The race against the virus that causes COVID-19 has taken a new turn: Mutations are rapidly popping up, and the longer it takes to vaccinate people, the more likely it is that a variant that can elude current tests, treatments and vaccines could emer...

The authorities look to make life easier for car drivers, but refuse to cater for the needs of other road users, the president of ROTA Michelle Attard Tonna told The Malta Independent. ROTA is an NGO that advocates for cyclists and pushes the governm...

Hundreds of drivers were booked for traffic irregularities during inspections carried out by the police in the last three months of 2020, the police said in a statement.Some 7,000 vehicles were stopped by the police in inspections carried out between...

The National Book Council (NBC) appealed to the government and to the Prime Minister to ensure “unencumbered and full access” to the Mediterranean Conference Centre in order to be able to hold the Malta Book Festival on the 10th to the 14...

Innovative online casino operator Rootz LTD is celebrating the launch of its third online casino. Wheelz Casino follows hot on the heels of breakout brand, Wildz and last year’s eagerly awaited release, Caxino, building on the roaring succ...

A biker is in hospital following a collision that took place at 9.15am in Tal-Balal bypass, San Gwann.The accident involved a Kia Rio, driven by a 77-year-old man from San Gwann and a motorcycle Kawazaki z300, driven by a 28-year-old man from Birzebb...

Italian Premier Giuseppe Conte won a crucial vote in Parliament's lower house Monday night after a coalition defector's lawmakers abstained in the balloting, but he must clear a much tougher hurdle less than 24 hours later in the Senate to hold on to...

A disciplinary board has revised a decision to fail more than 250 first-year commerce students, a statement by the Faculty of Economic said.Students found to be directly involved in suspected cheating have been reprimanded and had marks deducted "acc...

Former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat has arrived at the law courts where he is to testify in proceedings on the VGH case.The case was instituted by former Nationalist Party leader Adrian Delia.Muscat had missed the last sitting in December, saying tha...

Former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said he has full confidence in the Prime Minister and the government on the way forward with regard to the privatisation of three public hospitals.He was speaking to journalists after testifying in the case brought...

Having the elderly queue for the Covid-19 vaccine is not only unacceptable, but also dangerous.On Friday afternoon, a video published on social media showed elderly people queuing outside the Gzira health centre in the rain, awaiting their Covid-19 v...

While it is still too soon to audit ongoing actions or assess the impact of Covid-19 related public health EU initiatives, these experiences can provide lessons for any future reform of the EU’s competences in this field,” according to th...

Former Opposition Leader Adrian Delia said today that former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat had confirmed in court that the Vitals group did not meet the obligations listed in the contract it signed with the Maltese government.Speaking to journalists a...

PN Leader Bernard Grech has launched a shadow cabinet reshuffle exercise, as MPs were being called in for a meeting with the leader on Monday, the Times of Malta reports.The MPs were reportedly holding one-on-one meetings with Grech, and that these m...

A court has revoked permission for former PM Joseph Muscat and his wife Michelle to participate in a perjury case against former FIAU official Jonathan Ferris, Times of Malta reports.They had previously been granted ‘parte civile’ status ...

Malta’s residency programme is being revamped, and the fees that have to be paid by beneficiaries are being more than doubled, Parliamentary Secretary Alex Muscat said on Monday.The new programme will be called Malta Permanent Residence Program...

Environmental NGOs have a number of ideas as to how they would improve the Environment and Resources Authority (ERA), from granting it a veto on planning decisions, to changing how board members are appointed.The Environment and Resources Authority h...

Oliver Scicluna has been sworn in as an MP after earlier in the day he announced that he has resigned from the role of Commissioner for Rights of Persons with Disability to take up the new role of a Labour MP.Scicluna had replaced Gavin Gulia who res...

Zlatan Ibrahimović scored twice to help 10-man AC Milan win 2-0 at Cagliari on Monday and reclaim first place outright in Serie A.Ibrahimović converted a first-half penalty and doubled his tally early in the second period. They were his fir...

Arsenal captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang finally ended his scoring drought in the Premier League with two second-half goals in a 3-0 win against Newcastle on Monday as the Gunners try to claw their way out of mid-table.Aubameyang, who hadn’t s...

