The thing with the post of Philip Sciberras is not just that a judge, even a retired one, should not make manifestly partisan remarks in public. Not for me at least. Nor is it that while he mouths these politically motivated rants the government uses his supposed judicial credentials to conduct politically sensitive inquiries. The [...]
Do yourselves a favour and watch Jacob Borg chase Keith Schembri all the way from Court to Castille. The first thing I observe is the journalist’s fitness. I’d have been as breathless as Kurt Farrugia making that climb but since I have rather a lot more to carry than Jacob Borg’s back-pack this assignment explains [...]
Daphne Carauana Galizia is one of 18 journalists, 8 women and 10 men, recognised in this year’s rededication of the Newseum Musuem of Washington DC. In a ceremony later today, the Newseum will recognise as part of its #WithoutNews event 18 journalists that represent all those who died in pursuit of news in 2017. The [...]
In spite of strong denials by Keith Schembri to a Times of Malta investigation into his interests in plastic bottle recycling, this website has seen further evidence of these interests. A few days ago I reported how on the eve of the 2017 election the government turned over 5,000 square metres of public land to [...]
The Nationalist Party had a good meeting in Ħaż-Żabbar yesterday judging at least from the broad smiles on the photos. One of the toughest part of being a politician is putting on a brave face. They have breakfast listening to Vesti la Giubba and reading Malta Today before boldly braving the high expectations of their [...]
John Suda was invited yesterday by the organisers of the Malta Fashion Awards for a bit part introducing to the stage Ira Losco. They invited him along with all the presenters who hosted the event in its 20 year history. They should not have. Three years ago John Suda, then 64, was charged for violent [...]
Despite giving the impression that the earnings from his various businesses are such that he would never be tempted to be corrupted, consolidated financial statements filed by the Kasco Group show Keith Schembri declared earning far less from his businesses than he suggests. In 2011 the Kasco group declared a miserable profit of €18,895. That [...]
Chris Cardona’s behaviour in trying to manage the troublesome law suit he initiated after Daphne Caruana Galizia reported 17 months ago he was in a brothel is the tactical behaviour of the guilty. The innocent step up in a court of law, say why they feel libelled, present evidence that contradicts the claims made against [...]
By Andrew Borg-Cardona: It should be said at the very outset: Magistrate Tony Vella is eminently suited to become a Judge. He has the professional and personal attributes, not least of the latter of which being his humanity, integrity and practicality, which qualify him without any doubt whatsoever. This should also be said about half-way [...]
The facts as they have been reported are that a construction developer tried to run over a Councillor. The Councillor, who serves in the political minority in Gżira, believes Ivan Stivala, a member of the Malta Developers Association, wanted to hurt him or kill him because he, the Councillor, shared a resident’s Facebook post with [...]
A new book by former colleagues of Joseph Mifsud reports that he is alive and well. Their account includes a recent interview with him. Joseph Mifsud was named in the investigations on alleged collusion between the Donald Trump campaign and the Kremlin which Joseph Mifsud is alleged to have brokered by offering 'dirty on Hilary [...]
The new Italian home minister is possibly the most powerful politician in that country. He’s also, to be kind, a xenophobe, that considers people hierarchically depending on how south of Milan they come from, and people washing ashore on Italy as not his problem. On his second day of business he is flying down to [...]
No. No. No. No. No. No. How could anyone think this is a good idea? You can almost hear them in the president’s room discussing how they would justify what they must know in their heart of hearts is a terrible idea. ‘The president is promoting a Maltese product’. Wrong answer. It is not the [...]
What looks like the dumping of inert waste is happening in quarries right next to the Ħaġar Qim and Mnajdra temples. The quarries were earmarked as temporary engineered landfills in a plan conceived and withdrawn around 15 years ago. The quarries are mapped as ix-Xagħra tal-Magħlaq in Siġġiewi and Qasam il-Kbir in Qrendi. A consistent [...]
The spectacular ineptitude of Maltese regulatory institutions when faced by crooks in league with Joseph Muscat’s government extends beyond the horrendous Pilatus scandal. In that case Ali Sadr was allowed by regulatory and enforcement agencies in Malta to extend an international network of money laundering and busting of sanctions against his native Iran propped up [...]
Persons and companies involved in the Venezuela-to-Iran bank fraud and sanctions-busting scheme, currently the subject of an indictment and prosecution in the United States, are connected to Pilatus Bank and Ali Sadr’s activities in Malta. In spite of vehement denials of the government that the US indictment of Ali Sadr had anything to do with [...]
I will oblige the prime minister and follow his advice, admiring the memorial to Dom Mintoff in Castille Place not as a monument to the past but as a monument to the present and the future. If journalism is my wife, history is my mistress. And I don’t publicly indulge in my thing on the [...]
The Southern New York District Court of the United States has yesterday approved the final list of bail conditions that Ali Sadr must satisfy for his pre-trial release pending his trial for bank fraud and sanctions busting in the US Federal Court in New York. Ali Sadr and 15 other signatories have to hand in [...]
Iris Rohmann, winner of the Daphne Caruana Galizia grant from the German Reporter Forum, brief the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom on her recent trip here. Read her report here.
There was another odd development in court today when the brothel-gate libel suits were being heard. Pawlu Lia and Edward Gatt filed an application on behalf of Chris Cardona’s secretary Joe Gerada who was also alleged to have been in the brothel. The application had a photo taken from a phone that is supposed to [...]