Former OPM Chief of Staff Keith Schembri expects that he will be charged in court in the coming days over the conclusions of a magisterial inquiry, he wrote on Facebook, while maintaining that he did not do anything wrong.The post came after Schembri...

Three out of four new Covid-19 cases found this week were linked to the UK variant, Health Superintendent Charmaine Gauci said today. Speaking during her weekly briefing, Gauci said that the percentage of cases linked to the more transmissible v...

The Socialists and the Democrats have blocked a request by the EPP to hold a debate at the European Parliament on the latest developments in the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia.The EPP made the call earlier this week following the testimony given by...

The European Union's drug regulatory agency says experts have concluded that the AstraZeneca vaccine is not linked to an overall increase in the risk of blood clots and that the benefits of use outweigh the risks.The finding from the European Medicin...

A 37-year-old man from Fgura has been arrested in connection with a number of thefts from cars, the police said.The man was identified following weeks of investigations and surveillance.The thefts took place on 15 and 16 March from a car in Paola and...

Melvin Theuma had the impression that Keith Schembri chose recruits for the Security Service as shed light on more recordings played in court today.Theuma was testifying in the compilation of evidence against Daphne Caruana Galizia murder suspect Yor...

When the government introduced a ban on organised sports as part of the measures to prevent the spread of Covid-19, it resulted in a certain amount of confusion.People were reporting to newsrooms that some people were playing sports despite the ban, ...

A man has died after the roof of a public toilet in Dwejra, Gozo, collapsed in on him on Thursday morning, a police spokesperson confirmed.The victim has been identified as Charlie Attard - a 52-year-old man from Xewkija.  Police said that he wa...

Labour MEP Alex Agius Saliba has expressed his frustration with the actions of Maltese EPP MEPs Roberta Metsola and David Casa, saying that that while the rest of the European Union is focused on tackling the pandemic, they "are focusing on...

An Armed Forces of Malta (AFM) patrol boat ended up grounded in Birzebbuga, only minutes after it took to the water after maintenance was carried out on it, this newsroom is informed.Onlookers at Birzebbuga told this newsroom of how AFM patrol boat P...

Two Gozitan priests who stand charged with abusing a young altar bay have been released on bail, One News reports.Despite being named in the past, it is understood that the court has banned the publication of the names of the priests, both of whom ar...

A delegation from the Opposition has met with President of Malta George Vella to discuss the government's Bill to amend the Interpretation Act, saying that it breaches Malta's Constitution.The delegation, which was led by Opposition leader Bernard Gr...

The decision to open a spring hunting season for one bird species, the Common Quail, is “a sad ploy by the Government to allow hunters to shoot protected birds in spring,” Birdlife Malta said.The Ornis committee yesterday recommended a sp...

The Commission on gender-based violence and domestic violence shall be initiating another online awareness-raising campaign, this time about same-sex intimate partner violence (SSIPV) - #umanilkoll / #weareallhuman. The aim of this campaign is to edu...

People in Malta may have a higher level of satisfaction with jobs, finances and relationships than their European counterparts, but are then less satisfied with their use of time and leisure, according to the initial findings from the first wellbeing...

Vince Muscat has refused to name the sitting minister who he claims was involved in a “big job” that took place a few years ago, Prime Minister Robert Abela said on Wednesday.In comments to Times of Malta, Abela said he won’t act on...

The spring hunting season will open between the 10 and 30 April if the government approves the recommendation put forward by the Ornis committee.An FKNK statement revealed on Wednesday that the committee had voted in favour of recommending the openin...

Two people, both aged 75, were injured after the roof of their house collapsed overnight, police said on Thursday morning.Police said that the incident happened at around 4am in St. Paul’s Street in Sliema.Police said the preliminary investigat...

An elderly man was grievously injured in a traffic accident in Ta’ Qali on Thursday.The accident took place in Triq il-Kbira at around 9:30am, the police said.The 80-year-old, who lives in Naxxar, was driving a Mitsubishi pickup that was involv...

Spring brings with it many things in Malta – a turn of milder weather, Easter, and – of course – the ever controversial spring hunting season.This week, in what may be seen as yet another episode of de ja vu, we heard how the spring...

