The Council of Europe has confirmed that Malta has passed the Moneyval assessment, with the country no longer having any “non-compliant” or “partially compliant” ratings.In a statement, the Council of Europe said that Malta ha...

European Union search and rescue (SAR) authorities have worked to ‘pull back’ migrants away from Maltese shores, a recent study from the United Nations has found.The study, titled ‘“Lethal Disregard”: Search and rescue a...

The European Union took on vaccine producer AstraZeneca in a Brussels court on Wednesday and accused the drugmaker of acting in bad faith by providing shots to other nations when it had promised them for fast delivery to the EU's 27 member countries....

Transport Malta said today that one of its officials last Saturday was assaulted in Mriehel.The incident happened in Triq l-Imdina, Mrieħel, where an agency official “was assaulted by employees of a contractor carrying out roadworks”...

As long as the Maltese have their pastizzi, get a few vouchers from the government every now and then and can watch the Eurovision Song Contest, then they are able to close their eyes to all the bad things that happen in this country.This is, general...

Belgium on Wednesday suspended the use of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine for people under age 41 following the death of a person who had received the shot.The government said in a statement it was asking for urgent advice from the Europea...

A restoration project at Chadwick Lakes is bearing fruit and the number of visitors to the site has been increasing significantly on an ongoing basis, according to a statement issued by the Energy and Water Agency and by Nature Trust Malta-FEE, The a...

President of Malta George Vella has spoken about the sense of pride that the people of Malta and Gozo should have for places of invaluable historical, strategic, and cultural nature such as the St Agatha Tower, also known as the Red Tower.During a vi...

Paul Apap Bologna remained silent when asked about Kittiwake Limited, a company which was allegedly set up to funnel money in the United Arab Emirates.Kittiwake Limited is one of the companies that was allegedly involved in money-laundering. Times of...

A public survey into whether Valletta's Royal Opera House should be roofed is expected to yield results in a few weeks' time, Minister for the National Heritage, the Arts and Local Government told The Malta Independent.Back in 2019, ex-Finance Minist...

 The penalty shootout was going badly for Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea in the Europa League final, beaten by every Villarreal player who stepped up to the spot.At 11-10, it got dramatically worse.The shootout — after a 1-1 dra...

Seven new Covid-19 cases were registered today, while six patients have recovered, health authorities said.The number of active cases is now 69.There was also one death reported, a 60-year-old man, who takes the total number of victoms to 419.In all,...

The Ministry for Finance and Employment said that yesterday, Malta received from the European Commission the nominal amount of €177 million in financial support in the form of loans given on favourable terms under the SURE Instrument. These loan...

The EU has a long-standing commitment to gender equality. But too little has been done to mainstream gender: in other words, to systematically and actively promote gender equality in policy-making and in spending the EU budget. Necessary prerequisite...

Opposition leader Bernard Grech today pledged that a Nationalist party in government would give back €50 million to consumers after reports have shed light on the fact that they could have paid “extra charges” on their electricity an...

An investigation has been launched after concerns were raised about the possibility of taxpayer money being spent to boost Destiny’s Eurovision odds with bookmakers. Minister Carmelo Abela ordered an audit of expenditure after he received repo...

Countries reliant on tourism are racing to reopen borders and revive economies decimated by the pandemic.The World Travel & Tourism Council estimates that the sector lost nearly $4.5 trillion and 62 million jobs last year. Airlines alone lost $12...

Inter Milan coach Antonio Conte left the newly-crowned Serie A champion by “mutual consent” Wednesday, just weeks after leading the Nerazzurri to their first league title in more than a decade.Conte was reportedly unhappy about the club&r...

Healthcare workers employed with Steward Health Care have called on the government to honour its promise and transfer them to the public healthcare system.All employees who on 1 January of this year should have been transferred from Steward Health Ca...

A man was arrested by the police in connection with an investigation into trafficking of weapons.The man, aged 41 of Birzebbuga, was arrested on Tuesday afternoon after the police were tipped off.Officials from the Major Crimes Unit and Rapid Interve...

