The Tourism Minister said on Tuesday evening that it has terminated Konrad Mizzi’s €80,000 MTA consultancy contract.The contract was awarded to Mizzi in December last year just two weeks after the same Mizzi resigned from his role of Touri...

Former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said that he was not present when the Cabinet discussed his termination package.Answering questions by The Malta Independent, Muscat said that he is “not entitled to disclose Cabinet discussions, also because...

Environment Minister Aaron Farrugia said today he respects the Prime Minister’s decision to transfer the hunting regulator under the responsibility of the Gozo Ministry. The Wild Birds Regulation Unit (WBRU), which has traditionally been under ...

The Nationalist Opposition has asked Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee to investigate KOnrad Mizzi’s €80,000 Malta Tourism Authority consultancy contract.The government has said it is investigating the contract, which was given ...

Former General Workers Union secretary general Tony Zarb has lashed out at The Malta Independent, labelling us as “political terrorists” for trying to get a comment from former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat.In a comment on Facebook togethe...

Reports carried by a section of the media regarding a PN name change do not reflect at all the substance of what is being proposed and discussed in the party, Louis Galea said in a statement. It is obvious that the much needed PN reform has to go far...

The government has withdrawn its proposal to name Konrad Mizzi as Malta’s representative on the OSCE and will be seeking legal advice on consultancy job he was given two weeks after resigning, the government said in a statement.On Monday, the g...

There has been an animated discussion going on in the gaming business as to whether the time for gaming licenses from the Malta Gaming Authority has come to a close. There is a growing feeling that more European countries will follow the lead ta...

A retired judge has been awarded €9,000 in compensation over a newspaper article containing spurious allegations that he had benefited from an MPs state pension, in addition to his regular pension, despite not having satisfied the length of serv...

MP Jean Claude Micallef has been nominated to be Malta’s representative on the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) after the proposal to name Konrad Mizzi for the position was formally withdr...

Lufthansa Technik Malta celebrated a “momentous day” as it welcome Lufthansa’s brand new Airbus A350-900 in Malta for the first time on Tuesday.The long haul aircraft, registered as D-AIXB, arrived on the island on Friday evening an...

The Business Performance Survey 2019, conducted by the Malta Chamber of SMEs, has revealed that that most businesses believe that the reason behind reduction in sales in 2019 was due to political and economic instability.The Malta Chamber of SMEs con...

PN MEPs David Casa and Roberta Metsola refused to meet Prime Minister Robert Abela together with their PL counterparts, the PL said Tuesday.Abela, who is on his first visit abroad, met with the PL and PN MEPs separately in Brussels.The Labour Party s...

A man who robbed a female rock singer and her friend at knifepoint two years ago has had his sentence reduced on appeal, after a judge declared most of the testimony unreliable.In 2018 Munir Mohamed Ali Gammudi had originally been accused of the atte...

Tourism Minister Julia Farrugia Portelli told the press on Tuesday that she will be taking a decision on Konrad Mizzi’s Malta Tourism Authority consultancy contract in the “coming hours” after she receives legal advice.Asked by jour...

At the end of December, there were 779 foreigners receiving a Subsidiary Unemployment Allowance.This information was tabled in Parliament by the Minister for the Family, Children’s Rights and Social, Michael Falzon.  PN MP Ivan Bartolo als...

The revelation that former tourism minister Konrad Mizzi was surreptitiously given a lucrative consultancy job with the Malta Tourism Authority has been slammed from all quarters, including from the Labour end of the political field.Mizzi was given a...

As January comes to an end, we look at our new year’s resolutions list with a sense of dread. We more or less all have the same list, you know the ones, quit smoking, start exercising, eat healthier, spend less time online, etc. A daunting list...

Prime Minister Robert Abela today met the president of the European Parliament, Davide Sassoli, in Brussels.Migration and the environment were among the topics that were discussed, a Department of Information statement said.Abela also met the Preside...

A Santa Venera family whose home was requisitioned in the 1960s and abusively transformed into a Labour Party club house has asked the courts to order the property be returned to them, after a decades-long legal battle, arguing that they are bei...

