A biker who suffered serious injuries in a crash on the Coast Road last Sunday urged fellow motorcyclists to wear protective gear at all times.It’s a miracle, Christopher Briffa wrote on his Facebook page.The man was riding a bike along the Coa...

An Amnesty International delegation is in Malta this week, calling for charges to be dropped against three rescued migrants accused of commandeering a merchant ship in 2019 and forcing it to go to Europe rather than back to Libya.The Amnest...

Anyone walking in Republic Street in Valletta this morning was greeted with an unfamiliar site - the Maltese flag raised upside down at the Law Courts building.For some, it was something to smile about.Then again, raising the national flag upside dow...

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Denmark on Tuesday became one of the first European Union countries to scrap most pandemic restrictions as the Scandinavian country no longer considers the COVID-19 outbreak “a socially critical diseas...

Antoinette Vassallo has been appointed as the new Commissioner for Children, replacing Pauline Miceli.Vassallo graduated as a nurse in 1978 and worked in the profession until 1985. She served as a mayor of Ta’ Xbiex for 14 years until 2013.She ...

The European economy slowed noticeably at the end of last year as surging COVID-19 cases driven by the omicron variant piled on top of supply shortages and rising energy prices that dented consumer purchasing power. The result: An economic ...

The owners of three properties adjacent to a construction site, alleged to have caused the 2020 building collapse which claimed the life of Miriam Pace, have started court proceedings of their own against the developers and contractors involved in th...

A cocaine trafficker has been jailed for 13 years and fined €30,000 after being convicted by a jury, over 12 years after his initial arrest.In a decision handed down last Thursday by Mr Justice Aaron Bugeja, Nigerian Kofi Otule Friday was found ...

Prime Minister Robert Abela’s involvement in a contract with the Planning Authority which enabled his law firm to receive €7,300 per month in 2013, had doubled to €17,110 in 2019, over a period of six years, the PN said.“This ef...

Three more elderly people have died while positive for Covid-19, as the death toll as a result of the pandemic continues to rise.Health authorities said in their daily update that two men, 86 years old and 93 years old respectively, and an 88-year-ol...

Air Malta has extended the deadline given to employees to register their interest in being provided alternative government employment.According to reports, the airline extended the deadline because “too few” workers had applied but govern...

The Malta Chamber of SMEs proposed a VAT reduction to 15.5% from the current 18% to help small businesses recover from the impact of the pandemic, which resulted to increase in costs, lower sales, and less spending power.The reduction of VAT was prop...

 British Prime Minister Boris Johnson apologized Monday for lockdown-flouting parties in Downing Street — but insisted that he and his government can be trusted.Johnson told lawmakers in the House of Commons that he would make changes to t...

The Nationalist Party has filed a motion to repeal a Legal Notice published later last year on the removal of court judgements from the online court database.The motion was put forward by MPs Karol Aquilina and Therese Comodini Cachia.Since 2014, aro...

There are over 5,000 pending enforcement notices at the Planning Authority, The Malta Independent can reveal.The statistics were provided by the Planning Authority in response to a question sent by this newsroom, asking for the number of enforcement ...

The Malta Police Union has criticised a decision to force police officers to vote in the upcoming general election a week before anyone else, saying that they had not been consulted on the matter.Amendments to the General Elections Act enacted on 25 ...

Principal Permanent Secretary Mario Cutajar has, through the Department of Information issued a right of reply to an opinion piece penned by Kevin Cassar, and said that it is not true that he lashed out at the Ombudsman.The full right of reply can be...

An Albanian man has been hospitalised after he lost control of his motorcycle early on Monday morning.In a statement, police said that at around 7am the Albanian, who is 32-years-old, lost control of his Niu N1S motorcycle in Triq il-Mitjar in Luqa.T...

Two armed and hooded men made off with an undisclosed amount of cash in a hold-up in a Zejtun shop on Sunday evening.The incident occurred in Bishop Galea Street at around 8pm.The man, armed with knives, entered the shop and demanded money from the c...

A Filipino national who resides in Mosta was grievously injured in a fight in Msida early on Monday morning, the police said.The incident occurred on the Ta’ Xbiex promenade, at around 3am.The police said that a group if unidentified persons at...