Former Olympic swimmer Neil Agius announced that he will be attempting to swim from Tunisia to Sicily, covering a 150km open water world record distance in under 60 hours.Agius will swim an additional 50km when compared to his 2020 Sicily to Malta sw...

Works on a state-of-the-art aquatic sports facility in the north of the island are at an advanced stage and will be completed in time for the summer season. This was announced by Minister for the Environment, Climate Change and Planning Aaron Fa...

Representatives from the European Commission and OLAF today applauded Malta’s EU funds management, Labour MEP Cyrus Engerer said. “They confirmed that their experience working with Maltese authorities in this regard has been a positi...

UEFA has opened disciplinary cases against Super League rebels Real Madrid, Barcelona and Juventus that could lead to bans from the Champions League.Proceedings are now active for “a potential violation of UEFA’s legal framework," UEFA sa...

The family of the late Miriam Pace, who died tragically in a construction incident in March 2020 in Santa Venera, have signed a settlement agreement with the developers of the project MCZMC Developers Limited.54-year-old Pace was tragically killed on...

The residents of Ħal-Farruġ and eleven NGOs reiterate their objection to the demolition of an existing farm on ODZ to be replaced by a warehouse complex. Over 600 objections, including by the Saint Sebastian’s firework factory and the...

Over the past few weeks the situation with regard to the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic in Malta has improved tremendously.In March, we reached a peak of having more than 500 cases registered in one single day, the number of people in hospital was h...

Pardoned middleman Melvin Theuma had been told that an individual involved in freemasonry had to pay Vince Muscat €100,000 for Daphne Caruana Galizia’s murder.Theuma was testifying on Tuesday in the compilation of evidence against alleged ...

The Maltese government is ready to ship the 1.2 billion dinars currently held in Malta to be used for "the good and wellbeing of the Libyan people who have endured so much suffering over the years," Foreign Affairs Minister Evarist Bartolo  has ...

Three new cases of Covid-19 were reported on Tuesday, as an elderly woman passed away.Authorities said that a 77-year-old woman had passed away at Mater Dei Hospital in the last 24 hours.Five people meanwhile have recovered from the virus, meaning th...

A Marsaxlokk restaurant has denied ever installing or finding secret cameras in its restrooms.It comes after it emerged in court on Monday that police had found over 14,000 photos of women in the possession of Albert Buttigieg – the restaurant&...

Former Inter and Italy defender Tarcisio Burgnich has dies, aged 82, Italian media report.Considered as one of the best ever defenders produced by Italy, Burgnich started his career with Juventus before moving on to Inter, where he formed part of the...

Magistrate Donatella Frendo Dimech slammed the prosecution for presenting boxes of paperwork in the money laundering case against Nexia BT.The magistrate refused to accept three large boxes of documentary evidence, telling prosecution that they shoul...

Over 35,000 non-Maltese people have been vaccinated in Malta and contributed to Malta's successful vaccine rollout, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Health Chris Fearne confirmed on Tuesday.Fearne shared the statistic while responding to a parl...

Minister for the National Heritage, the Arts and Local Government José Herrera today launched a new scheme to financially aid feast associations, in order to make the sector more resilient during challenging times.Up to €150,000 will be g...

Tottenham and Roma are starting on the road to Tirana next season.The two clubs that recently fired and hired Jose Mourinho are the highest-ranked entries in the list being finalized this week for the inaugural Europa Conference League — the th...

A number of initiatives have been launched by Minster for Energy, Enterprise and Sustainable Development Miriam Dalli to support enterprises to invest in sustainable and energy efficient operations. The initiatives were launched during a press c...

The European Union agreed Monday to impose sanctions on Belarus, including banning its airlines from using the airspace and airports of the 27-nation bloc, amid fury over the forced diversion of a passenger jet to arrest an opposition journalist.Reac...

Moderna said Tuesday its COVID-19 vaccine strongly protects kids as young as 12, a step that could put the shot on track to become the second option for that age group in the U.S.With global vaccine supplies still tight, much of the world is struggli...

Gozo residents can travel to Valletta and back using Gozo Fast Ferry Ltd's high-speed passenger service for €4.50 from June 1, while anyone with a Tallinja adult or student card can make the return trip for €7.99. Passengers in possess...