The sole bidder which won the rights to operate a Malta-Comino ferry for at least 15 years has emphasised the cooperative's environmentally-friendly investments, as smaller operators work to block the tender deal in court. Comino Ferries Coop sp...

A man was seriously injured after he was hit by a lead pipe in Marsalforn on Monday evening, the police said.The incident took place in Port Street at 8pm, and involved three Somali men.One of them, aged 24, was hit by a lead pipe during a robbery. H...

A man who admitted to stealing €20,000 worth of jewellery in a 12-day crime spree, had been jailed for 44 months.Avtandil Rusia, 37, from Georgia, had been charged over a string of burglaries from private residences in Rabat, Zebbug, Sliema, Swi...

Konrad Mizzi was given a job as a consultant with the Malta Tourism Authority less than two weeks after he resigned from his post as tourism minister, a media report says.The agreement, dated 9 December, 2019, was never made public by the govern...

The government has proposed former minister Konrad Mizzi as head of Malta’s delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).The proposal was made during Monday’s Parliamentary sit...

China's death toll from a new viral disease that is causing mounting global concern rose by 25 to at least 106 on Tuesday as the United States and other governments prepared to fly their citizens out of the locked-down city at center of the outbreak....

The Voice for Choice coalition has told President George Vella’s to stay away from an anti-abortion manifestation in Valletta in February.In a statement on Tuesday, the organisation said that, in choosing to address the conference, th...

One of the areas the newly appointed Minister for the National Heritage, the Arts and Local government, Jose Herrera, wants to focus on is marine archaeology, he told The Malta Independent during an interview published Monday.This particular sector i...

The Malta Chamber of Commerce today demanded clarification from Government regarding reports in the media of a role former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat may have held in a meeting between Steward Healthcare and the Government. The Malta Independent la...

Former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat has refused to comment on his presence last week at a meeting between the Office of the Prime Minister and Steward Healtchare – the company that has the concession to three former-state hospitals.Approached b...

Former Chief of Staff at the Office of the Prime Minister, Keith Schembri has withdrawn a libel suit he had filed against the Malta Independent over a story which claimed that his company in the British Virgin Islands had received €750,000 in 20...

Harvey Weinstein accuser Mimi Haleyi testified Monday that weeks after arriving in New York to work for one of his shows, she found herself fighting in vain as the once-revered showbiz honcho pushed her onto a bed and sexually assaulted her, undeterr...

Despite all the criticism, we managed to solve several major cases, former Police Commissioner told Prime Minister Robert Abela in his resignation letter.Cutajar resigned earlier this month, after having served as chief of police for three and a half...

Former Gozo Minister Justyne Caruana has been named as the new chairperson of the Consideration of Bills Committee.She will be replacing Stefan Zrinzo Azzopardi, who was appointed parliamentary secretary for EU funds in the new Robert Abela Cabinet.C...

Prime Minister Robert Abela says he is leaving all options open as the government renegotiates a deal with Steward Healthcare on the privatisation of three Maltese public hospitals.Speaking to MaltaToday, Abela said he is doing a thorough stocktake o...

Former MFSA chief Joe Bannister said he can give an assurance that the MFSA did its job, "I just can't tell you how".He was replying to a string of questions by the board of inquiry into the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia and, a few seconds ...

Birdlife Malta has described as "diabolical" a decision by Prime Minister Robert Abela to make Gozo Minister Clint Camilleri responsible for the hunting regulator - the Wild Birds Regulation Unit.Earlier on Monday, it was announced that Camilleri wil...

Monday was not a good day for environmentalists, with news emerging of Prime Minister Robert Abela's decision to hive off the hunting regulator - the Wild Birds Regulation Unit - from the Environment Ministry and placing under the Gozo Ministry, led ...

Survivors of the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp gathered Monday for commemorations marking the 75th anniversary of its liberation, returning to the place where they lost entire families and warning about the ominous growth of anti-Semitism a...

Former Labour MP Lino Debono has described the “forced resignation” of Gozo Minister Justyne Caruana as “a major step in the wrong direction”.In a letter to the media, Debono, who was elected from the Gozo district in 1981 and...

