As Malta approaches a point where 75% of the adult population will have received the Covid-19 booster, the health authorities are drawing up an exit roadmap to continue removing restrictions and to return towards normality, Deputy Prime Minister Chri...

The Naxxar Local Council never took an official position on a proposed development at the former trade fair grounds, despite saying that the embattled mayor’s position on the matter reflected its own position. Council meeting minutes show, in f...

Excuse the crude headline, but one has to say it as it is.Or as it will be, given that the negative impact of the law that Malta’s Parliament passed just before it rose for the Christmas recess will be known not today, but in the years to come....

The current increase in deaths of people who are positive for Covid-19 reflects the spike experienced in December and the death-to-positive case ratio remains unchanged, health sources have told The Malta Independent on Sunday. Over the past few days...

Public transport passenger numbers are still nowhere near pre-pandemic levels but a positive trend has been noted, information passed on by the Malta Public Transport shows.“Passenger numbers in 2021 amounted to 35.2 million, which is an increa...

Prime Minister Robert Abela has made significant efforts to distance himself, the government and the Labour Party from its recent dirty past and from the Muscat era. But this is proving to be a very tall order, and his predecessor, as well as the sca...

The director general of the Civil Protection Department, Emanuel Psaila, is often seen in the thick of things when some accident takes place or a rescue operation is needed.But what is his favourite food? And does he like sport?He remembers his child...

Fr Hilary Tagliaferro was born in Tarxien on 28 October 1934. He is the son of William and Censina.Fr Hilary remembers his early days, a child who passed through the difficult times of World War II. “For us war was time spent in the shelter and...

Former premier Silvio Berlusconi on Saturday bowed out of Italy's presidential election set for next week, claiming he had the votes to win but the country could ill-afford political divisions during the pandemic.Berlusconi also announced that he is ...

A man was grievously injured after he was attacked by another man in Marsalforn on Saturday night, the police said.The accident happened in the area known as Qbajjar at 10.30pm.The man, a Sudanese aged 26, and resident in Zebbug, Gozo, went to the po...

Thousands of people gathered in European capitals Saturday to protest vaccine passports and other requirements governments have imposed in hopes of ending the coronavirus pandemic.Demonstrations took place in Athens, Helsinki, London, Paris and Stock...

The British government on Saturday accused Russia of seeking to replace Ukraine’s government with a pro-Moscow administration, and said former Ukrainian lawmaker Yevheniy Murayev is being considered as a potential candidate.Murayev is head of t...

Four more patients with Covid-19 have died while the number of active cases dropped to below 7,000 for the first time since 27 December, figures released on Saturday show.The four latest victims are a woman aged 89, and three men aged 79, 81 and 86. ...

A court has turned down a request for bail by a man awaiting trial over the 2020 Sliema double murder.Victor Dragomanski, 38, is one three men accused of the murder of Christian Pandolfino and Ivor Maciejowski, who were shot dead inside their Sliema ...

Valletta: Regent Pharmacy, 70, Merchants Street; Ħamrun: Thomas' Pharmacy, 796, St Joseph High Road; Qormi: Evans Pharmacy, 96/98, St Sebastian Street; Birkirkara: Herba Pharmacy, 183, Main Street; Gżira: O'Hea Pharmacy, 128, Manoel de Vilh...

The Nationalist Party has taken credit for the announcement made by Health Minister Chris Fearne today that Covid-19 restrictions are to be eased in the coming days.This confirms the position taken by the PN, which said that the measures introduced o...

The Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association (MHRA) today welcomed the announcement made earlier today by Health Minister Chris Fearne that an "exit roadmap" to unwind existing COVID-19 health restrictions will be unveiled this coming week. MHRA said...

A man was grievously injured after falling off a ladder, the police said.The accident took place in Merzuq Street, Zebbuga, Gozo, at 1pm.The man, 48 of Xaghra, was taken to Gozo Hospital for treatment.

A man was slightly injured during a hold-up that took place in Paola on Friday evening. The robbery took place in Triq Ghajn Dwieli, at around 9:15pm, the police said. Two masked men brandishing firearms entered a shop and demanded money from the cas...