It’s crunch time for the European Commission in its legal battle with drugmaker AstraZeneca.At loggerheads for months with the Anglo-Swedish pharmaceutical company it accuses of failing to deliver the promised number of COVID-19 vaccine doses, ...

A man was grievously injured after he was hit by a car in Gzira on Monday afternoon.The police said the accident took place at the Ferries at 6pm.The man, aged 56 of Gzira, was hit by a Mercedes driven by a 51-year-old Egyptian who resides in Sliema....

Two Italian men who were riding as passengers were injured after two cars collided in Gudja.The police said the accident took place in Aviation Avenue on Monday at 2pm.The accident involved an Opel Astra, driven by a 65-year-old man of Gudja, and a T...

Political tribalism in this country is not something to be proud of.Too long have people declared themselves red or blue, despite whether they actually agree with their party’s stances.Malta has a tendency to treat its political parties like fo...

Malta will acheive its herd immunity target by tonight, Health Minister Chris Fearne announced on Monday afternoon.He said that by Monday night, 70% of Malta's adult population will have received at least one dose of the vaccine, hence meaning that t...

Independent MP Marlene Farrugia has invited the government to devise an assembly of citizens to discuss the decriminalisation of abortion, after Malta’s two major political parties refused to discuss the matter in parliament.Farrugia advised th...

The Nationalist Party has proposed the repatriation of foreign prisoners, and reforms to the parole system and to the use of preventive arrests, amongst other things in relation to the Corradino Correctional Facility.The proposals emerged in a press ...

Speaker Anglu Farrugia said he is unable to force ministers to disclose who is employed as a person of trust within their ministries, after facing persistence from the Opposition on Monday.Speaking in Parliament during question time, Opposition MPs D...

The Commissioner for Standards in Public Life received a total of 70 complaints up to 31 December 2020 since its creation, 41 of which were received in 2020.The information was revealed in the Commissioner’s annual report which was tabled in Pa...

PN MP Mario Galea has filed a report calling for a police investigation into online abuse against the Commissioner of Animal Welfare Alison Bezzina.Speaking during the second reading of the Animal Welfare (Amendment) Bill in Parliament, Galea showed ...

Brothers George and Alfred Degiorgio claimed they have “direct, clear and credible” information that implicates Minister Carmelo Abela in the 2010 HSBC heist.In a judicial protest filed by their lawyer William Cuschieri, the brothers are ...

Thousands of photos of women taken by secret cameras placed in a female toilet were found on the electronic devices of Albert Buttigieg, who is charged with money laundering.The shocking testimony was given in court on Monday as the case against Butt...

The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) has declared “case closed” over allegations that one of the members of the band which won the Eurovision snorted cocaine after being declared as winners of the contest.The allegations were that one of...

939 people were fined in the past week for breaching Covid-19 regulations, health authorities said on Monday.The vast majority – 724 of those – were fined because they were not wearing a face-mask in public places.128 people meanwhile wer...

Paramedics recall finding Carmel Chircop’s lifeless body on the dayof the murder The compilation of evidence against brothers Adrian and Robert Agius, known as Tal-Maksar, and their associates Jamie Vella and George Degiorgio continued on ...

Two new cases of Covid-19 were registered on Monday, as the number of active cases continues to drop.11 new recoveries were reported, meaning that the number of active cases now stands at 72. There have been no new deaths and the total number of deat...

The works on the quay next to the Marfa Breakwater will stop on 14 June and resume after the summer season, Infrastructure Malta told the Malta Independent.Infrastructure Malta spokesman Brian Meli explained that in preparation for this project, a sm...

Western outrage grew and the European Union threatened more sanctions Monday over the forced diversion of a plane to Belarus in order to arrest an opposition journalist. The dramatic gambit apparently ordered by the country’s authoritarian pres...

A planning application that proposes the embellishment of the Spinola Garden and Paceville street is set to be decided on Thursday.“The site is located within the development zone boundary of St Julian’s, and incorporates Paceville Street...

The Office of the Commissioner for Children said on Monday that it supports the position that cannabis cultivation and use should remain illegal for minors and very young adults, but also adds that the proposed safeguards might not go far enough.&ldq...