154 new cases of Covid-19 were found overnight and two more patients have died, the health authorities said.There are currently 2,764 active cases out of a total of 15,742.The patients who died were two males, aged 73 and 84, who passed away at Mater...

A 2019 Labour Force Survey shows that there was an average basic pay difference of over €2,000 between Maltese and Gozitans.The data was tabled in Parliament on Monday by Finance Minister Clyde Caruana, following a parliamentary question from PN...

Lawyers and legal procurators at the Attorney General’s Office have resorted to industrial action “in the wake of the management’s refusal to start talks on a collective agreement,” UHM Voice of the Workers said.UHM said it wo...

In a discussion during a plenary session regarding a new set of proposed laws relating to the Courts of Justice, Minister for Justice, Equality, and Governance Edward Zammit Lewis said that the Courts of Justice need to be more efficient.Reducing the...

Composer and musician Sammy Galea has passed away, PBS reports.Galea, aged 86, had toured the world  and through his long career achieved success both locally and abroad.Among other things, he had composed Singing This Song, which saw Renato rep...

There are significant associations existing among University of Malta (UoM) students between fear of COVID-19 and self-reported increase in alcohol drinking as well as increase of negative emotional conditions such as depression, exhaustion and lonel...

Parliament should find more common ground when dealing with issues that would benefit the whole country as they did with Bill for Equality in House, Parliamentary Secretary Rosianne Cutajar said. “Our politics are polarised, but we need to...

Fr Fabio Attard, a Maltese priest who lives in Rome, describes the situation in Italy as ‘surreal’, saying that uncertainty looms across the nation, yet there are lessons to take from this experience, he believes.  Fr Attard is a Sal...

A planning application that will see the construction of 72 residential units and an underlying parking area right next to the Trade Fair grounds in Naxxar is set to be decided by the Planning Authority this Thursday.The proposal will see residential...

Ambjent Malta has embarked on a landscape-level habitat restoration project in Comino, which forms part of the Natura 2000 network, Minister for the Environment, Climate Change and Planning Aaron Farrugia said.The minister explained that the conserva...

A Church commission did not find any criminal offenses in relation to the local, highly controversial religious sect Kommunità Ġesu’ Salvatur (KĠS), despite finding various instances of psychological and spiritual abuse during ...

Every day, 13 Christians worldwide are killed because of their faith, 12 churches or Christian buildings are attacked, 12 Christians are unjustly arrested or imprisoned, while another 5 are abducted. Today, one in eight Christians worldwide are perse...

The Malta Chamber of SMEs welcomed the extension granted through the Central Bank of Malta's Directive regarding moratoria facilities, due to the exceptional circumstances the country is experiencing. "In effect, there is therefore once again the pos...

The Malta Police Association is wondering why its members have to deal with so much trouble in Paceville and other entertainment areas when clubs and bars are supposed to be shut.In a statement, the association said that these places should not open ...

As the wan winter sun sets over France's Champagne region, the countdown clock kicks in. Laborers stop pruning the vines as the light fades at about 4:30 p.m., leaving them 90 minutes to come in from the cold, change out of their work clothes, hop in...

Conflict of interest, along with clientelism, is one of the main problems in Maltese politics. It is an issue that crops up almost on a daily basis, mainly due to the small size of the country and the fact that ‘everyone knows everyone’ i...

The two architects involved in the construction project which Miriam Pace’s house collapsed into last March have not had their warrants to practice as architects suspended, The Malta Independent on Sunday can reveal.Roderick Camilleri, who was ...

Top management personnel at the Gozo General Hospital (GGH) have been told to start seeking employment elsewhere, in an indication that the hospital could soon go back under government management, sources have told The Malta Independent on Sunday. Th...

We’ve been told several times that the government is moving as one on the way the pandemic should be tackled.We’ve been told many times that Prime Minister Robert Abela and his deputy, Health Minister Chris Fearne, are on the same page on...

The COVID Alert Malta app will become interoperable with those of other EU Member states in the coming weeks, this newsroom is informed.Back in September of 2020, the government launched a contact tracing app under the name ‘COVID Alert Malta&r...