A number of organisations working in the field of human and women’s rights gathered in front of the police headquarters to express their anger and frustration at how the most recent femicide was claimed “to not be gender-related”, s...

Two late penalties, the second one in stoppage time gave champions Hamrun Spartans a dramatic equaliser against Balzan in a highly interesting and entertaining draw. Balzan took a two-goal lead by the end of the first half with a Bojan Kaljevic brace...

Man City dropping points. Newcastle winning a game. A drone stopping play.There were plenty of unusual occurrences in the Premier League on Saturday, even if a late, late winner by Manchester United at Old Trafford felt ever so familiar.Few could hav...

Edin D?eko netted a last-gasp winner to help Inter Milan beat virus-hit Venezia 2-1 and move five points clear at the top of Serie A on Saturday.It was D?eko’s first goal since the beginning of December. Nicolò Barella had canceled out T...

A woman’s €3,000 fine for breaching quarantine has been revoked by a court, which pointed out that the Local Enforcement System Agency (LESA) had no legal power to enforce Covid regulations.Pavla Stejskalova had been accused of having brea...

The UHM-Voice of the Workers said that PBS workers who did not take the booster jab are not being allowed to enter the premises unless they take a PCR test, paid out of their own pockets, once a week.The “vaccination policy”, which starte...

ROME (AP) — Some 1,900 Italian doctors and dentists have been suspended from the country's professional association because they haven’t complied with a law requiring them to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19, including having a booste...

It appears that there is little that can possibly deter the government from pushing through with its plans to build a giant yacht marina in Marsascala Bay.It appeared that, at least in the past week, the news about the plans for a massive yacht marin...

Revelations that Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his staff partied while Britain was in a coronavirus lockdown have provoked public outrage and led some members of his Conservative Party to consider ousting their leader.If they manage to push J...

Former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat would not say if claims made by journalist Matthew Caruana Galizia about his contract with Accutor was worth €540,000.Caruana Galizia claimed on Friday that Muscat’s contract with the Swiss company ...

In Costa Rica, officials are encouraging those infected with the coronavirus to skip voting in upcoming national elections. On the other side of the world, Beijing is locking down residential communities as the country anxiously awaits the start of t...

ADPD - The Green Party Chairperson Carmel Cacopardo and Deputy Secretary General Sandra Gauci said today that the party stands in solidarity with victims of violence, rape, harassment and femicide, and their families. They expressed support with the ...

306 new cases of Covid-19 were reported by health authorities on Friday, while a woman has also passed away while positive for the virus, health authorities said in their daily update.Authorities said that a 74-year-old woman had died while Covid-19 ...

Abner Aquilina, the accused in the Paulina Dembska murder, told police his mind was "a cooker", and that he received "frequencies" when interrogated on the attack.He made many references to conspiracy theories and Satanists, the court was told.Magist...

A Birkirkara tow-truck driver has been accused of using her personal tow truck to steal cars and sell them as scrap.Carmelo Butler, 58 from Birkirkara, was arraigned in court following a joint investigation between the Rabat, Mosta and Qawra police.H...

The Justice and Peace Commission of the Archdiocese of Malta, launched a discussion document to encourage Maltese citizens to reflect on how, as a country, we can work to build peace, promote the common good in society and improve the well-being of p...

Former Labour Party deputy leader and seasoned lawyer Joe Brincat has come up in defence of Joseph Muscat, saying that the rights of the former Prime Minister were breached when the police raided his home so early on Wednesday.Police officers went to...

Following consultation with experts in the field, as well as the industry and academia, the Ministry for Equality, Research and Innovation has launched the first National Space Strategy for Malta.Minister for Equality, Research and Innovation Owen Bo...

When the coronavirus pandemic was first declared, Spaniards were ordered to stay home for more than three months. For weeks, they were not allowed outside even for exercise. Children were banned from playgrounds, and the economy virtually stopped.But...

Italy is poised to elect a new president, meant to serve as the nation’s moral compass and foster unity by rising above the political fray.Silvio Berlusconi thinks he fits the bill.The billionaire media mogul and three times premier, who entere...

