The Nationalist Party is seeking an urgent meeting of parliament’s petitions committee to discuss the cannabis law before a vote is taken on Tuesday.In a statement, the PN said that it had made a formal request on 7 December and had also made c...

As of Saturday, families and pensioners will start receiving the first payments related to Children’s Allowance, aid for Children with Disabilities, Supplementary aid and Financial aid for Individuals without a fixed address, Minister for Solid...

Rescue workers rushing to a highway accident found a horrific scene of death and injury after a freight truck jammed with as many as 200 migrants tipped over and crashed into the base of a steel pedestrian bridge in southern Mexico.The migrants insid...

Maltese European Commissioner Helena Dalli was in the international news for the wrong reasons these past few days.Her office came up with the idea of eliminating the use of the word “Christmas” in official greetings, going as far as to s...

The wearing of face masks will once again become mandatory in all public places as from this Saturday, Health Minister Chris Fearne announced.People walking in the street - both vaccinated and unvaccinated -  in their own will also be required t...

The Nationalist Party has called on the government to scrap its contract with Electrogas, saying that failing to do so would be putting Malta’s EU funding at risk.The PN said that it had strongly criticised the Labour government when it jeopard...

Yorgen Fenech’s lawyers have asked the Criminal Court to declare 'inadmissible as evidence' the information Fenech had disclosed to the police whilst in a “vulnerable state”, after being promised that it would only be used in o...

A 64-year-old man has become the 469th person to die while positive for Covid-19 in Malta, as the country reported 81 new cases of the virus on Thursday.107 people have recovered, meaning that the number of active cases has decreased to 1,336.27 pati...

Claims that the government would have to pay €100 million to Electrogas if it builds a gas pipeline are “factually incorrect”, Energy Minister Miriam Dalli said on Thursday. Dalli said the government would only be paying the energy c...

A planning application to redevelop the existing Naxxar trade fair grounds car park into two medium-raise mixed use buildings was approved by the PA board on Thursday.The proposed development will include two separate buildings, one of 9 floors and a...

The courts have cancelled planning permission for a waterpolo pitch and other ancillary facilities in Marsascala Bay, following an appeal by NGO Moviment Graffitti.The same NGO announced that the permit – which was granted by the Planning Autho...

Rent subsidy scheme aimed at providing for up to 50% of businesses warehouse and storage rent expenses has been expanded and amended to include multiple sectors. CEO of Malta Enterprise Kurt Farrugia announced that throughout 2021, 16 businesses...

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Health Chris Fearne launched Crisis Resolution Home Treatment, a new mental health service in attempt to improve mental health care in the country.“The stigma around mental health has over the years been e...

The World Health Organization says early evidence suggests the omicron variant may be spreading faster than the highly transmissible delta variant but brings with it less severe coronavirus disease -– though it’s too early to make firm co...

The last three months of 2021 (especially October) were encouraging for Air Malta, a spokesperson told The Malta Independent, but problems have since cropped up.“Ongoing lack of customer confidence in making bookings, social uneasiness, the con...

The Education Ministry has failed to make a distinction between the national education curriculum, the Malta Union of Teachers said in a statement on Thursday.In a statement reacting to an Education Ministry announcement on Tuesday – which said...

US President Joe Biden has nominated businesswoman and philanthropist Constance J. Milstein as Ambassador to Malta. The announcement was made on the official website of the White House. According to a biography uploaded on the website, Milstein is an...

Vaccine makers are racing to update their COVID-19 shots against the newest coronavirus threat even before it’s clear a change is needed, just in case.Experts doubt today’s shots will become useless but say it’s critical to see how ...

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced tighter restrictions Wednesday to stem the spread of the omicron variant, urging people in England to again work from home and mandating COVID-19 passes for entrance into nightclubs and large events.John...

A planning application seeking permission to redevelop the existing Naxxar trade fair grounds car park into two medium-raise mixed use buildings, with underlying four interconnected basement levels goes before the PA board, Thursday.The proposed deve...

Rachel Attard has resigned from The Malta Independent and has joined the Malta Chamber of Commerce as media and communication strategist.For the last eight years, Attard worked at TMI as news editor, editor-in-chief and lately as media consultant.The...

