The government is sending chilling signals to the academic community in Malta. It is not to be taken as a given that government actually intends to go ahead with its proposal of reducing the rector of the university to a clerk by invitation of a committee directly set up by government. There is a pattern [...]

Revel Barker's piece yesterday on The Times spoke of the reaction in Gozo to Totò Riina's death in prison. It delved deeper in the psyche of a community that hosted him and welcomed him for the money he spent even as he was the capi di tutti i capi of one of the most violent [...]

By Erika Bajada In April 2017, a conference titled "Counter-narratives: how to support civil society in delivering effective positive narratives against hate speech online" was hosted by the Maltese Presidency of the Council of the European Union. The conference focused on the increase of xenophobic and racist attitudes observed on the internet. The Minister for [...]

We know we have a prime minister with an irrepressible sense of his own self when he gets to choose the playlist for the national orchestra. I am going to leave that there to hang for a pregnant, ironic, repressed, giggly, eye-rolling minute. Ara veru 'Ma tagħmlu xejn mal-perit Joseph'! In case you're one of [...]

By George Farrugia Calleja: Obviously, any couple that wants a baby should be helped to achieve their aim, and the state is there for just that purpose. Out-dated notions of morality propagated by men in skirts and their acolytes (and yes, I’m being offensive on purpose, for effect) have no place in the debate: unless [...]

It's now been going on since 2013. Daphne Caruana Galizia had first spotted it in the Presidential fun run of 2013 after the important of The North Face brand advertised the fact they were 'advising' Michelle Muscat on sportswear. At the presidential fun run of this year Joseph Muscat again dodged the charity t-shirt and [...]

Daphne Caruana Galizia's husband and three sons have filed a police report accusing Neville Gafà of stalking their mother the day before she was assassinated in a car explosion. In a formal criminal complaint (known as kwerela), the Caruana Galizia family reported how on 15 October 2017 between 1pm and 4pm, Neville Gafa and or [...]

Medialive Casino, named by Florence prosecutors for receiving takings from illegal gaming parlours operated throughout Italy by organised crime, is exhibiting at the Sigma gaming conference convening this week in Ta' Qali. I wrote on Medialive Casino on November 16th after Il Fatto Quotidiano interviewed Giuseppe Creazzo, chief prosecutor in Florence, who expressed frustration the [...]

It is rare for a Magistrate to criticise a lawyer's argument on behalf of their client as "incredible and inconceivable" and a "malicious attempt to avoid responsibility". It is even rarer for this to happen when that lawyer has in the meantime been appointed a Judge. The Times and Malta Today reported a court decision [...]

By resident guest George Farrugia Calleja: The sight of PN Leader Adrian Delia ringing the bell of the Marsa Police Station a couple of weeks ago, with something of a bemused look on his face, was mildly amusing. It also gave rise to some predictable memes, one of which had him ringing the door-bell of [...]

On 19th January, 2017, the directors of Egrant Inc signed off on the dissolution of the company. Naturally the directors are a bunch of Panamian fronts for anonymous owners. They are listed as directors of some 10,000 other companies between them. According to Panamanian company law a company declared dissolved by its directors can continue [...]

So Inspector Elton Taliana arraigns Emmanuel Navarro to accuse him of having threatened Roberta Metsola with burning alive. Emmanuel Navarro, whose relatives are now sending me messages every which way to get me to speak nicely of him, was assisted by, of all people, Peter Paul Zammit. According to The Times Peter Paul Zammit told [...]

Invicta is the first book about Daphne Caruana Galizia to be published since her assassination. The publishers say the book brings together a group of friends, journalists and academics to explore the different aspects of Daphne as a human being and as a journalist. Daphne, though she had a very prominent voice, was paradoxically a [...]

Emmanuel Navarro has been taken into custody while police ‘investigate’ his very public threat to burn Roberta Metsola alive. The man is known to the police. He was, at the time of his arrest, on probation over a domestic violence case. His former son in law forgave him in court for threatening him of beheading [...]

Beyond the prime minister’s bog-standard rhetoric, can anyone perceive any significant effort by the police to bring the killers of Daphne Caruana to justice? We were promised a thorough investigation and all we’ve seen so far is a crime scene left untouched for at least 30 hours while one Magistrate toyed with the emotions of [...]

The prime minister said yesterday "the silent majority" backed him. That is indeed how a Mafia State functions, with the acquiescence of its citizens who perceive a share in the proceeds from the corruption that they imagine, wrongly, turns the wheels of their economy. Silence -- omertà -- is key to the success of organised [...]

Perhaps when they're giving their training program for new women candidates, the Labour Party might hold a module on how to deal with this crap. These screenshots were grabbed by BugM from 19,000 strong Laburisti sal-Mewt group on Facebook that includes President Marie Louise Coleiro Preca. Anyone of those 19,000 willing to say this is [...]

We cannot have another woman in public life demonised and dehumanised for the convenience of the Labour Party until someone decides it is fine to kill her. We cannot allow women to be intimidated from leadership in our community. We need more women to take on a public role because at least part of the [...]

When Labour first came into power in 2013, it introduced a Whistle-blower Act to protect people who speak up and reveal corruption. It looked good at the time and as callous politicians never mind doing, they had no qualms about writing into law what they intended to ignore. When they seek to silence Jonathan Ferris [...]

Joseph Muscat continues to consolidate his grip on power. That power is fed by popular support which, like the crowds cackling around the guillotine, intimidates opposition and resistance. But what strengthens Labour apparently beyond any hint of vulnerability is the fact that there is no formal opposition in front of it to speak of. It [...]