Meat Loaf, the heavyweight rock superstar loved by millions for his “Bat Out of Hell” album and for such theatrical, dark-hearted anthems as “Paradise by the Dashboard Light,” “Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad,” an...

Some European countries such as Spain are making tentative plans for when they might start treating COVID-19 as an "endemic" disease, but the World Health Organization and other officials have warned that the world is nowhere close to declaring the p...

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — Romania on Friday hit a new pandemic record of 19,649 COVID-19 infections amid a rapid rise of cases, but hospitalizations and deaths remain significantly lower compared to the previous wave, official data shows.Just a...

The authoritative European newspaper Politico placed the Maltese Member of the European Parliament Alex Agius Saliba in the People To Watch section in the digital sector for 2022. In Politico’s opinion, Alex Agius Saliba forms part of a small g...

The Australian Tennis Open is being held in the absence of the number one athlete in the sport, Novak Djokovic, who was refused entry into the country after he did not satisfy Covid-19 vaccination requirements.The Serbian star flew to Melbourne sayin...

Six Covid-19 patients have died as the number of active cases continues to drop, figures released by the health authorities show.It is the highest number of deaths in a single day. Malta registered five deaths in a single day on several occasions, bu...

A long-awaited report on sexual abuse in Germany's Munich diocese on Thursday faulted retired Pope Benedict XVI's handling of four cases when he was archbishop in the 1970s and 1980s. The law firm that drew up the report said Benedict strongly denies...

It is up to the police to investigate claims by Joseph Muscat that he was tipped off about a raid at his Burmarrad home, Opposition Leader Bernard Grech said on Thursday.The former PM’s home was searched as part of the magisterial inquiry into ...

Prime Minister Robert Abela has refused to say whether he knew from beforehand about the police raid on Joseph Muscat’s home. The former PM’s Burmarrad home was raided by police on Wednesday morning, in connection with a magisterial inqui...

The COVID measures that came into force on 17 January 2022 are yet again another blow to the catering industry, the Association of Catering Establishment said. Once again the Ministry for Health has shown that it is detached from reality and yet agai...

Former PL Secretary General and current Executive Chairman of the Valletta Cultural Agency and ONE Productions Ltd Jason Micallef has called for Labour supporters to protest in the streets against the injustice done to former Prime Minister Joseph Mu...

The European Commission is being asked to investigate Malta’s “breach” of Covid travel rules by a council that represents European airports. PoliticoPro said it has seen a letter sent to the commission by Airports Council Internatio...

"Let us work together not to lose Air Malta," Opposition Leader Bernard Grech told unions and representatives of Air Malta workers during a meeting on Thursday."The PN has the political commitment not to lose the national airline as if that happens, ...

Works on the indoor pool of 'international standards' in Cospicua have entered into the final phase, a government statement read.Excavation has concluded and now the pool and spectator stands are being built. The project cost €14 million.All the...

Naxxar mayor Anne Marie Muscat Fenech Adami expressed the council’s opinion with her vote on a proposed development in the locality, the council said on Thursday. Muscat Fenech Adami was asked to resign from the Nationalist Party and is being i...

The Commissioner for Standards in Public Life has concluded that transport minister Ian Borg did not commit a breach of ethics when he commissioned an advertisement to wish the public a happy Easter.The advert in question appeared in GWUU newspaper I...

When, in the summer of 2020, a group of Nationalist MPs and other officials were doing all they could to get rid of Adrian Delia as their leader, David Thake was one of four MPs who were named by Delia as being a dissident in which he (Delia) would n...

A petition was launched appealing to the government and the health authorities to change the stagnant Covid-19 regulations currently in place for weddings.At present, weddings can only occur if guests are seated.Petitioner Danielle Scerri said that i...

While Gozo Channel passenger numbers have increased, they have not reached pre-pandemic levels, company chairman Joe Cordina told The Malta Business Weekly.The National Statistics Office said this week that nearly 4.5 million passengers travelled bet...

A worker was injured on Wednesday afternoon after machinery he was using overturned, the police said.The accident took place in Bir Miftuh Street, Gudja, at 5.45pm.The worker, a 43-year-old man from Ivory Coast who is resident in Qormi, was taken to ...