On a pine-covered hill above the sparkling Aegean Sea lies a boy’s grave. His first boat ride was his last — the sea claimed him before his sixth birthday.“He drowned in a shipwreck,” his gravestone reads. “It wasn&rsquo...

Helen Asciak née Degiorgio was born on 29 January 1963. She married Gordon Asciak in 1985 and they have two children, Gordon Jnr and Matthew.Helen is the youngest of five children and incidentally it was her sister Vicky who introduced her to ...

Two people were grievously injured when a car crashed into a tree in Zabbar on Wednesday evening.The accident took place on Triq il-Kunsill tal-Ewropa at around 7pm, the police said.The car, a Honda Accord, was being driven by a 35-year-old woman fro...

211 new cases of Covid-19 were reported on Wednesday as four more patients passed away in the last 24 hours.Authorities said that during the last 24 hours, three men aged 83, 68, and 62, and a woman aged 84 passed away at Mater Dei Hospital while Cov...

The Superintendent of Public Health has published a list of sporting activities that are currently allowed, as well as standards that need to be followed during such activities.This comes after measures were introduced which banned all “organis...

The number of households who can meet in a single residence has reduced from four to two, the Health Ministry said in a statement today.Answering questions during a Times of Malta Q&A, Gauci stated that a legal notice will be issued today to furt...

The compilation of evidence hearing against George and Alfred Degiorgio ended abruptly today after the defence continued to insist on having all Melvin Theuma recordings played in court before the cross-examination can continue.The magistrate ruled a...

With summer looming and tourism-reliant countries anxiously waiting for the return of a steady influx of visitors amid the coronavirus pandemic, the European Union's executive body presented a proposal Wednesday that would allow the bloc's 450 millio...

Federazzjoni Kaċċaturi Nassaba Konservazzjonisti (FKNK) has called out against a “discriminatory” project being put forward by Natalino Fenech through Kaċċaturi San Ubertu (KSU).The FKNK lamented that this project will...

Dog shelter Noah’s Ark in Mellieħa has launched a fundraiser campaign seeking to raise €10,000 in donations to refurbish the shelter’s dog pens and infrastructure to better service do...

Opposition Leader Bernard Grech has called on the government to withdraw a Bill on administrative fines and discuss the way forward with the Opposition.Grech was taking part in the debate on the bill that seeks to allow any public officer to impose a...

3,279 divorces have been registered since 2013, Minister for Home Affairs, National Security and Law Enforcement Byron Camilleri said in an answer to a parliamentary question asked by PN MP Therese Comodini Cachia.No information could be provided as ...

The reported problems with the Astra Zeneca vaccine are very few in number and are ‘likely coincidential’, the President of the Medical Association of Malta Martin Balzan told The Malta Independent.Balzan was contacted by this newsroom as...

Captain Morgan has applied to occupy the left side of Balluta Bay, taking public land for their exclusive use, NGO Moviment Graffitti has claimed. This application comes after the Planning Authority giving Captain Morgan the authority to operate...

A plan to murder  "a police officer" was being concocted at the same time that Daphne Caruana Galizia's assassins were plotting her execution, Vince Muscat has testified.Without mentioning the name, under cross-examination by parte civile lawyer...

More professional staff is being added to the contact tracing and case management teams to deal with the backlog in cases, the Ministry of Health has confirmed.This newsroom reached out to the ministry to ask about the backlog the teams are facing, a...

The daily Covid-19 figures remain high, and it does not look like they will be decreasing any time soon. While it might be a bit too early to say whether the recently introduced measures are working, it is probably safe to say that the spread of the ...

313 new cases of Covid-19 were reported on Tuesday, as three more patients passed away during the last 24 hours.Health authorities said in their daily update that two 70-year-old women and a 73-year-old man had passed away at Mater Dei Hospital while...

Prime Minister Robert Abela has asked the police to identify the minister mentioned by Vince Muscat in connection with a 'big job', which also allegesly involved Chris Cardona, Lovin Malta reports.Testifying in court on Tuesday in the Caruana Galizia...

There were 821 people detained within the Corradino Correctional Facility in February 2021, the majority of whom - 763- were men.The information was tabled in Parliament by Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri, in response to a set of parliamentary ...

