elon Musk probably tested everything imaginable when creating the Tesla, from the tires to the self-driving, but there is one thing that he did miss during the testing process. That is, whether or not you can play at an online casino while the Tesla ...

55 new cases of Covid-19 were reported on Thursday as case numbers continued to shoot upwards.Just six meanwhile have recovered, and with no new deaths recorded in the past 24 hours, it means that the number of active cases currently stands at 159.It...

Malta’s grey listing by the Financial Action Task Force and the efforts required to get out of this predicament require a national consensus and unity, Opposition Leader Bernard Grech said on Thursday.He was addressing an event themed ‘Ne...

Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar and Moviment Graffitti strongly condemn the Planning Authority permit granted to the running of a motorway through Marsalforn Valley. Martin Saliba PA CEO, took on the role of Infrastructure Malta promoter i...

Malta’s Coalition on Human Trafficking and Prostitution Reform called on Minister Owen Bonnici to change the police on prostitution adopted by his predecessor Rosianne Cutajar.Bonnici took over the responsibility for the nation’s ref...

A set of numbers written on a piece of a boat which was lying on the seabed proved to be the unlikely source of inspiration for a man seeking a lottery jackpot. In a statement, Maltco said that this source of inspiration resulted in a regular Ma...

The global death toll from COVID-19 eclipsed 4 million Wednesday as the crisis increasingly becomes a race between the vaccine and the highly contagious delta variant.The tally of lives lost over the past year and a half, as compiled from official so...

The law courts were evacuated on Thursday morning after police received an anonymous bomb threat.In a statement, the Court Services Agency said that the court administration received a phone call from the Valletta police station at around 9:45am stat...

Independent MP Godfrey Farrugia was left in a state of lamentation after an unwelcome visitor chose one of his bird cages as a venue for lunch.That unwelcome visitor was in fact a snake which had made its way into one of Farrugia’s bird cages a...

The barn owl project has entered its third and final phase, as the process for the first owlets to be released into the wild has commenced.This was announced by Minister for the Environment, Climate Change and Planning Aaron Farrugia during an activi...

England has broken through its semifinal ceiling at major soccer tournaments. A title match awaits for the first time in 55 years.Harry Kane converted the rebound after his initial penalty was saved in the 104th minute to give England a come-from-beh...