A motorcyclist was grievously injured on Sunday afternoon in an accident on the Coast Road, limits of Salini.The biker, aged 35 of Naxxar, lost control of the Kawasaki he was riding and crashed.He was taken to Mater Dei Hospital with grievous injurie...

Opposition Leader Bernard Grech is hopeful that the PN could close the gap to the Labour Party in the coming weeks and months.The Labour Party has enjoyed a substantial lead over its political rivals since 2013, winning each and every election by a l...

More than a year after a bout with COVID-19, Rebekah Hogan still suffers from severe brain fog, pain and fatigue that leave her unable to do her nursing job or handle household activities.Long COVID has her questioning her worth as a wife and mother....

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia's daily count of new coronavirus infections surged to more than 121,000 on Sunday, an eightfold increase compared with the beginning of the month as the highly contagious omicron variant spreads through the country.The stat...

With a general election seemingly imminent and matters in certain Parliamentary committees – particularly that involving Konrad Mizzi – heating up, many have questioned what happens to the Parliamentary process when an election is called....

The developers behind the Villa Rosa area project in St George’s Bay have told The Malta Independent on Sunday that they are aiming for “high quality tourism” through their new plans.Plans to change the proposed development on the l...

The composition of Parliament as it is now is substantially different from the day when the newly-elected MPs all filed in for the opening ceremony to take their oath of office soon after the 2017 election.We often say that resignations in Malta are ...

Nationalist Party Leader Bernard Grech is hopeful that the PN can continue to close the gap with the Labour Party in the coming weeks. The Malta Independent on Sunday interviewed Grech on Friday, amid rumours that government could call a March electi...

Two men died while positive with Covid-19, the health authorities said on Sunday.The men were aged 75 and 85. This brings the total number of deaths since the start of the pandemic up to 547.191 new cases of the virus were registered, while 401 peopl...

A woman was grievously injured in a traffic accident at noon on Sunday.The accident occurred on Triq il-Kbira San Ġużepp, in Hamrun.  The 63-year-old woman from Qormi was hit by a car being driven by a 71-year-old Hamrun resident. The ...

Maltese nationals make up over 60% of people who sponsor Ugandan orphans through a Romania-based NGO. The founders of Help one chid thrive told The Malta Independent on Sunday they have no idea how this happened, but put it down to the generosity of ...

'You can never hide the truth,' Opposition Leader Bernard Grech said about the energy billing system."The government had to admit that they were, are and will continue to steal from your water and electricity bills," he said.The PN Leader was address...

TV presenter and model Pauline Marie Chetcuti is making a name for herself on her daily Net show #kikkrate .Like many, she cannot imagine herself without her mobile phone, loves spring and says Lady Gaga is her favourite singer.But which invention sh...

The Central Link Project was officially inaugurated on Sunday and Prime Minister Robert Abela stressed the importance of this project as well as others like it.The project spans from Rabat to Mriehel. While it has been inaugurated, work at Mriehel is...

Champions Hamrun Spartans and Floriana battled it out to a 2-2 draw yesterday at the National Stadium, a result that favours league leaders Hibernians who maintain their advantage over the same Floriana and HamrunFor the Greens it was an even better ...

Along with the rising cost of living, and a scandal here and there, the country’s institutions will undoubtedly be one of the key issues in the upcoming general election. The institutions have been bandied about by both political parties, each ...

Rafael Nadal got to 21 first, breaking the men’s record for most Grand Slam singles titles and doing it the hard way by coming back from two sets down to beat Daniil Medvedev in an almost 5 1/2-hour Australian Open final.Nadal was broken when s...

Local councils can apply for funding for green projects through a new scheme by Ambjent Malta. This was announced by Minister for the Environment, Climate Change and Planning Aaron Farrugia, who urged local councils to come forward with env...

The Chief Spokesperson for the Nationalist Party Peter Agius is not stepping down from his role, he said on Facebook,He was reacting to an article which appeared on ONE News, which read that Agius has left for Brussels.Agius said that since he was ap...

Foemer Malta and San Giljan ASC goalkeeper Sandro Cosby has passed away, his club said on its Facebook page.He was 61.Cosby was instrumental in a string of successes the club achieved between 1992 and 1995, with three championships among the trophies...