In the second hearing of the Interpretation Act, opposition members of parliament Adrian Delia and Joseph Ellis expressed harsh criticism of the proposed changes with Delia threatening to challenge the changes constitutionally, in court, if it passes...

Vince Muscat's testimony in court continues to show the ties between organised crime and the Labour Government, PN MP Karol Aquilina said in a statement."For the second time in a week, testimony in court has shown Prime Minister Robert Abela's lied w...

The alleged hitmen behind the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia were also planning to murder somebody working within the police force at the same time, Vincent Muscat has told a court.Muscat – one of the three who was accused of carrying out the...

The Ministry for Finance and Employment has announced that Malta received, from the European Commission, the second tranche of €123 million nominal in financial support in the form of loan given on favourable terms under the SURE Instrument."Thi...

Suspended Parliamentary Secretary Rosianne Cutajar said she is holding the owner of Mdina property at the centre of a scandal responsible for damage to her political career.In a counter protest filed in court, Cutajar has also denied claims that she ...

The US embassy in Malta has nominated Matthew Caruana Galizia for the US Secretary of State’s International Anti-Corruption Champions award.Matthew, who is the son of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia – who was assassinated in 2017, is an...

St. Julian’s, Marsa, and Hamrun are amongst the nine localities which will be added to Malta’s community policing scheme in the coming weeks to help residents feel more secure. The extension of this community policing scheme was announced...

From Tuesday, the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA) is receiving applications for authorisation in terms of the Company Services Providers (CSP) Act. This applies to individuals and entities providing corporate services such as, the provision...

The European People's Party (EPP) Group has called for a debate to be held in the European Parliament over the revelations relating to the murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.The debate the EPP wants would include a resolution and would be he...

Infrastructure Malta is planning to reconstruct the Bugibba breakwater in order to offer safer landing facilities and a passenger terminal, Transport Minister Ian Borg announced on Tuesday.This will lead to the extension of Malta’s ferry transp...

The Parents Benefit Scheme will be reintroduced due to school closures, Minister of Finance and Employment Clyde Caruana and Minister for Social Justice and Solidarity, the Family and Children's Rights Michael Falzon announced. The scheme was also in...

Britain’s Prince Philip returned to Windsor Castle on Tuesday, following a month in the hospital during which he was treated for an infection and underwent a heart procedure.Philip, 99, the husband of Queen Elizabeth II, was admitted to the pri...

Over 86% of people over the age of 80 have been vaccinated, the Ministry of Health has announced.The statistic was shared on the Health Ministry’s Facebook page on Tuesday morning.The ministry urged those over the age of 80 who are mobile, livi...

A planning application to demolish a disused soft drinks factory in Qormi and construct flats instead is set to be decided on Thursday.The proposal deals with the disused General Soft Drinks site on Triq l-Imdina, Triq il-Vitorja and Alexandra Street...

Repubblika has again called for Commissioner of Voluntary Organisations to withdraw his conclusions regarding Repubblika, and will only then sit down with him for a discussion.Repubblika was accused of breaching NGO law through “instigating pol...

Nine European organisations have expressed their support to the Maltese government in its effort to develop new laws to ensure that the rights of sex workers are protected.“Our organisations, after careful consideration, consultation and resear...

Last week, The Malta Independent on Sunday revealed that Covid-19 contact tracing was, give or take, nine days behind.This information came from people working in contact tracing and case management, who explained that Covid-19 case management and co...

213 new cases of Covid-19 were reported by health authorities as three more patients passed away while positive for the virus,Authorities said that during the last 24 hours, two women aged 82 and 69 years and an 84-year-old man had passed away at Mat...

15% of Customs officials have received the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine, the Customs Department told The Malta Independent.An anonymous complaint was sent to this newsroom highlighting that Customs Department management failed to secure vaccina...

Malta’s iGaming industry made it to the prestigious Forbes website for all the wrong reasons on Monday as the subject of an article which decried the industry’s ties to the Daphne Caruana Galizia murder and to organised crime in Italy.The...