Malta International CEO Alan Borg has backed the measures announced with regards to staff reduction within Air Malta, which are the last hope to ensure that the airline survives.Finance Minister Clyde Caruana announced last week that the national air...

A top leader of the Knights of Malta, an ancient aristocratic Catholic order that provides humanitarian aid around the world, warned the group’s members on Wednesday that the Holy See’s latest proposals to reform the order threaten its in...

A new study in two states that compares coronavirus protection from prior infection and vaccination concludes getting the shots is still the safest way to prevent COVID-19.The study examined infections in New York and California last summer and fall ...

LONDON (AP) — Face masks will no longer be mandatory in public places and COVID-19 passports will be dropped for large events as infections level off in most parts of the country, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Wednesday.Johnson told...

The Burmarrad home of former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat was searched by the police on Wednesday as part of investigations into the deal transferring three public hospitals to the private sector, Muscat said.The search started at 7am when officers t...

Konrad Mizzi said that there was never any wrongdoing on his part, while addressing a Public Accounts Committee meeting about the Electrogas deal.The PAC is discussing a report penned by the National Audit Office over the highly controversial contrac...

Prime Minister Robert Abela has rubbished claims that he used the police to humiliate his predecessor, Joseph Muscat.He said the comments, made by the Opposition Leader, show “what a cheap politician” Bernard Grech is.The PM was speaking ...

Minister for Transport Ian Borg has said that he is looking forward to discussing the Marsascala marina project plans with the local community. Borg was asked by The Malta Independent whether there had been any updates to the process which would...

A study recently published in the Marine Pollution journal (https://authors.elsevier.com/sd/article/S0025-326X(21)01333-3 ) has underscored a previously-overlooked aspect of seagrass meadows – i.e. the role they play in the trapping and distrib...

Five people have died while positive for Covid-19, health authorities said as they reported 342 new cases of the virus on Wednesday. Authorities said that four women – aged 70,77, 82, and 92 – and a 77-year-old man had died while positive...

The Industrial Tribunal has ordered a company to pay €14,000 to a worker who was sacked from his job while he was going through a severe depression.The tribunal heard how the worker’s depression subsequently got worse after his sacking, to...

The PN has again filed in Parliament its 12 Bills aimed at fighting corruption, this time split into two groups, one of which includes 11 Bills that do not have any reference to money Bills.Earlier this week, the government refused to put the Bills o...

Parliament has approved amendments to the General Elections Act, which will allow voters who are in mandatory quarantine to vote in the general election.The amendments do not specifically mention how these individuals will be voting, although the pos...

The Nationalist Party on Wednesday approved the co-option of Graziella Galea, to fill the seat vacated by David Thake.Her nomination was approved unanimously by the Executive Committee, the PN said.David Thake resigned last week in the wake of a VAT ...

European Parliament president Roberta Metsola said Wednesday she will sign the Simone Veil pact, which guarantees women’s access to contraception and abortion.The announcement came shortly after a meeting Metsola held with French president Eman...

Gudja United registered a very important win in a direct relegation clash after convincingly beating Santa Lucia.Recent results were not encouraging especially for Santa Lucia whose last win dates back to November when they beat Birkirkara. On the ot...

Yorgen Fenech’s legal team have openly accused the judge slated to preside his trial of breaching Fenech’s fundamental rights during the third sitting intended to hear the defence’s preliminary pleas, which was once again derailed, ...

The question of what happens if you’ve tested positive for Covid-19 and therefore have been unable to get the third jab of the vaccine is one which is on the lips of many: particularly those who tested positive via a rapid test, rather than a P...

NGO Repubblika has called on the police to charge a number of former Pilatus Bank officials with money laundering, saying that there is enough evidence for such a case to stand up in court.Repubblika President Robert Aquilina said that Police Commiss...

Infrastructure Malta rebuilt a total of residential 220 roads in 2021, for an average of four roads per week, Transport Minister Ian Borg said on Wednesday.Now entering its fourth year, the seven-year national programme to improve the quality of resi...

A tree fell on a car as it was being driven in the direction of Paola this morning, the police said.The circumstances of the accident are still being established by the police, with eyewitnesses saying that a heavy vehicle which was being driven in t...

