Yana and Natalya knew that their children’s lives were the most important thing of all when they decided to flee from eastern Ukraine and search for a safer place in the west. The Malta Independent sat down with two Ukrainian mothers at a ...

The government will go ahead with the easing of Covid restrictions as from Sunday in spite of a steady rise in cases within the community, Health Minister Chris Fearne said Monday.The last day when wearing of masks in schools is 13 April, which means...

The result of the election held last week was not a surprise.As all pre-election surveys were indicating, the Labour Party cruised to a comfortable victory, the third in a row, the third with a record margin.From a gap of 35,000 reached in two electi...

The 2022 election has come to an end, although there are many seats in Parliament that still need to be filled.With a total of 16 casual elections that need to take place, and the gender corrective mechanism to kick in afterwards, we still have an in...

Pope Francis’ long-awaited visit to the Maltese islands has come and gone.  A momentous occasion, the Pope’s visit brought a country together only a week after the divisiveness of an electoral campaign. Throughout his two-day visit, ...

Pope Francis said Sunday he was still working on arranging a meeting with the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, despite that leader's seeming justification for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and said he wouldn't rule out travelling to the reg...

Bodies with bound hands, close-range gunshot wounds and signs of torture lay scattered in a city on the outskirts of Kyiv after Russian soldiers withdrew from the area. Ukrainian authorities accused the departing forces on Sunday of committing w...

A man is suffering from serious injuries after he was hit by a car in a traffic accident early on Monday morning.In a statement, police said that the accident happened at around 3:15am in Triq Diċembru Tlettax in Marsa.Preliminary investigations...

LAS VEGAS — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has appeared in a video at the Grammy Awards asking for support in telling the story of Ukraine's invasion by Russia.During the pre-recorded message that aired on the show Sunday night, he spo...

Pope Francis used his final address of his Papal visit in Malta to speak about the migration crisis, expressing his hope that Malta would always treat those who land on its shores as it treated St. Paul – with “unusual kindness.”Pop...

Pope Francis has boarded an Air Malta plane along with his delegation and will make his way back to the Vatican, marking the end of the Papal visit to Malta.The Pontiff arrived in Malta on Saturday, and in his two-day visit, met Malta's top officials...

Thousands of the Catholic faithful gathered at the Floriana Granaries on Sunday morning, with Pope Francis set to celebrate a Papal Mass on the last day of his visit to Malta.Floriana was a sea of yellow and white in reflection of the Vatican’s...

A woman died on Sunday afternoon after she was caught underneath her own car which she had just parked, the police said.The woman, aged 75 of Sliema, had just left her vehicle, a Toyota Aygo, which she parked in St. Publius Street at around 5pm.For s...

More than 90 people in an overcrowded boat drowned in the Mediterranean Sea, a prominent humanitarian group said, in the latest tragedy involving migrants departing from North Africa to seek a better life in Europe.Doctors Without Borders said late S...

Two more Covid-19 patients have died while positive for the virus, as health authorities reported 607 new cases of the virus on Sunday.190 people have recovered from the virus, meaning that the number of active cases has risen to 6,910.The numbers we...

People who were killed by Russian shelling and air strikes in the eastern Ukrainian city of Mariupol were buried in shallow graves, oftentimes unmarked, and the entire city smelt like death, a survivor of the siege told The Malta Independent on Sunda...

Inter Milan halted its poor run of form in the best possible way by beating fierce rival Juventus 1-0 to boost its Serie A title chances and hinder its opponent’s own hopes on Sunday.Hakan Calhanoglu converted a penalty at the second time of as...

Pope Francis made an unscheduled stop on his way to Floriana on Sunday morning.While passing through Hamrun, the Pope stopped at the Chapel of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal, which houses the remains of St George Preca. He and Archbishop Scilcluna ...

Pope Francis delivered Mass at the Granaries in Floriana this morning, on his second day of his official visit to Malta.His day started with a private meeting with the Jesuit community at the apostolic nunciature in Rabat, and he then made his way to...

A couple who were celebrating their wedding on Saturday evening stepped out onto the street to wave to the Pope as he passed by in his car in Mellieha.The car came to a brief stop next to the bride and groom. The Pope rolled down his window and took ...