141 new cases of Covid-19 were found on Sunday, the health authorities said.One more patient has died, bringing the total up to 239, but details were not immediately available.There are now 2,753 active cases out of a total of 15, 588.136 people have...

Malta’s Covid-19 reproduction number now stands at 1.55 after the number of cases found in the past week increased once again, statistician Vincent Marmara told The Malta Independent on Sunday in his exclusive weekly video blog on the Covid-19 ...

With the Covid-19 UK variant that has been identified pervading the UK and wreaking havoc on the country’s healthcare systems and economy, as well as some of the toughest lockdowns in the world, residing in the UK seems to be a daunting task fr...

What we witnessed on Wednesday with Gavin Gulia’s lightning-fast resignation from Parliament was a slap in the face of our democratic system.It was a devious chess game played by the Labour Party to save face and avoid having a former PL Mayor-...

Four games without a win for the first time since 2017. Three games without scoring for the first time since 2005.The dominance of last season is becoming a distant memory for the defending Premier League champions.Liverpool's 0-0 draw with leader Ma...

Juventus’ nine-year stranglehold on the Serie A title was at risk of unraveling after a 2-0 loss at Inter Milan on Sunday.Nicolò Barella scored one goal and set up another for former Juventus midfielder Arturo Vidal as Inter moved level ...

Zejtun and Santa Lucia extended their positive streak with a low profile 1-1 draw. Both sides should and could have offered more, but in the end both were happy with the result obtained, a result that leaves Santa Lucia in a healthy mid-table positui...

Opposition Leader Bernard Grech this week came up with the most undemocratic proposal one can come up with, Prime Minister Robert Abela said on Sunday morning.He was referring to the casual election won by Gavin Gulia, who resigned his Parliamentary ...

Opposition Leader Bernard Grech said on Sunday that the government is choosing to ignore the expert opinion of doctors, leaving us with a high number of Coronavirus cases and a situation that takes us far away from normality.During a political event ...

The U.K. government plans to offer a first dose of COVID-19 vaccine to every adult by September as the nation’s health care system battles the worst crisis in its 72-year-history.Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said Sunday that the government wi...

Former Italian Premier Matteo Renzi is testing his already low popularity by provoking a political crisis that could bring down Italy's coalition government at a critical juncture in the coronavirus pandemic.Renzi orchestrated the resignations of two...

Rachel Grech, the staff nurse who became the first person to receive the Covid-19 vaccine in Malta, received the second jab on Sunday morning.Grech, who works in Mater Dei Hospital’s Infectious Diseases Unit had received her first dose three we...

Eighty years ago, Malta was going through one of the darkest chapters in its history. The 16th January 1941 would mark the start of the first air raids on the Maltese Islands by the German air force - the Luftwaffe - and what happened over the next f...

The end of the Brexit transitionary period came about in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic, with both events causing issues for mail, packages and goods being transported from the UK to Malta.MaltaPost’s Chief Operations Officer, Adrian Vassa...

A further 25 tennis players were forced into quarantine in Australia ahead of the season's first tennis major after another positive coronavirus test on a charter flight, taking the total number of competitors isolating in hotel rooms to 72 on Sunday...

A teenage girl was grievously injured after she was hit by a glass during a fight with a fellow teenager.The incident took place in St Augustine Street, St Julian’s, at 2.15am.The two 18-year-old girls, one from Siggiewi and the other from Pemb...

An Italian man and a woman are in hospital after the bike they were on was involved in a traffic accident in Fgura on Saturday afternoon.The two, both aged 63 and living in Zabbar, were involved in a crash with a Suzuki driven by a 27-year-old man fr...

The coronavirus was found on ice cream produced in eastern China, prompting a recall of cartons from the same batch, according to the government.The Daqiaodao Food Co., Ltd. in Tianjin, adjacent to Beijing, was sealed and its employees were being tes...

The driver of a New York City bus that plunged off a bridge blamed the dramatic crash on mechanical failure, saying Saturday that the tandem vehicle “just took off” as he slowed into a turn.Everton Beccan, 55, disputed the Metropolitan Tr...