Standards Commissioner George Hyzler has ruled that the judicial letter sent by a lawyer on behalf of Speaker Anglu Farrugia to Matthew Caruana Galizia might be antagonistic in tone, but does not include any threats or undue pressure.When Matthew Car...

The worst of the coronavirus pandemic — deaths, hospitalizations and lockdowns — could be over this year if huge inequities in vaccinations and medicines are addressed quickly, the head of emergencies at the World Health Organiz...

The Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses today called out Health Minister Chris Fearne and Permanent Secretary within the Ministry Joseph Rapa over its silence regarding allowances not paid to certain Mater Dei specialised medical equipment technicians...

December brought a year of meteorological records to a close on a sunny but cooler-than-average note: the sunshine quota for the month was exceeded by 18.2 hours while the mean air temperature was 0.6˚C lower than the climate norm of 14.3 &...

Nationalist MEP Roberta Metsola was yesterday elected as President of the European Parliament, only the third woman to make it to this prestigious position. The other two were both French.The election culminates her steady rise in the corridors of th...

BRUSSELS (AP) — European Council President Charles Michel on Wednesday became the second top-level European Union official who has had to pull out of the bloc’s parliament session because of contact with someone who tested positive for th...

The Nomad Residence Permit scheme has proved to be extremely successful in attracting quality foreign residents who work remotely from Malta, said CEO of the Residency Malta Agency Charles Mizzi in a press conference on Wednesday.In the first six mon...

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson defied calls to resign in a feisty performance Wednesday in Parliament — but it may be too little to prevent his Conservative Party's lawmakers from trying to oust him over a string of lockdown-flouting gove...

The Labour Party has accused PN Leader Bernard Grech of failing to put the national interest first when he admitted to not making arguments that Malta should benefit from funds for hydrogen-ready pipeline projects.In a statement, the PL was referring...

TV presenter Karl Stagno Navarra has said that he is going to file a libel case against media house Lovin Malta over what he called a piece of “malicious and irresponsible” reporting on his position in Air Malta.Lovin Malta on Wednesday r...

Discussions are still ongoing regarding the European Commission’s concerns over Malta’s controversial “golden passports” scheme which allows for wealthy individuals to be able to buy Maltese citizenship. Parliamentary Secretar...

Airlines across the world, including the long-haul carrier Emirates, rushed Wednesday to cancel or change flights heading into the U.S. over an ongoing dispute about the rollout of 5G mobile phone technology near American airports.The issue appeared ...

Delays in the Gozo Channel ferry service may result due to maintenance work on the M.V Malita and works being carried out at the Mgarr Quay 2, the company announced through their official Facebook page.Last weekend, many reported waiting in line for ...

PN MEP Roberta Metsola has become the first Maltese person to hold the post of European Parliament President after achieving an overwhelming majority in an election held between MEPs in Strasbourg on Monday.She achieved a total of 458 votes from 616 ...

Roberta Metsola gave her maiden speech as European Parliament President soon after taking the coveted seat on Tuesday morning, giving due focus to things such as climate change, truth and justice, and to what needs to be done to make Europe a better ...

Roberta Metsola wants to be a reformative president, she told The Malta Independent in a brief interview following her election to the post of President of the European Parliament.Metsola became the first Maltese to be elected to such a post on Tuesd...

Speaker Anglu Farrugia has been asked to deliver a ruling over a motion to suspend the discussion on Justyne Caruana's ethic's breach within the Standards Committee.Commissioner for Standards in Public Life George Hyzler had found that the awarding o...

Newly-elected European Parliament President MEP Roberta Metsola said that she and Prime Minister Robert Abela had agreed to work together on issues that concern both Malta and Europe.Addressing her first press conference shortly after becoming the th...

Speaker Anglu Farrugia has said that Parliament will need the President's address to discuss the PN's 12-bill anti-corruption document."Unless there is a recommendation by the President, the House will not discuss a Bill, or any legislative amendment...

Three more patients have died while positive for Covid-19, health authorities said on Tuesday, while another 379 new cases of the virus have been reported.Authorities said that three men aged 60,64, and 89 had passed away while positive for the virus...