The constitutional case filed by ADPD for parliamentary representation could see Malta’s new gender corrective mechanism fall flat: but this depends heavily on whether ADPD win the case, and, if they do, whether they win it before the casual el...

Residents of Ukraine’s besieged southeastern coast awaited possible evacuation Sunday as the country’s president said Russia’s obsession with capturing a key port city had left it weakened and created opportunities for his military....

BUCHA, Ukraine — Residents of the Ukrainian town of Bucha near the capital of Kyiv have given harrowing accounts of how Russian troops shot and killed civilians without any apparent reason.Bodies of civilians lay strewn across the northern town...

There is one factor that emerged from the Cabinet of ministers and parliamentary secretaries chosen by Prime Minister Robert Abela – continuity.When he sat down with his advisors in Castille to compile his line-up, he had a few decisions to mak...

Pope Francis said Saturday that the world yearns for "human moderation before the infantile and destructive aggression that threatens us, before the risk of an enlarged Cold War that can stifle the life of entire peoples and generations."War has...

Pope Francis gave a heartfelt prayer with a message of faith at the Ta’ Pinu Sanctuary in Gozo, during his two-day Apostolic visit to the Maltese Islands.The prayer recalled the biblical story of Mary and John, who stood beneath the Cross of Je...

Pope Francis says he is studying a possible visit to Kyiv and he blasted Russian President Vladimir Putin for launching a “savage” war, as he arrived in Malta and delivered his most pointed and personalized denunciation yet of Russia&rsqu...

Valletta: Royal Pharmacy, 271, Republic Street; Ħamrun: National Pharmacy, 17, St Mary Street; Qormi: Evans Pharmacy, 96/98, St Sebastian Street; Birkirkara: The Local Dispensary, Kan. K. Pirotta Street; Gżira: O'Hea Pharmacy, 128, Manoel d...

Pope Francis has landed to a windy welcome in Malta.The pontiff used an elevator to descend from the ITA aircraft onto the tarmac in Malta, as he had used to get on the plane in Rome. It was the first time the 85-year-old pope has used the tarmac lif...

The number of newly detected COVID-19 cases rose to 791 on Saturday, the highest since the first week of January.Data published online by the Superintendence of Public Health showed that one person died while infected with the virus in the previous 2...

Ray Bezzina and Chris Peregin have both quit the Nationalist Party positions they occupied after the electoral defeat suffered by the party, Maltatoday reports.Bezzina was head of the secretariat and Peregin was employed as a political strategist.Bez...

Pope Francis arrives Malta today, with the refugee exodus from Ukraine casting a haunting backdrop to the European migration drama that for years has focused on Malta and other Mediterranean countries and the plight of desperate people who arrive on ...

Opposition Leader Bernard Grech said on Saturday that he is determined to make the Nationalist Party a winner again.This comes following the results of the 2022 general election where the Labour Party won with a difference of 39,474 votes.During a br...

Godwin Tonna was born in Vittoriosa on the 22nd November, 1955. He is the son of Carmelo and Concetta nee Galea. He is married to Monica Borg and has three children Analisa, Stephen and Kristina.Godwin started by recounting his childhood years. &lsqu...

It’s probably not the right time for the Pope to visit Malta.The country is still abuzz with the election that was held last week. Its ramifications are still very much on people’s minds. What people are talking about is politics, and wit...

Liverpool completed its 119-day mission to displace Manchester City from atop the English Premier League.It lasted only a matter of hours.The status quo was ultimately maintained in what is promising to be another gripping fight for the title between...

Lazio boosted its bid for a European spot and put its derby nightmare behind it after a comfortable 2-1 win over Sassuolo in Serie A on Saturday.Manuel Lazzari and Sergej Milinković-Savić scored to send Lazio to fifth, a point above Atalant...

Pope Francis starts his two-day visit to the tiny European country of Malta, a strongly Catholic island just south of Sicily, on April 2, 2022. This papal trip puts a spotlight on Malta’s complicated history and important contemporary...