The atrocities that took place at the Nazi extermination camps should not be forgotten, President George Vella said Monday.He was taking part in a ceremony to mark the liberation, 75 years ago, of the Auschwitz extermination camp in Poland. Auschwitz...

Government is still trying to defend the “filthy” Vitals Global Healthcare hospitals takeover deal instead of trying to give back to the Maltese people what is rightfully theirs, according to Opposition Leader Adrian Delia. Delia was spea...

A number of stone balustrades on the staircase leading down to the Saluting Battery, at the Upper Barrakka Gardens, were found topped over this morning, in a suspected vandalism attack.The Saluting Battery is run by Fondazzjoni Wirt Artna - a heritag...

Six years have passed since his time as Parliamentary Secretary for Culture and Local Government, Minister Jose Herrera has found himself heading the Ministry of National Heritage, Arts and Local Government after the recent cabinet reshuffle. Herrera...

A woman was seriously injured after a car careened into her following a crash with another vehicle in St Julian’s this morning, the police said.The accident happened in Gorg Borg Olivier Street at 7.30am.It involved a Kia driven by a 44-year-ol...

District police officers conducted 80 inspections in a number of establishments across the Maltese islands since 1 January 2020, a statement read, leading to a number of people being charged.The inspections took place in establishments which offer al...

The Planning Authority is set to hear the case of a controversial Pieta development on a site next to Villa Frere in a meeting this Thursday.The application would see the demolition of buildings and the construction of a 149-room four star hotel. The...

A Maltese man who held up a kebab shop owner and a hotel receptionist at knifepoint whilst on bail for other offences, has been jailed for 3 years and fined, also losing €6,000 in bail money.Sean Farrugia, 30, from Birkirkara stole €420 fro...

The Armed Forces of Malta rescued a total of 142 migrants who were in distress on Sunday, the AFM said in a statement on Monday.The migrants were brought to shore in two groups, the AFM said in two separate statement.The first group of migrants were ...

China on Monday expanded sweeping efforts to contain a viral disease by extending the Lunar New Year holiday to keep the public at home and avoid spreading infection as the death toll rose to 80.Hong Kong announced it would bar entry to visitors from...

Joseph Muscat’s continued public presence is doing more harm than good for Prime Minister Robert Abela’s image.Muscat did not resign in glory, as he and die-hard supporters try to portray, but in disgrace. Muscat’s legacy has left a...

Minister for the National Heritage, the Arts and Local Government Jose Herrera told The Malta Independent that he has no intention of removing Jason Micallef from his position as Chairman of the Valletta Cultural Agency.Micallef was appointed Chairma...

A man was injured and another was arrested after a fight in Gozo, the police said.The incident took place just before midnight in Triq il-Port, Zebbug.The police said that a 39-year-old foreign man who resides in Zebbug suffered serious injuries in t...

A Dutch citizen has been remanded in custody after he was arrested at his hotel on suspicion of trafficking cocaine.Magistrate Doreen Clarke heard how Xafiero Lantveld, 23, from Suriname, who holds a Dutch passport, was arrested after the police Drug...

The Office of the Prime Minister has remained mum on Joseph Muscat’s termination package, but workings by this newspaper put the figure at around €135,000 over three years.Muscat had announced he would resign in December of last year, in t...

Former Gozo Minister Justyne Caruana has praised the policies of integrity adopted by Prime Minister Robert Abela while saying that adhering to her values has led her to take the “hardest decision” of her political life. Caruana made the ...

Former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat attended a meeting between the Office of the Prime Minister and Steward Healthcare last week, the government has confirmed. The Malta Independent on Sunday has so far not established why Muscat attended the meeting...

Kobe Bryant, the 18-time NBA All-Star who won five championships and became one of the greatest basketball players of his generation during a 20-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers, died in a helicopter crash Sunday. He was 41.Bryant died in a he...

“If Muscat plans to introduce abortion, he will find me fighting him”Abortion has been a subject of controversy for many years. As the Joseph Muscat government introduced more and more civil rights, it was inevitable that talk on the...

