German songwriter Philip Boa has declared himself “alienated from his second home” Malta in interviews released to German media on the occasion of the release of his new album “Earthly Powers”. The album is named after a 1980 novel by Anthony Burgess, another artist alienated from Malta who fictionalised his experience of Malta’s state-mandated [...]

If you're one to look away from Facebook because of the vile inanities on it, I don't blame you. But sometimes, just sometimes, you need to know what your fellow countrymen are prepared to say when they stumble on something they disagree with. Earlier this week I posted a link to my post inviting people to [...]

Sent in by card-carrying members of the PN known to me: Dr Delia you owe us an explanation about the it-Torċa interview In Malta, the wife of the leader of a political party does not have any political role. We are not the United States of America, we do not have a presidential system. We [...]

  The story of the migrants paying €200 a month for a shared cowshed set people talking about racism. And of course, there’s a lot to be said about that. Aditus Foundation spoke to Times of Malta suggesting there could be more to the story and urging the authorities to investigate possible slavery and human [...]

John Vassallo’s article in The Sunday Times yesterday is vital reading. I will highlight one point he makes towards his conclusion which cannot be missed. “It is an enigma at best that the Finance Ministry, police, financial services authorities or even the top echelons of executive power did not immediately run to a magistrate and [...]

Venezuela was a favourite investment destination of Keith Schembri Records of Keith Schembri’s investment portfolio seen by this website show he was personally invested in the sovereign wealth funds of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. Through his company Colsons, Keith Schembri invested just under $20,000 in Venezuela state-issued bonds expecting a return of 12.75% and [...]

The Financial Times yesterday reported on the expected “Brussels crackdown on EU governments” on citizenship for sale scheme with a particular emphasis on Malta “as concerns mount about so-called dirty money from Russia”. Commissioner Vera Jourova was explicit. “In cases of any doubt, a person should not have the privilege of citizenship,” Ms Jourova told [...]

A jury trial for Ali Sadr Hasheminejad has been set for 6th May 2019 at 09:30 am starting with jury selection before Judge Andrew L. Carter Jr. The trial will be held in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York in lower Manhattan. Ali Sadr was indicted for multiple counts of [...]

Diego Giudice/Bloomberg News Venezuela state-owned oil company PDVSA is at the heart of a new money laundering investigation connecting Malta to Venezuela after two alleged participants in a billion-dollar international scheme to launder funds embezzled from the company using sophisticated false-investment schemes were arrested yesterday. The scandal was first reported in Malta by [...]

Nickie Vella de Fremeaux is disappointed with how it-Torċa covered their interview with her. She says they trashed a text she approved and published what they wanted. So this morning she published on Facebook her own version of that interview. The country has bigger fish to fry than the outbursts of Nickie Vella de Fremeaux. [...]

Guest post from Andrew Borg-Cardona: I was in two minds (to go with my two faces, if my critics are to be believed) whether to add my opinion, such as it is, to the debate about the way Kristina Chetcuti is being mercilessly bullied and attacked by the trolls and hypocrites that are being coordinated [...]

It's hot. And it's not just the weather. But no matter how much they fan them, the flames we face are nothing compared with the ones that consumed Daphne Caruana Galizia. She ran ahead of all of us and was cut down. None of us should be surprised that we now come within range. This [...]

So we’re all talking about bullying now. If it were to serve some good end, like raising awareness about it, assessing how well equipped schools and parents are to fight it, helping people to teach their children how to manage it, how to detect it early, how to address it, that would be a good [...]

  So something called Pilatus Holdings issued a statement saying David Casa should be stripped of his immunity as an MEP so they can sue the bejesus out of him. Contrary to what some media reported in the press today Pilatus Holdings is not a bank. So no, there was no ‘crossing of swords’ between [...]

Some days ago the PN’s media called me a liar. They said I had reported the PN Parliamentary Group voted in favour of a law allowing cannabis cultivation in Malta when this was not true. I hadn’t. I did report Adrian Delia cut short debate on the matter in the Parliamentary Group and failed to [...]

Believe it or not, even I hesitate to write about certain topics out of fear of being snapped out of context and have my words twisted. This blog is often laced with references to my own many faults and weaknesses, my own mistakes and misjudgements. But I would always want to avoid discussing my parenting [...]

A transcript of a series of questions asked by Magistrate Aaron Bugeja as part of the Egrant inquiry in an unpublished portion of the inquiry report seen by this website, shows the Magistrate’s interpretation of his terms of reference excluded the determination of who owns Egrant. “Se nagħmililek ċara. It-terms of reference tiegħi mhumiex li [...]

If you are the type to walk around town fearing you might be blown up, you no longer walk around town. Fear of imminent death is in itself a form of execution. It is a classic Mafia tool. Speak to any journalist who has worked in Italy and they will tell you that the method [...]

This is a guest post by veteran auditor Godfrey Leone Ganado who compares his findings into data on Keith Schembri's investments with MFSP, leaked FIAU investigations and the published conclusions of the Egrant inquiry. When you're done you can sit down to wonder why the police called in Pierre Portelli and Jonathan Ferries for questioning [...]

The ‘if you can’t beat them join them’ philosophy articulated rather naively but for that no less sincerely by Justin Schembri really aspire for one thing: a collective regression to the primordial sub-intellect of political fandom. No political party has anything to envy Labour unless of course, other political parties see their scope for existence [...]