Italian police have arrested Benedetto Bacchi known as "Ninì", nicknamed the King of Slot Machines. He was part of the Palermo Cosa Nostra. He was arrested with another 30 suspects the closure of 50 slot machine outlets and the arrest of 4 million euro. Benedetto Bacchi ran an operation of some 700 outlets generating a [...]

The Guardian marks the beginning of a regulatory investigation into the supervision of Pilatus Bank. The European Banking Authority is acting on requests from the European Commission and the European Parliament. Because that's what regulators do when they receive reports of alleged wrong doings in an organisation within their competence. They look into them. They don't [...]

If the government is serious about protecting media freedoms in Malta here is expert advice on how it can be done. Not holding my breath.

I wrote yesterday that Panama-company-owning, oil-procurement-interfering, alleged-hospital-contract-fixing, reported-boat-purchase-commission-making, alleged-power-station-collusion-crook, Minister Konrad Mizzi was walking buddies with Darren Casha who spent a long time away from the country running from creditors. It looks like there's a proper bromance going on here, a mutual admiration society of two. Does Konrad Mizzi think there are no further depths [...]

This government is an embarrassment. David Casa published the response the government sent to the European Parliament for its damning rule of law report. The general sense of the reply was ‘you’re idiots, we’re fine, there’s nothing we can learn about rule of law, bugger off’. If you want the details a link to the [...]

The following is a statement by MEPS from across the political spectrum of the European Parliament denouncing reports in the Cypriot media -- carried with conviction of fact by Labour journalists here -- slandering Maria Efimova who corroborated other eye witness accounts of wrongdoing at Pilatus Bank. Brussels, 02 February 2018 Joint Statement Recently, several reports [...]

Updated 16:00. A copy of the actual decision by Magistrate Joe Mifsud is here. The premises for his conclusion are carefully documented so perhaps there may be alternative analyses of his reasoning. 30_01_2018-3_2018-109986 I’ve known Magistrate Joe Mifsud for many years. He was my first boss when he headed news at Bay Radio. I was 15 [...]

I wish to pay tribute to the young lad who stood in front of the President and spoke to her about what really matters. I have spent the last 4 months lamenting that most protesters for justice and rule of law had wrinkles and white hair, or beards. A copy of his speech is here. [...]