St Paul’s Bay had the highest number of domestic violence and theft reports in 2020, data tabled in Parliament shows.The information was provided by Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri in reply to Parliamentary Questions by PN MP Beppe Fenech...

Labour media chairman and Valletta Culture Agency boss Jason Camilleri was paid over €18,000 by the infrastructure ministry in 2018 for work related to the Ta' Qali National Park upgrading project.The information was included in a list of direct...

Businesses which have suffered during the past year due to Covid-19 should expect more measures to be introduced in the coming weeks to help them get back on their feet, Minister for Energy, Enterprise and Sustainable Development Miriam Dalli told pa...

An afforestation exercise is being carried out at L-Inħawi tar-Ramla tat-Torri u tal-Irdum tal-Madonna.This was announced by the Minister for the Environment, Climate Change and Planning Aaron Farrugia, who said that the area is in the vicinity ...

The Eurovision is back and approaching soon, and Malta has now learnt what song will be representing the country in the competition.Having been unable to represent Malta during the 2020 edition of Eurovision due to its Covid-induced cancellation, Des...

An amendment to a Legal Notice governing the closure of schools as from today empowers the Health Superintendent to allow the opening of government childcare centres, The Malta Independent can reveal.The Legal Notice was amended on Sunday. Schoo...

Medical experts are being sidelined in order for the Prime Minister to make his own decisions, Nationalist party MPs Stephen Spiteri and Claudette Buttigieg said during a press conference on the pandemic situation in Malta.In light of recent events, ...

The spike in Covid-19 cases seen in recent weeks has resulted in Malta having the third highest number cases per capita in the European Union according to data gathered and published by the European Centre for Disease Control (ECDC).In data published...

The Government and Opposition did not see eye to eye when it came to a legal draft being discussed in Parliament which gives regulatory authorities more power to impose penalties and fines without the need of courts.By introducing the legal draft 198...

The authorities fined 1,701 people over breaches of Covid-10 regulations over the past week.750 of these fines were issued by the police, while the remainder were issued LESA, the Malta Tourism Authority, Transport Malta and the Environmental Health ...

The Commissioner for Voluntary Organisations, Anthony Abela Medici, has denied claims by civil society NGO Repubblika and insisted that he has no political interference and has always acted autonomously.The NGO claims the government is trying to sile...

The Vatican decreed Monday that the Catholic Church cannot bless same-sex unions since God “cannot bless sin.”The Vatican’s orthodoxy office, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, issued a formal response Monday to a quest...

Around 90% of people with downs syndrome and severe disability will not need to go before the medical board to assess their disability in order to receive disability allowances, Minister for Social Justice Michael Falzon said, thereby reducing red ta...

Two elderly people were grievously injured in a two-car crash in San Gwann on Monday morning.The accident took place in Triq Bella Vista at around 10:30am, the police said.The casualties, an 84-year-old man and a 77-year-old woman from San Gwann, wer...

A “cherished” church organ will be transferred to Malta for it to be restored and installed at the Basilica of Christ the King in Paola. The church organ belonged to an Anglican church; Holy Trinity church in Sunderland, however this...

Cystic fibrosis patient Mandy Vella is in Mater Dei hospital and is desperate for medication to help her condition, her father Edwin Vella has said.Edwin Vella shed light on his daughter’s deteriorating condition on Facebook, where he tagged Pr...

Hibernians FC president Tony Bezzina has passed away at the age of 72. Bezzina is the longest serving president in Maltese football, having served for 43 years at the helm of Hibernians and in 2019, the State awarded him 'Ġieħ ir-Repub...

Workers at the Covid-19 case management and contact tracing units are "drained and tired" and the whole process is up to nine days behind, three workers have told The Malta Independent on Sunday.Their account of the situation contrasts starkly with s...

LGBTIQ+ people are not an ideology, MP Rosianne Cutajar said, as she welcomed an initiative to make the EU an LGBTIQ Freedom Zone. Prime Minister Robert Abela also welcomed the intiative, saying that “equality and human rights are a fundamental...

The tragic murder of Sarah Everard in London has sent shockwaves through the UK, and ignited a renewed debate about violence against women on a global scale.On March 3, Sarah Everard – a 33-year-old marketing executive – left her friend&r...