Former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat has called for an investigation into how information was leaked about his house being searched by the police.In a video message posted on Facebook, Muscat voiced his objections with the way the situation was handle...

The number of active Covid-19 cases dipped further on Saturday, while one more death was registered, figures released by the health authorities show.The latest victim was a man aged 92, whose death takes the tally to 545.The authorities said that the...

Italian President Sergio Mattarella was pulled away from his impending retirement and reelected Saturday to a second seven-year term as the country's head of state, ending days of political impasse by party leaders that risked eroding the nation's cr...

MOSCOW (AP) — The daily count of new coronavirus infections in Russia spiked above 110,000 on Saturday as the highly contagious omicron variant races through the vast country.The state coronavirus task force reported 113,122 new infections over...

Prime Minister Robert Abela is expected to nominate Standards Commissioner George Hyzler to the European Court of Auditors (ECA) later this year.PM Abela informed Labour MPs during a parliamentary group meeting about this decision on Friday, Times of...

A man who was found injured on the ground in Pieta on Friday has died in hospital, the police said,The man was found sprawled on the ground, injured, early on Friday morning in Pieta.Police said in a statement that their assistance was requested at a...

Valletta: Collis Williams Pharmacy, 15, Republic Street; Ħamrun: Remedies Pharmacy, 678, St Joseph High Road; Santa Venera: Lantern Pharmacy, Misraħ il-Kebbies; Birkirkara: Brown's Pharmacy, 32, Fleur-de-Lys Road; Pieta: St Anthony Pharmacy...

Minister for Foreign and European Affairs Evarist Bartolo and Stephanie Williams, the Special Advisor on Libya to the Secretary General of the United Nations, on Saturday exchanged views on the situation in Libya during a telephone call. Minister Bar...

The European Union ombudsman on Friday found the bloc's executive arm responsible for "maladministration" after it did not provide access to text messages between its president and the CEO of pharmaceutical company Pfizer relating to coronavirus vacc...

Hibernians failed to win for the third time in a row this time being held by neighbours Sta Lucia in a goalless draw. But so far they remain the only unbeaten team in the Premier League.Their opponents Santa Lucia were now under the guidance of Giova...

Twenty-two Church entities are seeing action to curb the rise in the price of basic items.A statement issued by the Curia said that the entities, who work with vulnerable people, are appealing for the authorities to give priority to the matter and se...

Scientists and health officials around the world are keeping their eyes on a descendant of the omicron variant that has been found in more than 50 countries, including the United States.This version of the coronavirus, which scientists call BA.2, is ...

The Collegiate Chapter of St Paul Shipwrecked and the Għaqda tal-Pawlini have requested a meeting with the health authorities on their request to organise a reduced Feast of St Paul. The organisations said they are proposing a reduced programme ...

A woman was grievously injured on Friday afternoon after she fell one storey, the police said.The accident happened in a residence in Kartocc Street, Swieqi, at 6.30pm.The woman, aged 25, fell one storey off a terrace, the police said.She was taken t...

Ash Barty will no longer need to overthink the 1970s when she prepares for the Australian Open.The top-ranked Barty recovered from 5-1 down in the second set to beat Danielle Collins 6-3, 7-6 (2) in the final on Saturday night, ending a 44-year droug...

The comparison between Parliament and a children’s playground is not one which is made all that often, however on certain occasions – particularly when having to watch parliamentary committees discussing matters of a certain degree of sen...

Tempers flared in the courtroom on Friday afternoon, as lawyers defending Vince Muscat clashed with a prosecutor over whether or not convicted bank robber Daren Debono could legally be allowed to testify against Muscat in criminal proceedings about t...

 Support for Italian President Sergio Mattarella to stay on for a second term quickly swelled on Saturday among party leaders after days of failed balloting to find an alternative candidate and amid the risk that protracted political squabbling ...

Omicron, the highly contagious coronavirus variant sweeping across the country, is driving the daily American death toll higher than during last fall's delta wave, with deaths likely to keep rising for days or even weeks.The seven-day rolling average...