Malta will welcome Pope Francis for his Apostolic visit to the country this Saturday and Sunday.Pope Francis will lead several spiritual activities during the two-day visit, whilst giving his blessings and sending messages of courage, hope, and care ...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned his people early Saturday that retreating Russian forces were creating “a complete disaster” outside the capital as they leave mines across “the whole territory,” including around...

KYIV, Ukraine — A prominent Ukrainian photojournalist who went missing last month in a combat zone near the capital has been found dead.Ukraine’s Prosecutor General’s office said in a statement Saturday that Maks Levin was killed wi...

The European Union must do everything it can to fight against the ‘brutal, aggressive, and unprovoked’ invasion of Russia against Ukraine, President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola said.Metsola was speaking exclusively with The...

The Manoel Theatre has cancelled an upcoming production which drew heavy criticism for how it portrayed a character based heavily on assassinated journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.‘Ix-Xiha’, penned and directed by Mario Philip Azzopardi, ...

Lionel Messi possibly facing Robert Lewandowski, Spain definitely playing Germany, and Luis Suarez potentially handed another game against old foe Ghana.The draw for the World Cup group stage set up some intriguing prospects and will start on Nov. 21...

The US Treasury Department has sanctioned a Russian individual who has a Maltese passport and the Maltese government is set to revoke their citizenship.The Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), in a statement, sa...

Inflation in Europe soared to another record, in a fresh sign that rising energy prices fueled by Russia’s war in Ukraine are squeezing consumers and adding pressure on the central bank to raise interest rates.Consumer prices in the 1...

659 new cases of Covid-19 were reported by health authorities on Friday, with no new deaths reported as a result of the virus once again.The data has been lifted from an open database administered by Malta’s Covid-19 response team, after the He...

The Malta Independent’s Neil Camilleri and Giuseppe Attard are in the Ukrainian capital city of Kyiv, as their coverage of the ongoing war and humanitarian crisis continues.In a late night update on Thursday night, they explained how a delay in...

Hili Properties plc, the strategic real estate investment subsidiary of Hili Ventures, has completed the share purchase of the holding company of a prominent shopping centre in Riga. The total investment in this newest addition to Hili Properties&rsq...

The president of the European Parliament says she is travelling to Kyiv.Roberta Metsola announced the trip to the Ukrainian capital city on her Twitter account late Thursday, posting a picture of her standing in front of a railcar.Metsola is the firs...

Russian troops left the heavily contaminated Chernobyl nuclear site early Friday after returning control to the Ukrainians, authorities said, as eastern parts of the country braced for renewed attacks and Russians blocked another aid mission to the b...

BEIJING — China is accusing the United States of instigating the war in Ukraine and says NATO should have been disbanded following the break-up of the Soviet Union.“As the culprit and leading instigator of the Ukraine crisis, the U.S. has...

A bus driver suffered grievous injuries in a traffic accident on Friday morning in KirkopPolice said in a statement that they were informed of the accident in Triq l-Ewwel Titjira 1915 in Kirkop at 9:15am.Preliminary investigations showed that there ...

At least 12,000 people are expected to attend Pope Francis' mass on Sunday at the Floriana Granaries.Others have also signed up to be on the waiting list for the mass, and these have already started to be contacted. Anyone without a ticket might also...

A woman is at risk of dying after she was involved in an early morning traffic accident on Friday.Police said that they were informed of a traffic accident in Triq in-Naxxar in Gharghur at 6am. Preliminary investigations showed that the accident took...

The Kentucky Derby is one of the most historic and famous horse races in the world. Known as “The Most Exciting Two Minutes in Sports”, the Derby welcomes some of the planet’s finest thoroughbred racehorses to Churchill Downs, Louis...

760 new cases of Covid-19 were registered on Thursday, bringing the total number of active cases up to 5,640.The cases were not formally reported, even though Malta now has a health minister, but are available through a health authority database. It ...

A humanitarian rescue vessel will enter Maltese waters on Friday with 106 rescued migrants on board.The ship will arrive in Malta's waters just one day ahead of a visit by Pope Francis."On Wednesday afternoon, March 30, 2022, a distress call was forw...

Health Minister Chris Fearne has tested positive to Covid-19.The minister announced his positivity to the virus on Facebook.He said that he did a swab test earlier today and it resulted to be positive.Fearne said he took the booster shot and has mild...

