The process to award a rental subsidy to eligible people is to be hastened, reducing it from about four months to four weeks, the Parliamentary Secretary for Social Accommodation said. Read: Brochure reveals Malta's rental rates Roderick Galdes said he was conscious of the challenges and problems applicants with low income faced ...

Updated 2.20pm - Added video Five men and and eight women this morning pleaded not guilty to a series of thefts which took place in recent months. They were also charged with forming part of an organised crime ring. The 13 men and women, all Bulgarians and whose ages range between 21 and ...

It is to be expected.Almost half the readers who have so far taken part in an online poll on The Malta Independent website have indicated traffic as the most pressing problem the government should address in the budget for 2018.The traffic situation has deteriorated badly in the last few years, ...

Sultana has followed the Prime Minister’s comments with disbelief. While fielding questions from the press on Tuesday night, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said that thanks to a change in the law during the previous legislature, he can only close the hunting season upon advice from the Ornis Committee.A follow-up story ...

The following are the top stories in national newspapers today. Times of Malta says the Ombudsman is questioning once again whether the employment of people from outside the public service on a ‘position of trust’ basis is in line with the Constitution. In another story, it quotes Prime Minister Joseph Muscat ...

The Malta Band Clubs’ Association has just been awarded the prestigious European Citizen’s Prize for 2017 by the European Parliament. The Maltese members of the European Parliament had nominated it for the prize on the 70th anniversary of its formation in recognition of its promotion of cross-border musical cooperation in ...

Trade unions were against health and safety issues on the workplace, but have now understood their importance to safeguard workers, Occupational Health and Safety Authority chief executive officer Mark Gauci said.Interviewed by The Malta Independent online editor Stephen Calleja on Indepth, Gauci recalled a day when a prominent trade unionist ...

A major dilemma facing small member EU states like Malta, Cyprus, Ireland and Demark is that while it is in their interests that the EU strengthens controls on security and on  tax evasion, these same member states want to maintain their sovereignty to secure their soverignty on national governance involving ...

A global conference to better protect marine life has raised more than $7 billion and won commitments to protect huge swathes of the Earth's oceans.The European Union, which organized the Our Ocean conference in the Maltese capital of Valletta, its 28 member states and its EIB investment bank gave almost ...

Buckets of water were not enough to cool a few hot heads on campus this afternoon, as the University of Malta's annual water fight turned rowdy. The event - an annual tradition which pits law student association ELSA against its architecture equivalent SACES - is known for its high-spirited nature, with ...

Economy Minister Chris Cardona’s closest aides have been given new appointments, the Times of Malta is informed. Dr Cardona appointed Mario Azzopardi, the head of his private secretariat under the previous Labour administration, as his advisor. Dana Farrugia, his private secretary, has also been nominated board member of Malta Enterprise, the government’s ...

BirdLife Malta is urging the Prime Minister to take a decision on the autumn hunting season after a protected bird, a buzzard, was shot down and found by two students at St. Edward’s College.The incident is similar to that of April 2015, where another protected bird was found, prompting the ...

Principal permanent secretary Mario Cutajar announced today that out of all budget measures announced for 2017, 70 per cent have been implemented.He was addressing a press conference during which an extensive publication providing an account of all the 2017 budget measures and what stage of implementation they are in. The ...

Minister for Equality and European Affairs Helena Dalli this afternoon said that at this point she would not consider introducing paid vacation leave for women seeking to have an abortion abroad. Dalli, together with Minister for Health Chris Fearne were addressing a news conference following yesterday’s objection by PN on ...

It was on 1 November 1967, that Maltese diplomat Arvid Pardo delivered his historic speech to the United Nations General Assembly urging the nations of the world to draw up new regulations ensuring peace at sea, preventing further pollution and protecting ocean resources.His proposal that the seabed constitutes the common ...

Following the launch of Malta’s first 4G+ mobile network, Vodafone Malta now brings the country its first ever glimpse of the future by showcasing the foundations for 5G technology  and trialling breakthrough ‘gigabit speeds’ of 1,000 Mbps on its mobile network.This landmark speed, which is a whopping eight times the ...

Nationalist Party leader Adrian Delia has been sworn in as Opposition Leader this evening by President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca.After the swearing in ceremony, Delia has said that, had he been Prime Minister today, he would take strong and necessary measures to ensure that the illegal hunting of protected birds no ...

The Malta Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry together with Bank of Valletta plc held Start-Up Strong, Tools for Success, as part of SME Week Malta 2017 on Wednesday. The event was aimed at encouraging young people to take the startup route and become entrepreneurs. During the event the Malta Chamber ...

The origin of foreign millionaires buying a Maltese passport cannot be revealed as it may prejudice the government’s diplomatic relations with other counties, according to Identity Malta. Identity Malta’s decision not to release such information was supported by the Data Protection Commissioner, who was brought into the picture by the Times ...

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the bosses of Melita Ltd and Vodafone Malta have portrayed the proposed Melita acquisition of Vodafone Malta as a positive development for competition in the telecommunications industry in Malta. Unfortunately for Maltese consumers, this claim appears largely unfounded. For the reasons set out below, the Office for Competition within ...