The principal permanent secretary has said that he did not testify in the case brought up by Marica Mizzi after her termination of employment.In a right of reply issued through the Department of Information, Cutajar said that he became aware of the c...

At a conference where prospective plans regarding the concept of erosion in our country were discussed, Minister Clayton Bartolo, Parliamentary Secretary Stefan Zrinzo Azzopardi and Permanent Secretary Joseph Caruana launched the Coastal-COVER projec...

With an investment of €200,000 an area of around 1,165m2 will be regenerated to provide better access to persons with disability while ensuring the efficient use of resources such as water and electricity.This ...

Russian President Vladimir Putin appears to be preparing to launch an invasion of Ukraine, with more than 100,000 troops positioned around the country. Certainly, the U.S. believes that's the case and President Joe Biden has warned Ukrainian Presiden...

Insistence by Italy's center-right bloc that one of their candidates is vaulted to the country's presidency backfired on Friday, as tensions and frustration mounted among the rival parties forming Premier Mario Draghi's pandemic unity government and ...

Three elderly people have died while positive for Covid-19, as health authorities reported 229 new cases of the virus on Friday.Authorities said in their daily update that a man aged 70 and two women aged 84 and 91 respectively had died while positiv...

Right-wing cleric David Muscat has been charged with hate speech and misuse of electronic communications technology, over a Facebook comment he had made earlier this year, saying that homosexuality, which he referred to as “gayaġni”,...

Nationalist MP PN Ivan Bartolo has come up with four proposals to address the issue of poverty. Speaking during a seminar on Friday, the Mosta MP said politicians need to be proactive in addressing social issues as it is useless to stay in the comfor...

At least six Africans trying to migrate to Europe died and an estimated 30 were missing in the Mediterranean Sea after their boat sank off the coast of Tunisia on Thursday, according to Tunisia’s Defense Ministry.Tunisian naval and coast guard ...

Charges are expected to be issued over a shocking incident of bullying of a 12-year-old girl at a school in Malta, Lovin Malta reports.Lovin Malta received a video of a girl being attacked by students outside of a school, showing her being punched, k...

The European Medicines Agency has recommended that Pfizer's coronavirus antiviral drug be authorized for use in the 27-nation European Union, the first time the agency has recommended a pill for treating COVID-19.In a statement on Thursday, the EU dr...

BERLIN (AP) — Germany's coronavirus surge fueled by the omicron variant remains “under control” despite a string of new infection records, the country's health minister said Friday.Cases as a result of the highly contagious variant ...

Ground preparation works for the Waste to Energy project are expected to be completed this year, WasteServ said on Friday.The Environmental Impact Assessment for the project has already been completed and the detailed Outline Development Application ...

A court has ordered dentist Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando to pay nearly €16,000 in compensation to a former patient after she was left with chronic facial pain and a permanent disability following dentistry procedures in 2009.Mr Justice Francesco De...

In January, Teatru Manoel commemorated its 290th anniversary. It is celebrating with an exhilarating show celebrating the legendary music of Sweden's most famous pop group ABBA, the Maltese debut of a hit play and a family-friendly Karnival-inspired ...

Lawyer and former PN MP Franco Debono has dropped charges against a Nationalist Party activist who made threats of violence against him in a voice message on a WhatsApp group chat. Nationalist Party activist Charles Zammit made a public apology on hi...

A man was grievously injured after a fall on a construction site, the police said.The accident happened at 3.30am in Trundiera Street, limits of Bahar ic-Caghaq.The man, a 22-year-old from Lithuania, “fell two metres in a construction site&rdqu...

A minibus driver who filed an appeal after being sentenced to 12 years for the rape of an eight-year-old entrusted to his care will have his case retried because the court of the first instance did not allow him to cross-examine the alleged victim.Ja...

Just over two months after her ‘admonishment’ by the standards committee, Rosianne Cutajar has been appointed as chair of Parliament’s health committee. We now understand why the government had shot down a motion by the PN to suspen...

The Nationalist Party’s mega-sized anti-corruption Bill has failed to pass Parliament, after the government voted en-masse against the proposed amendments. 37 MPs voted against the Bill, while 27 voted in favour, meaning that the majority ...