Nationalist MEP David Casa has again written to the the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) asking it to launch an investigation into wrongdoings by Nexia BT’s Karl Cini. In his letter to the ACCA’s head of EU Affairs, C...

Residents of Attard say that more archaeological remains have been unearthed during excavation work paving the way for the building of the Central Link project.The Attard Residents Environmental Network posted photos of what they say are remains foun...

Well-known geologist Peter Gatt has commented about the recent Facebook post by Caroline Micallef, who argued that after her home was demolished nine months ago due to neighbouring construction work, nothing has been done.The incident dates back to 2...

President George Vella told a crowd in St George's Square in Valletta that the Maltese people have once again shown the world what big hearts they have.President Vella was addressing a crowd just after the 11th edition of the annual Fun Run organised...

The removal of Lawrence Cutajar from the post of Police Commissioner last week was a positive step forward. His appointment this week as government consultant for public safety and logistics, however, took us two steps back. We must make it clear fro...

MEP Alfred Sant has voted in favour of the motion in the European Parliament regarding the Future of Europe conference but he expressed doubts on whether the Conference will be worthwhile.The European Commission is committed to holding a Conference o...

The Energy Ministry and the Opposition have taken aim at each other over Malta's renewable energy targets.The Nationalist Party on Saturday hit out at the government, arguing that the latter did not manage to reach the 10% renewable energy target for...

Three persons were injured in a crash involving three cars in Fgura on Saturday evening, the police said.The crash took place at 10.15pm in Zabbar Road, corner with St Peter Street.One of the cars was a BMW, driven by a Syrian man, aged 26, who lives...

Malta’s all new system for the appointment of its Police Commissioner has been the subject of much discussion throughout the past week.Ever since Prime Minister Robert Abela announced last Tuesday what the government will be proposing as the ne...

A Vatican cardinal at the center of a storm over a book about celibacy and the Catholic priesthood is denouncing the “brutality” of criticism directed at him and his collaborator, Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI.In an interview with Italian da...

The new virus accelerated its spread in China with 56 deaths so far, and the U.S. Consulate in the epicenter of the outbreak, the central city of Wuhan, announced Sunday it will evacuate its personnel and some private citizens aboard a charter flight...

Instead of being investigated for his shortcomings during his tenure as police chief, Lawrence Cutajar obtained a three-year job with the government, Opposition Leader Adrian Delia said this afternoon.Speaking in Gozo, Delia said hinted that there wa...

The FA Trophy match between Xewkija Tigers and Pieta Hotspurs this afternoon will be remembered not for the score or level of play showed, but for a bizarre incident that could lead to repercussions.Although Xewkija Tigers had a man sent off, they en...

It was an unusual afternoon for Prime Minister Robert Abela, who first piloted a boat for a brief stop on the island of Comino before visiting Gozo.On Comino, the PM met the three residents who permanently reside on the island, and later stopped in t...

Valletta: Collis Williams Pharmacy, 15, Republic Street; Ħamrun: Cosmed Pharmacy, Soccors, 7, St Franciscans Street in Villambrosa Street; Qormi: St George's Pharmacy, 21, Main Street; Birkirkara: St Jude Pharmacy, 213, Valley Road; Msida: Mayer...

Moviment Graffitti said today it is disappointed that although two years ago to the date, on the 25th January 2018, the then Environment Minister José Herrera, had asked for the fuel stations policy to be revised, this has not happened yet. Ex...

Foreign Minister Evarist Bartolo said this morning that Malta needs to do much more to be believed that it is working against criminals.In a post on Facebook, Bartolo said Malta’s reputation does not depend on what we say about our country.&ldq...

Former police commissioner Lawrence Cutajar has been employed by the Home Affairs Ministry as a consultant on public safety and logistics with a €31,000 yearly package.A spokeswoman for Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri told Times of Malta C...

A Maltese terrier carrying the name of the capital city is set to take part in an opera in England, British media report.Valetta, who lives in Worthing with owner Orla O’Hagan, will play singer Musetta’s trusty dog in a Theatre ...

The 11th edition of the annual Fun Run organised by the Office of the President in aid of the Malta Community Chest Fund will be held on Sunday.The activity was originally scheduled for November but it had been postponed because of bad weather. The p...

