You can feel the desolation in the title of The Times's leading piece today. It speaks about the vain hope that EU membership might have kept in check a government that neglects the basic obligations of democratic administration and respect for the rule of law. But the EU is found wanting. In the same way [...]
Italian business daily Il Sole 24 Ore reports that Catanese Guardia di Finanza believes a Maltese foreign office official has falsified certificates of origin to allow diesel from Libya to be illegally inserted in the Italian and European fuel market. The newspaper owned by the Italian federation of employers reports that "a network of friendships in [...]
Please join me in welcoming The Shift News to the media scene in Malta. It's a new day for independent journalism in Malta, free of the shackles of partisan spin and the pressures of corporatism. It looks like the effort Malta needs most right now given the enormous gap left by Daphne Caruana Galizia's untimely [...]
The following reply was sent in by Dr Juliana Scerri Ferrante in response to an earlier post of mine. I am obviously happy to carry responses by people mentioned in my post particularly on matters of fact. In the interest of fairness responses are not open to comments unless again on points of fact. From [...]
Hundreds of people gathered yesterday evening in front of the Police Headquarters called there by the civil society network to demand justice for Daphne Caruana Galizia, her family and the country. After the two large demonstrations in Valletta and Sliema the previous Sundays this was a more focused affair. Malta has very little tradition of [...]
The following report published today by Nicola Tani in a specialist industry magazine gives an idea of how the worldwide gaming industry, a major contributor to the Maltese economy, is changing its perception of Malta. Concerns about the use of Malta as a laundromat for Italian organised crime are escalating and the defense of the [...]
A month ago tomorrow Malta established diplomatic relations with the Cook Islands. If you were not too familiar with them before now, you'll be hearing more about these sparse 15 islands in the middle of the Pacific Ocean with a population the size of Birżebbuġa. The Paradise Papers published yesterday by the ICIJ show the [...]
The courtesy, professionalism and admirable seriousness of the police men and women providing safety and security at yesterday’s civil society sit-in protest in front of headquarters was something to behold. The policemen there gave protesters protection and ensured the crowd had the space to make its voice heard. This is even more significant when one [...]
For a government that prides itself of a trail-blazing law to protect whistle blowers, its behaviour with people who do blow whistles is particularly galling. The woman who spoke up about misdeeds in Pilatus Bank was hounded out of the country. The cooperation of the Attorney General Peter Grech to ensure she had the passport [...]
Split admiration for the episcopal conference seems to be aligning effectively along partisan lines. The Archbishop of Malta's Charles Scicluna's authoritative moral guidance during the crisis of the weeks since the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia is being loudly criticised by Labour trolls, led by Labour grandees who have opened fire on one of their [...]
An earlier guest post criticised Gozo Bishop Mario Grech for being oddly tepid after the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia. A curia insider wrote the below guest blog post in reaction. It seems there's more internal politics that needs to be understood if a proper analysis of Bishop Grech's odd behaviour is to be arrived [...]
The International Consortium of Independent Journalists, Pulitzer awardees after their Panama leaks two years ago, have tonight released over 13 million documents revealing further evidence of senior political figures allegedly laundering illicit earnings through banana jurisdictions, including Malta. The spotlight on Malta as a cover for corrupt politicians and evil dictators now shines even brighter. [...]
Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal has been sacked from his responsibilities in the Saudi Arabia government and arrested for corruption. The Saudi King sacked senior government officials for corruption including Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal though no official explanation has been given on the what specifically he is accused of. In December 2014 Joseph Muscat mysteriously and for [...]
By an anonymous author known to me: Leaders. They are the glimmer of light that a community seeks in time of pitch black darkness. Indeed in the wake of a terrible tragedy for a nation even more terrible for a family that lost a wife, a mother, a sister, a friend leaders become a beacon [...]
Adrian Delia sat to record a radio interview with Andrew Azzopardi yesterday. It was broadcast earlier today. This is not an easy time for the PN leader though you would not think that from his tone on the interview today. He sounds as supremely confident as ever. I will not review the interview. As he [...]
Yesterday I wrote how a tribunal set up by law to review administrative decisions on immigrants was stuffed with political appointees close to the government. I argued how their proximity to the government (they are spouses, nephews, exes, and children of government Ministers and Labour party grandees) cancels the distance needed between the executive and [...]
Read this editorial on Il Fatto Quotidiano by Alberto Vannucci. Some choice quotes: "The lesson taught by Massimo Carminati is universal: 'the world of the living and the world of the dead' unavoidably meet, because in the 'world in the middle people on the surface landscape need someone from the underworld to things for them [...]
Dr Juliana Scerri Ferrante wrote in her reply to the below on 06/11/2017. Her reply is found here. Earlier I wrote about 4 of 6 new members of the new Immigration Appeals Board and showed how they are related in the first degree to Labour Ministers or senior party grandees. Then there's the Chairman of [...]
By Alessandra Dee Crespo. Dear Daphne, We spoke occasionally on email, or on your Running Commentary in the combox. I sometimes bumped into you in Valletta. You were always very courteous. I was usually tongue-tied. You once laughingly told me that you were not my headmistress, and that I am not in school, while having coffee [...]
Having been to Daphne Caruana Galizia's funeral today, I was not expecting to have the interest or the energy to write about something else. But then perhaps the best tribute to her is to pick up a story she would have shared with all of us had she still been with us. Here is an [...]