Valletta: Collis Williams Pharmacy, 15, Republic Street; Ħamrun: Lister Pharmacy, 678, St Joseph High Road; Qormi: Brown's Pharmacy, 278, Victory Street; Birkirkara: Brown's Pharmacy, 32, Fleur-de-Lys Road; Msida: Regional Pharmacy, E. H. Furse ...

True to form, Betty White has something impish to say about her birthday Sunday.“Since I am turning 99, I can stay up as late as I want without asking permission!” she told The Associated Press in an email.White's low-key plans include fe...

175 new cases of Covid-19 and two Covid-19 related deaths were reported on Saturday by health authorities.67 people meanwhile have recovered, taking the total number of active cases up to yet another record: 2,749.Details about the two people to have...

The Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses has called for vaccination appointments to be more spread out after crowding and queueing was seen outside health centre on Friday, threatening industrial action if changes are not made to the current system. Th...

Robert Musumeci has been called out by the Gender-Based Violence and Domestic Violence Commission for making what they described as misogynistic comments with regards to the gender balancing mechanism that is currently being discussed in parliament.&...

In a top of the table match played at the Hibs Stadium under heavy rain Hiberians managed to win their match against Sliema Wanderers thanks to a solitary goal scored by international defender Andrei Agius nine minutes into the second half.After defe...

Four months into the season and Chelsea manager Frank Lampard appears no closer to knowing his best lineup following a $300 million offseason spending spree that delivered him a squad bursting with quality.One player he knows he cannot do without is ...

Bologna earned its first win since November by beating Hellas Verona 1-0 in Serie A on Saturday.Bologna's winless run included three defeats and five draws.Riccardo Orsolini scored from the penalty spot in the first half in Bologna after Verona goalk...

U.S. pharmaceutical company Pfizer confirmed Friday it will temporarily reduce deliveries to Europe of its COVID-19 vaccine while it upgrades production capacity to 2 billion doses per year.The EU Commission chief said she'd immediately called Pfizer...

The Gzira Local Council has taken court action against plans to relocate a fuel station in the area where one of the last standing community gardens currently exists. This project, which has long been criticised by the Local Council, was approve...

HSBC Malta has temporarily suspended it €5 customer account fee programme in view of on-going discussion with Central Bank and the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA), the Authority said in a statement today. The bank’s customer...

The global death toll from COVID-19 topped 2 million Friday, crossing the threshold amid a vaccine rollout so immense but so uneven that in some countries there is real hope of vanquishing the outbreak, while in other, less-developed parts of the wor...

While ADPD said that it agrees with the need of affirmative action to address the lack of gender balance in Parliament, they have described the government’s proposal to address this imbalance in Parliament as “both degrading and discrimin...

Professor Simone Borg will head a newly appointed steering group for the coordination of the post Covid-19 strategy, the Minister for Research, Innovation and the Co-ordination of the Post-Covid-19 Strategy Owen Bonnici announced on Saturday.&nb...

A Finnish man was grievously injured after being involved in a traffic accident on Saturday morning, police said.The police said that the incident occurred in Triq Ghar Dalam in Birzebugga between a KTM motorcycle being ridden by the 31-year-old from...

193 new cases of Covid-19 were found in the last 24 hours, again taking the number of active cases of the virus up to record heights. With 143 recoveries and another death being reported, the number of active cases now stands at 2,643. 114 ...

With more than 4,500 elderly people living in residential care homes, the government should be doing a lot more to ensure that their mental health and mental wellbeing are being looked after.The Covid-19 pandemic has had an impact on the mental wellb...

Denmark's ruling party said it would back a vote in parliament Thursday on whether a former immigration minister in the previous government can be tried before the rarely used Court of Impeachment for a 2016 order to separate asylum-seeking couples w...

Any claims about Steward Healthcare departing the Gozo General Hospital are “purely speculative”, the health operator said in a statement on Friday.Steward were reacting to claims by PN MP Chris Said, who said that it seemed like Steward ...

Police officers who test positive for Covid-19 are not being granted quarantine leave, instead being forced to use up their own sick leave, the Police Officers’ Union within the General Workers’ Union said on Friday.In a post on Facebook,...