New Zealand's government believes it has come up with a unique plan to end tobacco smoking — a lifetime ban for those aged 14 or younger.Under a new law the government announced Thursday and plans to pass next year, the minimum age to buy cigar...

An elderly woman was seriously injured on Wednesday after falling in a street in Santa Venera, the police said.The accident took place in Ferrovija Street at 1pm.The woman, aged 93, from Santa Venera, was taken to Mater Dei Hospital with serious inju...

42% of businesses that responded to a survey by the Chamber of SMEs expect to see better sales during the festive season than 2020, while a further 11% of businesses feel that this festive season will be closer to 2019 levels.This shows that the majo...

The Commissioner for the Environment and Planning within the Office of the Ombudsman, Alan Saliba, has found that Infrastructure Malta did not follow procedure over road works in Dingli.The works in question had seen Moviment Graffitti organise prote...

The Courts of Malta issued new guidelines regarding the erasure of court judgements from the court's website.The removal or alteration of any judgements will take place if the director-general of the court believes there are valid grounds to do so. T...

Matthew Caruana Galiza has said that the issue concerning EU funding of a proposed gas pipeline connecting Malta and Sicily has brought about a "moral emergency" for the EU.Daphne Caruana Galizia's family has joined forces with two MEPs, Claudia Gamo...

87 new cases of Covid-19 were registered on Wednesday as 61 people recovered from the virus.This brings up the number of active cases in Malta to 1,363.Currently, 26 people are being treated at Mater Dei Hospital, four of whom are in the ITU.978,775 ...

Following the presentation to Parliament of a petition signed by 56 constituted bodies, organisations and individuals proposing a number of amendments to the cannabis reform Bill, the general public now has the opportunity to sign a petition directly...

On 25 November 2021, the Court of Justice of the European Union (the “CJEU”) delivered a preliminary ruling in StWL Städtische Werke Lauf a.d. Pegnitz GmbH (“StWL”) v. eprimo GmbH (“eprimo”) (C-102/20) on cert...

Through the GiFluid project, the Rabat local council will benefit from a €1 million investment to implement community projects to increase the efficient use of water, a government statement read.This project is being financed by the programme In...

A 66-year-old woman was seriously injured after falling from a height of one storey, the police said.The accident occurred at 11.15am in a residence on Triq ir-Ramla, Nadur. The woman fell down a shaft.She was taken to the Gozo General Hospital. Inve...

24 local councils ended the year 2020 with a deficit, while the capital cities of both Malta and Gozo were found to be in a most alarming financial state, the National Audit Office said in a report on Tuesday.22 out of the 24 local councils which inc...

Notice the way politicians answer questions put to them.They hardly ever give a straight answer, preferring to go round in circles, often arriving nowhere. By the time they finish answering, they would not even remember the question that they had bee...

53% of businesses expect to see better sales during the festive season when compared to the same period in 2020, a survey by the Malta Chamber of SMEs shows.The majority, at 42%, expect to see better sales than 2020. 11% of businesses feel that this ...

Pope Francis blasted EU Commissioner Helena Dalli’s controversial Christmas language guide as an “anachronism”, not much unlike that which was tried by dictatorships such as that of Nazi Germany.The European Commission last week ret...

International media and press freedom organisations have written to Prime Minister Robert Abela and Minister for Justice, Equality and Governance Edward Zammit Lewis to express concern about Legal Notice L.N. 456 of 2021 and the online publication of...

86 new cases of Covid-19 were reported by health authorities on Tuesday.62 people meanwhile have recovered, and with no new deaths reported for another day the number of active cases of the virus currently stands at 1,337.22 patients are currently re...

Three red cards, on-field brawls, countless chances and a flurry of late goals. A wild, win-or-bust match in the Champions League between Porto and Atletico Madrid had it all on Tuesday.In the end, it was Atletico celebrating a place in the last 16 o...

A court has been told how a man accused of a shooting in Iklin had admitted to the crime immediately and that the Police had also arrested the victim, whilst he was still in hospital, after receiving information that he had been trying to s...