Although 2020 was primarily characterised by the COVID-19 pandemic, Identity Malta Agency resumed operations by shifting online and taking the appropriate health measures to protect the wellbeing of its staff and the general public, the 2020 Annual R...

There have been a number of misconceptions about the Free Independent Traveller (FIT) Scheme.Through the FIT scheme, the government promised to provide financial support to foreign tourists who book at a hotel forming part of the scheme, the amount b...

MaltaPost has warned its customers to be careful about fradulent messages and scams tricking customers into giving out bank and personal information. Lately we have received multiple reports from customers involving delivery and online shopping scams...

A woman was grievously injured after she was hit by a car in Gzira on Sunday afternoon.The police said the accident took place in Sliema Road at 6pm.The woman, aged 33 and a resident in Gzira, was hit by a Mazda Demio driven by a 24-year-old man of M...

An image emerged on Saturday of Exiles beach covered in litter. The spot is popular for gatherings during the summer months. It must be noted that public gatherings of over four people are currently prohibited, and one hopes that people continue to a...

During 2020, NDSF (The National Development and Social Fund “NDSF” and “Fund”) received €27.8 million from Community Malta Agency, so that the total amount of proceeds received from inception to-date amounts to €599....

France may introduce stricter coronavirus restrictions for British visitors when tourism reopens this summer to prevent the spread of a worrying virus variant first detected in India and causing concern in Britain, authorities sai...

India crossed another grim milestone Monday of more than 300,000 people lost to the coronavirus as a devastating surge of infections appeared to be easing in big cities but was swamping the poorer countryside.The milestone, as recorded by India's hea...

President George Vella is set to approve the nomination of four new magistrates this week. He has received a shortlist of the names from the Judicial Appointments Committee, Times of Malta reports.As from this year, members of the judiciary are appoi...

The Court of Appeal has upheld a decision which found that HSBC passed on unauthorised information of one of its employees to the Malta Union of Bank employees.The person in question had filed a complaint with the Data Protection Commissioner, who fo...

The Italian glam rock band that won the Eurovision Song Contest returned home Sunday to the adulation of fans, congratulations from the government and so much speculation that the lead singer had snorted cocaine during the show that he vowed to take ...

Political tribalism has set this country back, and it’s time to completely shake it off, PN MP and Spokesperson for Political Renewal, Research and Innovation Claudio Grech told The Malta Independent on Sunday. Recently, the PN announced a new ...

Talks between the government, Air Malta and the European Commission on the airline’s request for state aid could last several more weeks, The Malta Independent has learnt. Finance Minister Clyde Caruana travelled to Brussels this week to contin...

British health officials expressed optimism Sunday that the coronavirus restrictions remaining in England can be lifted in June after an official study found that the Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines offer effective protection against the variant firs...

Family lawyer and former chair of the pro-divorce movement Deborah Schembri said that the introduction of divorce in Malta has not resulted in any negative effects over the last 10 years since the referendum in 2011. On the contrary, the situation ha...

It has been 10 years since a referendum paved the way for the introduction of divorce legislation in Malta.Until then, only legal separation had been acknowledged by Maltese Civil Courts, which meant that couples could not free themselves of each oth...

A cable car taking visitors to a mountaintop view of some of northern Italy's most picturesque lakes plummeted to the ground Sunday and then tumbled down the slope, killing 14 people. The lone survivor, a young child, was hospitalized in serious cond...

Even though the Premier League finale produced oscillating fortunes in the chase for the Champions League, a chaotic season ended fairly predictably on Sunday.Liverpool and Chelsea squeezed out Leicester to secure top-four finishes that seemed out of...

Seven-time European champion AC Milan is back in the Champions League after an eight-year break. And Juventus also narrowly qualified on the final night of Serie A on Sunday.Two penalties from Franck Kessie helped Milan to a 2-0 win at Atalanta, whic...

Five new Covid-19 cases were registered on Sunday, as eight people recovered.The number of active cases now stands at 81. No new deaths were registered, with the total standing at 417.468,829 doses of the Covid-19 vaccines have been administered thus...