Preparations for Pope Francis' Apostolic visit to Malta are underway, the Archdiocese of Malta said.The Church of Malta has launched various initiatives as part of the preparation for the Pope's visit, including a Facebook page, 'Pope Francis in Malt...

President of Malta George Vella laid a wreath at the foot of the Freedom Day monument in Birgu on Thursday.Prime Minister Robert Abela and Opposition Leader Bernard Grech were, however, absent from the ceremony.Instead, representatives on their behal...

The Cabinet of Ministers has been appointed, with Prime Minister Robert Abela choosing a Cabinet that is a mixture of youth and experience, a Department of Information statement said. The main aim of the Cabinet is to implement the electoral pro...

Malta's participation status in the Open Government Partnership has been set to 'inactive'.In 2011, government leaders and civil society advocates came together to create a unique partnership-one that combines these powerful forces to promote transpa...

Prime Minister Robert Abela has justified the co-option of Randolph Debattista to Parliament a mere three days into his new legislature by saying that the “regeneration” of the PL and of government structures must continue.Debattista, who...

The greatest freedom Prime Minister Robert Abela wants to see for the country today, is freedom from politics of division, confrontation and hatred.Abela addressed a crowd near the Freedom monument in Birgu on the eve of Freedom Day.“Freedom Da...

With an annualised net dividend yield averaging 7% over the past 5 years, GO remains one of the best performing publicly listed companies in Malta. It has consistently delivered shareholder returns above the market average.  During 2021, th...

The Nationalist Party continues to lose ground.The election held last Saturday is the third massive defeat for the PN, and each time the distance between it and the ruling Labour Party becomes larger.Today more than 39,000 votes separate the two larg...

ROME — Italy’s leader is urging Europe to “cultivate all available land” as a partial remedy to reductions in agricultural imports, especially of Russian grain, due to the war in Ukraine.Premier Mario Draghi told reporters on ...

Members of Malta’s new Cabinet have started to give their first reactions to their Ministerial appointments, with many speaking to The Malta Independent in Valletta prior to their swearing in.In his first comments, Byron Camilleri – who w...

The Ukrainian president said his country's defence against the Russian invasion is at a “turning point” and again pressed the United States for more help in the hours after the Kremlin's forces reneged on a pledge to scale back some of th...

A German humanitarian group appealed Wednesday for Malta to take in 32 migrants who were rescued off Libya this week by the Ukrainian captain of a container ship.The request came as Pope Francis, who is scheduled to visit Malta this weekend, encourag...

717 new cases of Covid-19 have been reported by health authorities, as three more patients have died while positive for the virus.Case numbers are on the up, and Malta now has 5,183 active cases of the virus after 216 new recoveries were reported.The...

A temporary ramp is being built near the fast ferry terminal in Gozo to enable an easier access for the Pope from the ferry to the terminal, The Malta Independent is informed.An Infrastructure Malta spokesperson confirmed this in reply sent to this n...

The school run by the Salesians in Presov, Slovakia, looks like your typical educational facility, with students studying, playing football and hockey and running around the playground, only it isn’t. The 17 boys here are all Ukrainian orp...

Malta’s biggest third party ADPD has filed a constitutional case in order to be granted a seat in parliament, saying that as things stand, the 4,747 people who trusted the party with their first count votes are being ignored.“In a healthy...

Britain’s government has seized a superyacht owned by a Russian billionaire with ties to Vladimir Putin — the first vessel to be detained in the U.K. under sanctions imposed because of the war in Ukraine.U.K. officials, including Transpor...

By the end of 2021, the Government’s Consolidated Fund reported a deficit of €1,242.2 million, around €200 million less than 2020, as the Covid-19 pandemic and its associated crises continued to bite public funds.In 2021, Recurrent Re...

The improvement of gambling sites around the globe is visible in the last couple of years. Just like in any other industry, gambling entrepreneurs have realized that the demands and requirements of the market are regularly changing. Because of that, ...

Summer has finally arrived with Air Malta launching operation of its significantly expanded Summer 2022 flying program. The seven-month schedule, which runs from 27th March till 29th October, will see the airline operate 125 weekly return direct serv...