A float linking Archbisop Charles Scicluna and a Church home to child abuse, caused a whole uproar this past week, with many arguing that it is in bad taste.The float features the Archbishop, flanked by two babies with devil's horns and pointy t...

China's leader on Saturday called the accelerating spread of a new virus a grave situation, as cities from the outbreak's epicenter in central China to Hong Kong scrambled to stop the spread of an illness that has infected more than 1,200 people and ...

After two years of hard work and dedication the Alberto Marvelli Residence in Paola was opened this morning. To mark the life of a past Salesian pupil, Alberto Marvelli, the National Federation of Past Pupils and Friends of Don Bosco in partnership w...

While the government has announced a new method of appointing Police Commissioners, no one is speaking about how police chiefs should be removed, lawyer Roberto Montalto said on Indepth. Interviewed by The Malta Independent Media Consultant Rachel At...

The Superintendence of Public Health said today it is monitoring the situation of the clusters of pneumonia detected in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China and is following the advice of the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the European Centre for D...

While the State is obliged to give everyone as much freedom as possible, it also has an obligation to protect citizens from humiliation, Minister for the National Heritage, the Arts and Local Government Jose Herrera told The Malta Independent.On Thur...

China's most festive holiday began in the shadow of a worrying new virus Saturday as the death toll surpassed 40, an unprecedented lockdown kept 36 million people from traveling and authorities canceled a host of Lunar New Year events.The National He...

Lou Bondi’s contract as a government consultant will not be renewed, The Malta Independent has learnt.His contract, established by the Office of the Prime Minister, was set to expire at the end of this month.Each time there is a change of portf...

There should be a mechanism that immediately provides victim of building collapses with alternative accommodation, Prime Minister Robert Abela said on Friday. He was speaking during a visit to the offices of the Malta Developers Association in Guarda...

Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Capital Projects Ian Borg said he is not well informed about the archaeological discoveries found on a part of the Central Link project. “I have not been informed regarding the archaeological findings; ...

When Clara Massons  was in labor  with her son, a midwife climbed onto her bed and pushed down on Massons' belly, explaining that she was helping to deliver her baby. For the next few hours, the midwife and a doctor took turns pressing down...

Parliamentary Secretary Clayton Bartolo has terminated Adrian Hillman's consultancy contracts with the Malta Gaming Authority in a show of "zero tolerance" to anyone tarnishing the industry's reputation.In a tweet late on Thursday, Bartolo said the f...

Malta Developer’s Association President Sandro Chetcuti has called for the abolition of the donations to political parties system, noting that it should be replaced with a system of public financing for the parties.Speaking to Prime Minister Ro...

Infrastructure Malta (IM) and the Environment and Resources Authority (ERA) said they are collaborating to ensure that repair works at Wied Qirda in Zebbug ensure the protection of the valley.Last year, IM had launched works to remove an illegal, dec...

The Commissioner for Standards in Public Life, George Hyzler, has concluded that it would be discrimination and a breach of ethics if a minister invited some media houses but not others to press conferences.The Commissioner came to this conclusion af...

A proposal has been filed to redevelop the Mellieha Bay Hotel, increasing the number of guest rooms by over 150, from the existing 313 guestrooms to 472.Documents detailing the description of the project were filed with the Environment and Resources ...

Finance Minister Edward Scicluna filed a libel suit against former Nationalist Party leader Simon Busuttil for a post he uploaded on Twitter implying that the minister was “embroiled in a money laundering investigation.”The choice of word...

The former chairperson of the Malta Confederation of Women’s Organisations said today she hopes female Parliamentarians are not silenced by verbal abuse.Lorraine Spiteri, who has been working in favour for women's rights for 40 years, was refer...

With the education sector going through a crisis due to a lack of long-term planning, Robert Abela’s government must stop “dragging its feet” and provide the necessary security for educators and students, the Nationalist Party said....

Liquigas has requested a copy of the findings of a magisterial inquiry into the explosion of a gas cylinder earlier this month. The company said that, should the magistrate accede to this request, it will inform the public of the outcome of the enqui...