Prime Minister Robert Abela stressed the importance of reopening Malta slowly, so as to avoid any situations which would require the country to backtrack on restrictive measures that have been eased.Lately, there have been calls from the entertainmen...

Opposition Leader Bernard Grech has said that Prime Minister Robert Abela's position on Minister Carmelo Abela "is weak".He was referring to the PM's position on the investigations into the failed 2010 HSBC heist and alleged links to Minister Carmelo...

Garry Eaton, a 57-year-old English man was reported missing to the Police.He was last seen near his residence in Mellieha. Anyone with information is asked to pass it on to the police, even confidentially, by calling  21 224001 / 119.

Max Verstappen took the lead in the Formula One championship race for the first time in his career with a dominating victory Sunday at the Monaco Grand Prix, his first win on the vaunted circuit.Verstappen took control of the race right at the start ...

There were at least 300 divorces every year between 2013 and 2019, while the number of marriages remained significantly higher.It was 10 years ago this week that a referendum on the introduction of divorce was held in Malta, with the majority voting ...

A 25-year-old motorbike rider from Birkirkara was grievously injured after falling off his bike.The accident occurred at 10.30am in the area of Hemsija, Attard. He was taken to Mater Dei Hospital.Police are investigating the case.

A disappointing televoting result led to Destiny finishing in 7th place in the Eurovision Song Contest Final.Destiny, with her song Je me casse, had started out the competition as one of the hot favourites to win, but a scintillatingly strong perform...

A four-piece band of Italian rockers won the Eurovision Song Contest in the early hours of Sunday, giving one of the countries hit hardest in Europe by the coronavirus pandemic reason to cheer.Maneskin’s win was only Italy’s third victory...

Malta is set to open its 2021 summer tourism season in the coming days, in hopes of reviving this sector which has been decimated by the Covid-19 pandemic. For weeks, the Government has said that it wants to promote Malta as the ideal country where t...

Walking around the streets of our capital city, one cannot help constantly coming across several reminders of food, almost around every corner. No, I am not talking about the large number of restaurants that are to be found in Valletta, but memories ...

Speculation over the quality and quantity of rehabilitation programmes available for prisoners in Malta has been the at the centre of many debates. The Malta Independent on Sunday contacted the Ministry for Home Affairs to get to the bottom of things...

World football was put on notice by FIFA president Gianni Infantino to imagine — and maybe expect — big changes to its international competitions in the coming years.FIFA agreed to study whether the men’s and women’s World Cup...

The r-factor for Covid-19 stands at around 0.28, which is one of the lowest since the start of the pandemic, statistician Vince Marmara said.In the past week, we have seen a decrease in the number of active cases concerning Covid-19. We also had only...

Former Allied Newspapers Managing Director Adrian Hillman “always intended to come to Malta voluntarily”, his lawyer is quoted as saying.MaltaToday reports a statement issued by Hillman’s lawyer Stefano Filletti saying that Hillman ...

Floriana: Vilhena Pharmacy, 3, St Anne Street; Ħamrun: Cosmed Pharmacy, Soccors, 7 St Franciscans Street in Villambrosa Street; Qormi: Drugshop Dispensary, Vjal De La Cruz; Birkirkara: St Jude Pharmacy, 213, Valley Road; Msida: Deby's Pharmacy, ...

Two new Covid-19 cases were registered on Saturday, with the number of active cases dipping to 84.For the 15th day running, no deaths were recorded, for the total to remain at 417.In all, there have been 30,449 cases in Malta, with 29,998 patients re...

Some 30,000 people downloaded the consumer vouchers offered by the government as part of an economic recovery campaign.Economy Minister Silvio Schembri said on Facebook that 30,000 had downloaded the vouchers in the first 24 hours since the campaign ...

A motorcyclist was grievously injured in a traffic accident in Luqa on Saturday afternoon, the police said.The accident took place in Giuseppe Garibaldi Street at 1.35pm.The biker, a 51-year-old man of Naxxar, was riding a Peugeot Tweet which was inv...

Two men drowned after finding themselves in difficulty while swimming at St Paul’s Bay early this morning, the police said.The two, both of Nigerian nationality, were swimming in the area known as Dawret il-Gzejjer just after midnight.The polic...