Two women were grievously injured in a traffic accident in Tal-Barrani Road, limits of Tarxien.The accident took place on Tuesday at 3pm, the police said.It involved a Toyta Hiace van driven by a 41-year-old man of San Gwann, a Kia Rojo driven by a 3...

A man was grievously injured on Tuesday after falling three storeys down a shaft in Hamrun.The police said the accident took place in a block of apartments in St Vincent Street at 6pm.The man, aged 22 of Marsascala, was taken to Mater Dei Hospital wi...

The swearing-in ceremony of the new Cabinet of Ministers is to take place at 3.30pm today, the Department of Information has announced.The ceremony will be held before the Labour Party organises its Freedom Day activity in Vittoriosa, which will like...

The Labour Party this evening decided which seats are to be vacated by candidates who were elected on two districts.But there is a twist as the executive, on the proposal of the Prime Minister, will also be making a co-option, that of Randolph Debatt...

603 new Covid-19 cases were reported by health authorities on Tuesday, as daily case numbers exploded upwards.The cases were not formally reported as no Health Ministry has been formed, but are available through a health authority database.One Covid-...

We had been used to having very high turnouts in elections.Except for one time in 1966, since Independence Malta always exceeded the 90% line in terms of voter participation. Between 1976 and 2003, we even got near or exceeded the 95% threshold, and ...

GENEVA — The U.N.’s top human rights body has chosen a Norwegian former judge at the European Court of Human Rights to head a three-member panel to investigate possible abuses and violations in Ukraine following Russia’s invasion.Er...

Russia's pledge to scale back some military operations in Ukraine drew skepticism even as the two nations planned to return Wednesday to talks that could produce a framework for ending the war that has imposed an increasingly punishing toll.Ukrainian...

Pope Francis will be focusing on the culture of care and hospitality when he visits Malta this weekend, the director of the Holy See Press Office, Matteo Bruni, said Tuesday.He was presenting the 2-3 April Apostolic Trip to Malta, which is the Holy F...

Bernard Grech will be ceding the fifth district, the one in which he got fewer votes, as per Nationalist Party statute.The PN had on Monday said that, as per its internal structure, MPs who are elected from two districts are bound to give up the seat...

Cristiano Ronaldo will get another shot at lifting the World Cup.Portugal beat North Macedonia 2-0 in a European playoff on Tuesday, securing a fifth World Cup appearance for the leading men's international scorer. It was one of seven spots in soccer...

Malta International Airport (MIA) and the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association (MHRA) have both welcomed the Prime Minister's pledge to remove Covid restrictions.The Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association (MHRA) welcomed the statement made by A...

Outgoing ADPD chairperson Carmel Cacopardo will be filing a Constitutional Case on Wednesday to challenge Malta’s electoral law after his party achieved a national vote count which is higher than a quota in Saturday’s general election.ADP...

When, in early February, it was publicly announced that Pope Francis would be visiting Malta in the first week of April, it is probable that the date of the election had already been set.Prime Minister Robert Abela could have possibly whispered it in...

The European Commission recommended Monday that EU nations end golden passport schemes that allow wealthy people to buy their way into the bloc's citizenship, and urged them to assess whether Russian oligarchs linked to the Kremlin or who suppor...

Independent candidate Arnold Cassola has taken to writing to Chief Electoral Commissioner Joseph Camilleri on Tuesday, to address shortcomings, which happened during last week’s general election.The letter contains a list of suggestions which C...

British police said Tuesday that they were fining 20 people over parties held by Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his staff during coronavirus lockdowns, and that more people could face penalties.The Metropolitan Police force said it wouldn't identif...

Gozo Channel will be suspending its ferry service on Saturday 2 April 2022 between 4pm and 7pm from Mgarr, Gozo and between 3.45pm and 7pm from Cirkewwa, Malta.The Pope will be visiting Gozo on the day.The 4.30, 4.40, 5.00, 5.30, 6.00, 6.15, 6.30 tri...

Malta Public Transport announces that trip frequencies will be increased on Saturday 2 April and Sunday 3 April, and Special Services will be operated in Gozo during the visit of His Holiness the Pope to the Maltese Islands. On Saturday 2nd April, an...