Malta's decision to administer the Covid-19 booster shots early was a wise decision to combat the virus, Deputy Prime Minister Chris Fearne said.He spoke during a meeting of the EU Council of Health Ministers. He stressed the need for EU citizens to ...

The government has announced the final Single-Use Plastic Strategy and Long-Term Waste Management Plan.Environment Minister Aaron Farrugia said that Malta has reached a better position in the waste management scale amongst European member states, add...

‘Extravagance’ in the use of public funds by the Malta Film Commission (MFC), coupled with poor budgetary controls led to a negative working capital of over €1 million in 2020, the National Audit Office has said.This emerged in the A...

The Nationalist Party has asked Parliament to convene the Petitions Committee to discuss a petition regarding the cannabis reforms that was received on Tuesday.A vote was taken on the third reading of the bill today, but a division was called, meanin...

A Christmas attraction outside City Gate in Valletta has been temporarily closed because of damage caused to some structures by the wind, the organisers said.The attraction was due to be officially opened by Tourism Minister Clayton Bartolo this even...

The Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries, Food and Animal Rights announced Adopt a Pet Day on the 16th of January 2022, a day where the public and several animal rights NGOs are invited for a day of appreciation for animals, as well as get the opportu...

As the omicron coronavirus variant spreads in southern Africa and pops up in countries all around the world, scientists are anxiously watching a battle play out that could determine the future of the pandemic. Can the latest competitor to the world-d...

The Government of Malta has donated 131,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses to the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Health Ministry and Foreign Affairs ministry said in a joint statement.This sharing of vaccines was undertaken with the assistan...

The U.S. will stage a diplomatic boycott of the upcoming Winter Olympics in Beijing t o protest Chinese human rights abuses, the White House confirmed Monday, a move that China has vowed to greet with “firm countermeasures.”Whit...

San Gwann residents are complaining about loud Christmas carols being played from loudspeakers in the streets of the locality, which they say is causing an inconvenience.Residents writing in the San Gwann Residents group on Facebook have said that th...

Transport Malta has suspended all driving tests pending further notice.The agency said on its Facebook page that as a precautionary measure and to align with the guidelines issued by the Maltese Health Authorities, the DPTTU (Driver Permits, Testing ...

Malta’s position on the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) grey list is an issue that, as more time passes, will see more negative effects on the country.FIAU deputy director Alfred Zammit told The Malta Independent on Sunday during an ...

The Chamber of Pharmacists has joined a chorus of voices calling on President George Vella not to sign the cannabis reform Bill. The Bill has reached it third and final reading stage. Several NGOs, the Church and the Opposition have complained that t...

A 71-year-old man from Valletta who was charged late last month with sending threatening letters to public figures was released on bail on Monday after a court heard more victims testify in the criminal proceedings against him.Joseph Mary Borg had be...

Minister for Equality, Research and Innovation Owen Bonnici said today that there will be adequate fines for those who expose cannabis to minors, both publicly and in private residencies.Speaking to the Malta Independent, Bonnici said that there are ...

81 new cases of Covid-19 were reported by health authorities on Monday, as the number of hospitalisations increased.61 people meanwhile have recovered, and with no new death reported it means that the number of active cases has risen to 1,313.22 pati...

Alessandro Farrugia has resigned as Communications Director of the Nationalist Party.In a statement, the PN said Farrugia has resigned due to “personal reasons.”Simon Vella Gregory has been appointed Acting Communications Director of Info...

WasteServ has appealed to people to separate their waste in a more effective manner, although they noted that while landfilling remains high, 2021 was a productive year for recyclables.Although the landfilling figures are an improvement over prior on...

Money laundering proceedings filed against Yorgen Fenech continued briefly on Monday, with the court reprimanding the prosecution for failing to summon sufficient witnesses to fill the hour-long sitting.Fenech stands accused of committing acts o...

The Auditor General, Charles Deguara, presented the Annual Audit Report on the Public Accounts for 2020 to Speaker of the House of Representatives Anglu Farrugia yesterday.It comprises 42 write-ups on the operations of several Government Ministries, ...

The Nationalist Party is presenting a motion in Parliament with the aim of annulling Legal Notice 456 regarding the Regulation on the Online Publication of Court Judgements.The Legal Notice gives complete discretion to the director-general of the cou...