On Friday afternoon, a video published on social media showed elderly people queued outside the Gzira health centre in the rain, awaiting their Covid-19 vaccine.The people who were waiting outside the health centre fall under the 85+ year old cohort ...

The rate of vaccination against Covid-19 will increase fourfold within nursing homes, the Minister for Senior Citizens and Active Ageing Michael Farrugia said. During a virtual meeting held on Friday with the National Association of Pensioners (...

“Our best economic opportunity is for a more digital and environmentally aware Malta, this is what the new prosperity means,” said Prime Minister Robert Abela during his address at the Business Breakfast under the name Lejn Prosperita&rsq...

The pro-Trump mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol last week aimed to "capture and assassinate elected officials," federal prosecutors said in court documents.The remarks came in a motion prosecutors filed late Thursday in the case against Jacob Chansle...

Lazio revived its chances of staying in the Champions League by convincingly beating third-placed Roma 3-0 in a Serie A derby on Friday.Luis Alberto scored twice and Ciro Immobile also found the target as Lazio controlled throughout.Lazio moved up to...

Hamrun registered another important win after defeating Sirens by a solitary goal scored eleven minutes from the end of the match.Leaders Ħamrun Spartans went into this match following a win over Mosta whereas Sirens returned to winning ways bea...

Steward Healthcare will leave the Gozo General Hospital by the end of this month, PN MP Chris Said claimed on social media on Thursday evening.In a Facebook post, Said said that the hospital will return to government hands, adding that this is a grea...

Prime Minister Robert Abela has defended his decision not to recuse himself from the Cabinet meeting during which a presidential pardon request by one of the men accused of killing Daphne Caruana Galizia was rejected.Vince Muscat ‘il-Kohhu&rsqu...

Oliver Scicluna will be co-opted to Parliament, replacing Gavin Gulia after his minute or so long return to Parliament earlier this week.This was confirmed by both Prime Minister Robert Abela and the Labour Party’s Deputy Leader Daniel Micallef...

Although it may seem Malta had fallen behind in the recycling sector in the past, any negative trends have already been addressed and reversed, Environment Minister Aaron Farrugia said on Friday.Farrugia’s statement comes days after Eurostat re...

Professor Elliot Berry, a graduate in medicine from the University of Cambridge, will be sharing his expertise on the Mediterranean Diet and its role in creating food security and good health for both humans and the planet. During his long and illust...

Some three per cent of Malta’s population has been inoculated with the Covid-19 vaccine, Health Minister Chris Fearne said, putting the country among the front-runners in Europe’s campaign against the virus.Speaking on TVM’s Xtra on...

A global team of researchers arrived Thursday in the Chinese city where the coronavirus pandemic was first detected to conduct a politically sensitive investigation into its origins amid uncertainty about whether Beijing might try to prevent embarras...

In the ongoing saga in Dingli to save the 300-year-old trees that are in danger of being chopped down, residents and activists have come together to apply for an urgent Tree Protection Order, which would give legal safeguard to these ancient trees, M...

The Vatican has confirmed that Pope Francis and Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI received the first shot of the coronavirus vaccine on Thursday.No photos of the 84-year-old pontiff and the 93-year-old retired pope receiving the shots have been released. Fr...

One of the first laws enacted by the Labour government under Joseph Muscat in 2013 was that to remove the statute of limitations on cases of corruption involving politicians.Through this law, any politicians caught in corrupt practices can no longer ...

During the fourth quarter of 2020, sea transport between Malta and Gozo registered an increase in trips and a decrease in both passengers and vehicles when compared to the corresponding quarter of 2019. A total of 876,054 passengers travelled between...

A vaccine certificate will be useful but cannot b seen as the only way people will be allowed to travel, the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association said.The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Health, Chris Fearne has in the last few days been p...

Labour MEP Alfred Sant has asked the European Commission to present a medium-term synopsis of its activity on pandemic insurance and to ensure a proper democratic debate on this crucial issue. He also called on the Commission to keep the European Par...

“I am convinced that Gavin Gulia contesting was not a devious plot to keep anyone out of Parliament,” Malta Council for Science and Technology (MCST) Chairman Jeffery Pullicino Orlando told The Malta Independent. On Tuesday, a casual...