Extensive restoration works on San Anton Gardens were announced by Minister for the Environment, Climate Change and Planning Aaron Farrugia. This project, which will be led by the ministry and includes works by GreenServ and Ambjent Malta, ...

Former Minister Konrad Mizzi returned to the Public Accounts Committee on Thursday, and once again refused to answer any of the questions put to him during the almost two hour sitting, citing his willingness to wait for a ruling from the Speaker inst...

The Budget for 2022 was approved in Parliament on Thursday, another indication that the calling of a general election may be imminent.The Implementation of the Budget Measures was approved on Thursday – right after the government shot down a se...

Speaker Anglu Farrugia has ruled that members of the Public Accounts Committee must conduct themselves in an orderly manner and exhibit “caution” in how they frame their questions.The ruling comes at the request of Konrad Mizzi, who claim...

Lawmakers and regional representatives failed for a fourth day Thursday to find consensus on a new Italian president, even after the threshold for victory passed to a simple majority for the first time.The center-right abstained outright in the votin...

Three Covid-19 patients have died since Wednesday, as 230 new cases of the virus have been reported by health authorities.Authorities said that two men aged 70 and 81 years respectively, and a 90-year-old woman had died while positive for Covid-19.Me...

A man died and a second workman was injured in an accident at Ta’ Qali on Wednesday afternoon, the police said.The man, 40 from Gharghur, died on site, the Ta' Qali national park.He has been named as Adrian Muscat, a father of four.A second wor...

Prime Minister Robert Abela defended Rosianne Cutajar, saying that Cutajar is still a Member of Parliament and has been reprimanded for her actions.The Prime Minister was asked by journalists about episodes of bad governance during his legislature, t...

98% of people aged 12 and over have received at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine, Health Minister Chris Fearne told EU Commissioner for Health and Food Safety Stella Kyriakides in a meeting at the Health Ministry in Valletta.Fearne's main messa...

Labour propagandist Manuel Cuschieri has warned Repubblika president Robert Aquilina that he will be taught “a lesson you will never forget” if the group tries to be arrogant with Joseph Muscat.Cuschieri, a former president of the Labour ...

The Nationalist Party has been proved right again on discrepancies related to energy bills being received by consumers, deputy leader David Agius said on Thursday.He was referring to the announcement in Parliament made by Minister for Energy, Miriam ...

The PN is not credible about energy bills, the Labour Party said.The PL said that the only government that stole from people was one led by the PN. Not only were such bills increased at an alarming rate but were increased more than they did around th...

Necessary steps were taken by the relevant entities to ensure price stability and low energy tariffs, the Energy Ministry told The Malta Independent in response to questions relating to energy prices.During a Public Accounts Committee meeting earlier...

A new glass sorting line that will be recovering the equivalent of around 45 million glass bottles every year has been set up at WasteServ's facility in Marsascala, the government said.This was announced by Minister for the Environment, Climate Chang...

The popular streaming service from the Walt Disney Company, Disney+ has confirmed that it will be launching its streaming service to 42 new countries in Europe, the Middle East and Africa this summer.Malta is one of those countries.So far in Malta, t...

Ahead of the latest inquiry hearing of the El Hiblu 3, an Amnesty International delegation is travelling to Malta to call for the charges against them to be dropped.Three young men are being charged with terrorism and hijacking a merchant vessel that...

There was a time when the General Workers’ Union held protests in the streets when it believed that the government was taking measures that would have led to changes to the conditions of work of Air Malta employees, or some dismissals.There wer...

Two drivers were grievously injured in separate accidents in Zejtun and Birkirkara this morning.The police said that the first accident took place at 6.30am in Triq Dahla ta’ San Tumas, Zejtun.It involved a Seat Ibiza, driven by a 40-year-old m...

Several dozen octogenarians, bundled against the cold, chattered in Russian and Hebrew as they picked through heaps of carrots, onions and grapefruit in a Jerusalem courtyard.Nearly all of them Holocaust survivors, they were picking up donations of f...

Most coronavirus restrictions including mandatory face masks were lifted in England on Thursday, after Britain’s government said its vaccine booster rollout successfully reduced serious illness and COVID-19 hospitalizations.From Thursday, face ...