Malta International Airport on Saturday welcomed the first two flights from Zagreb and Parma, which will be operated on Tuesdays and Saturdays throughout winter by Lauda Europe and Malta Air respectively, both of which are part of Ryanair Holdings.&n...

A corporate service provider has been handed a fine by the Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit (FIAU) over their failure to submit a suspicious transaction report and/or a suspicious activity report to the authority in relation to three of their cli...

An 84-year-old man is in danger of dying after he lost control of his car and crashed in a traffic accident in Gozo on Monday morning.Police said that they were informed of the incident at around 10:15am, in Triq Tas-Srug in Xaghra, Gozo.Preliminary ...

A €200,000 investment by the Malta Council for Science and Technology (MCST) was crucial for the creation of a collaborative project between scientists from the Department of Physics (including members of the Electromagnetics group) and the Inst...

The Labour Party has collected €577,221 in its last fund-raising activity of the year, held on Sunday.In a statement, the PL said party leader and Prime Minister Robert Abela thanks all those who contributed.

Italy is making life more uncomfortable for unvaccinated people as the holidays draw near, excluding them from indoor restaurants, theaters and museums to reduce the spread of coronavirus and encourage vaccine skeptics to get their shots.Starting Mon...

The Nationalist party today issued several proposals to help the voluntary sector.PN MPs Kevin Cutajar, Claudette Buttigieg and Ivan Bartolo presented an extensive list of the party's proposals for the sector. They said that the PN will exempt VAT wh...

Politicians, businessmen and other top officials managed to avoid paying traffic fines for the last five years after a LESA employee continuously deleted them from the authority’s database.According to a report in the Times of Malta, the offici...

Gwida, the oldest magazine in Malta, will stop being published in the current format as from 2022, its outgoing editor said in the last edition.The magazine, which largely covers entertainment and television, was first published in 1962. For many yea...

The students at Marsaskala’s St. Anne primary school are the latest from the local community to voice their concerns against the government’s proposed yacht marina at the locality’s bay.The Marsaskala St. Anne Primary School took to...

After a prolonged campaign of public opposition, Captain Morgan on Saturday finally listened and dropped its plans to build a ferry jetty at Balluta Bay in St. Julian’s.The company said that they had taken the decision because “the sentim...

Motorists have been advised by police to avoid Regional Road in the direction of St. Julian’s due to an oil spill.Police said on Facebook that motorists should seek alternative routes.Heavy traffic stretching back to the Kappara flyover has bee...

A cyclist from Gambia was grievously injured after he was hit by a car on the Marsa-Hamrun by-pass on Sunday evening, the police said.The cyclist, a man from Gambia, aged 32 and resident in Swieqi, was hit by a Mazda Demio driven by a 21-year-old man...

Malta will “undoubtedly” meet all the requirements of the action plan and get off the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) grey list, FIAU deputy director Alfred Zammit told The Malta Independent on Sunday.Interviewed by The Malta I...

69 new cases of Covid-19 were reported by health authorities on Sunday, as the number of people who have recovered from the virus has now started to increase.In fact, 123 people have recovered from the virus, taking the number of active cases down to...

The Commissioner for Children has expressed her concern about the new recreational cannabis law, saying that the fact cannabis plants can be grown at home will give children easier access access to drugs and they could be exposed to passive smoking.I...

Roberta Metsola’s nomination for the presidency of the European Parliament is a breath of fresh air for Malta on the international stage.In the past years, Malta’s name has not been associated with good things. The John Dalli saga, the re...

A Norwegian Cruise Line ship with at least 10 passengers and crew members infected with COVID-19 docked Sunday in New Orleans, where health officials said they were trying to disembark people without worsening the spread of the coronavirus ...

Any disruptions arising from the introduction of any fragmented and disproportionate measures in response to the emergence of the new Omicron variant would have an immediate effect on Malta International Airport’s (MIA) traffic performance duri...

 Opposition leader Bernard Grech’s trust rating has dropped to 26.5% since taking over for the PN, whilst Prime Minister Robert Abela’s trust rating rose to 51.1%, according to a MaltaToday survery.The trust gap is at its widest sinc...