The Covid-19 reproduction number, also known as the r-factor, is currently 1.4, statistician Vincent Marmara told The Malta Independent on Sunday in his weekly video blog.The reproduction number of the virus is one of the key figures which ...

268 new cases of Covid-19 were reported on Sunday as another patient passed away while positive for the virus, health authorities said.An 89-year-old man passed away at Mater Dei Hospital in the previous 24 hours, becoming Malta’s 351st victim ...

Although a number of medical specialist associations have welcomed the recent measures to curb the spread of the Covid-19 virus, they have insisted that household gatherings are curtailed over the Easter period. The associations stated that only...

Activist Godfrey Leone Ganado stoked anger after writing degrading and misogynistic insults at TVM Head of News Norma Saliba on a Facebook comments board on Sunday.Leone Ganado commented below a live broadcast of an interview Saliba was conducting wi...

All the countries around the globe are in the race to reach herd immunity by vaccinating against Covid-19 so that no more people succumb to the virus, and so that life could return to normal. Some countries have yet to start, while some - if they man...

Prime Minister Robert Abela said on Sunday that that “despite the challenges that the country and its people are facing due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the reality that we will defeat and overcome it, still exists.” Abela was speaking ...

Ireland has temporarily halted its use of the AstraZeneca jab after some reports of blood clots in vaccinated people.Ireland's Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Dr Ronan Glynn, recommended "the administration of Covid-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca be temporaril...

Stronger border screening at all of Malta’s entry points could have kept the UK variant out of the country, PN leader Bernard Grech said.The UK variant today is the main driver behind the record increase in Covid-19 cases in Malta, with health ...

The Chamber of Advocates was 'kept in the dark' by the government when it introduced the Bill to regulate the Legal Profession, the President and Secretary General of the Chamber said, adding that what is contained in the Bill is very different to wh...

While all children have had their learning impacted by Covid-19, 14-year-old Carla Cutajar remains one of the few children who hasn't attended school in a year. She hasn't seen her friends, participated in any dance classes, participated in any swimm...

The historic city of Ħaż-Żebbuġ is one of the oldest settlements in Malta. Said to be named after the large olive groves that were once to be found in the area, its motto 'Semper Virens', or 'ever green', aptly describes the beaut...

298 new cases of Covid-19 were found overnight, and four patients have died, the health authorities said.The number of active cases currently stands at 3,144 and the total number of cases is 26,267.The patients who died were; 2 males aged 72 and 74 w...

An American man died on Friday evening after he fell inside his own residence in Senglea.The accident took place in an apartment block in Misraħ Dom Mawru Inguanez at around 8pm, the police said.The man, 59, tripped and fell down the stairs. He ...

The government should invest in a swab testing machine for Gozo and should also set up a dedicated contact tracing team on the island, the Nationalist Party said.In a statement signed by PN MP Chris Said, the PN said the government’s “irr...

Valletta: New British Dispensary, 109/110,St John Street; Marsa: San Raffael Pharmacy, 247, Qormi Road; Qormi: Pinto Pharmacy, 43, St Sebastian Street; Birkirkara: Rational Pharmacy, 74/75, Valley Road; Msida: Mayer Pharmacy, 33, Ta’ Xbiex Seaf...

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Many of the people appointed to prominent roles by Joseph Muscat, or who the former Prime Minister surrounded himself with, have been embroiled in serious scandals and have been forced to step down in disgrace.Many of them have been, or still are, th...

The leaders of Austria, Slovenia, the Czech Republic, Latvia and Bulgaria are calling for talks among European Union leaders about the distribution of vaccines within the 27-nation bloc.Austrian media reported Saturday that the five leaders wrote a j...

A man held up a shop in Cospicua on Saturday afternoon and made off with an undisclosed amount in cash.The case took place in Triq l-Oratorju at around 1.15pm, the police said. The man, who was allegedly armed with a knife, ran off after the cas...

The Maltese Indigenous Trees and Shrubs Nursery project administered by the FKNK has been chosen by the European Federation for Hunting and Conservation (FACE) as project of this month of March 2021 as part of the FACE Biodiversity Manifesto.Every mo...