Actress Nakita Grima always knew what she wanted – she enjoyed drama at school and grew up to become a well-known face in drama circles, especially TV series. She has special memories of her childhood with her family and would want to spend mor...

Pope Francis returned Sunday to the Greek island of Lesbos to offer comfort to migrants at a refugee camp and blast what he said was Europe's indifference and self-interest “that condemns to death those on the fringes.”“Please, let ...

Juventus put aside its off-the-field problems as the Bianconeri beat relegation-threatened Genoa 2-0 in Serie A on Sunday but coach Massimiliano Allegri had a touchline spat with one of his own players.Juan Cuadrado and Paulo Dybala scored at either ...

A man was caught on security camera footage stealing a box of coins from a Paola petrol station. The man is seen stopping his car next to a station to inflate a tyre. The footage shows the man opening the doors of the car to hide himself while he for...

Hibernians maintained their unbeaten record at the end of the first round after a scoreless draw against Floriana. It was a lucky escape for the leageue leaders who were dominated for long stretches by a better Floriana side.The Greens can consider t...

 San Giljan ASC have announced that their international player Dino Zammit has joined Sliema.In a post on Facebook, San Giljan ASC confirmed that they accepted an offer from Sliema ASC for the transfer of player Dino Zammit.Dino joined the ...

A 90-minute performance of off-the-ball intensity by Cristiano Ronaldo. A rare clean sheet. And something even more unlikely — a goal by Fred, off his weaker right foot.Ralf Rangnick is already working his magic at Manchester United.The 63-year...

The increasingly tense Formula One title fight between defending champion Lewis Hamilton and his formidable challenger, Max Verstappen, will head to the last race of the season with the fierce rivals level on points.Next weekend's Abu Dhabi showdown ...

The Labour government prides itself in being one “that listens” (gvern li jisma), but when it came to the introduction of new laws on cannabis use, it only listened to its own ambition to consolidate its youth voter base.The Cannabis refo...

A motorcyclist was seriously injured in a traffic accident early this morning. Police said that the Italian motorist, 28, lost control of his vehicle, a Honda CB600F, and fell at Triq Valletta, Mosta. A passenger on the same motorcycle, a 30-year-old...

Britain's government tightened travel restrictions Saturday amid concerns about the spread of the omicron coronavirus variant, saying all travelers arriving in England will need to take a COVID-19 test before they board their flight.Health Secretary ...

A man who was arrested after a six-hour manhunt in Mellieha on Thursday was charged with attempted murder on Saturday afternoon.The man, Aidan Bartolo, 24, of Ghaxaq, was also charged with the attempt to cause serious injury, causing injury to police...

The number of new Covid-19 cases recorded on Saturday was lower than the one registered in the past days, but the number of patients with Covid-19 in hospital continues to rise, figures released by the health authorities show.Fifty-nine new cases wer...

Valletta: Collis Williams Pharmacy, 15, Republic Street; Ħamrun: Brown's Pharmacy, 706, St Joseph High Road; Qormi: Pinto Pharmacy, 43, St Sebastian Street; Birkirkara: Rational Pharmacy, 74/75, Valley Road; Ġżira: Tony's Pharmacy, 100...

The Office of the Commissioner for Voluntary Organisations (OCVO) has launched a consultation process, VO Plus, with the aim of reforming the sector and ensuring it meets the present and future needs of voluntarism in Malta. The launch, which was hel...

Opposition Leader Bernard Grech said Saturday that he does not exclude that the Opposition would boycott Parliament in protest at the way in which the Speaker acts as a gatekeeper for the government. He was being interviewed by Andrew Azzopardi on 10...

Malta is carrying a disproportionate burden, being on the forefront of managing irregular migration along the Central Mediterranean, Minister for Foreign and European Affairs Evarist Bartolo said.He was addressing the 2021 Mediter...

Valletta: New British Dispensary, 109/110, St John Street; Ħamrun: Chemimart International Pharmacy, 650, St Joseph High Road; Qormi: Tal-Ħlas Pharmacy, Ħelsien Street; Birkirkara (Ta' Paris): Mackie's Pharmacy, L. Casolani Street; Pie...