An unquiet retirement

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2021-02-19T11:50:29+01:00Fri, 19th Feb '21, 11:50|

Reno Bugeja has just been appointed head of communications and PR at the state-owned energy corporation. It's a full-time job on top of other engagements he took on since his late retirement from the job of editor of TVM news. He was promoted to edit the state's TV news in May 2013, less than 2 [...]

GUEST POST: Heaven or Hell?

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2021-02-19T10:20:13+01:00Fri, 19th Feb '21, 10:20|

I heard the mission bell And I was thinking to myself, ‘This could be Heaven or this could be Hell.’ - Hotel California, The Eagles Robert told us that we are in Heaven. Since my pre-school lessons at the Franciscan Sisters in Ħamrun, many moons ago, I was always taught that Heaven is above while [...]

PN proposes that developers’ lobby sits on the board of new construction regulator

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2021-02-19T09:55:03+01:00Fri, 19th Feb '21, 09:55|

PN MP Herman Schiavone proposed in Parliament this week that the Malta Developers’ Association is given the right at law to nominate one of the governors of a new Building Construction Authority set up to regulate the industry it represents. The proposal came at the very last minute of this week’s session of the Parliamentary [...]

Examine your conscience

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2021-02-19T09:31:39+01:00Fri, 19th Feb '21, 09:31|

Mandy Mallia, one of Daphne Caruana Galizia's sisters, posted this on Facebook. She recalled a speech Benna chase gave at one of the monthly vigils earlier this year. The reminder came up after a high school drama troupe published its list of sponsors for its yearly performance art event. The sponsors included the Hilton Hotel. [...]

Note to Bernard Grech: if resignations were enough, Joseph Muscat could retire in peace. They’re not enough.

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2021-02-19T07:03:22+01:00Thu, 18th Feb '21, 14:34|

Bernard Grech got the Jacob Borg treatment at a policy event of the PN today. He looked like he was expecting it but prepping a pocket smile, a clear brow, and an approachable tone is only half the job. The other half is actually saying the right thing. Praising Pierre Portelli for resigning after news [...]

The leopard who changed his spots

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2021-02-18T13:23:18+01:00Thu, 18th Feb '21, 13:23|

Mario Vella has just extended his time on the public payroll by hopping onto another iced bun. He started out as boss at the foreign investment agency. They then gave him the headship of the central bank until they needed the spot to give Edward Scicluna an Irish promotion. Mario Vella is now “special envoy” [...]

Il-Koħħu may be cooperating with the authorities

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2021-02-17T11:54:56+01:00Wed, 17th Feb '21, 11:54|

Vincent “il-Koħħu” Muscat charged with being one of the three assassins on site at the killing of Daphne Caruana Galizia, has withdrawn an appeal from a ruling by the trial judge that dismissed all technical objections he and the other two accused made. It is reasonable to expect that the withdrawal of the appeal may [...]

Your Justice Minister is working hard for you

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2021-02-17T10:46:46+01:00Wed, 17th Feb '21, 10:46|

When you hear arguments about why it's a great thing that our government ministers are also MPs seeking re-election, look at these photos. Did you think your Justice Minister was working hard to implement the rule of law reforms this country needs to become a place when you can hope for timely justice? Think again. [...]

Commission on “important shortcomings” in application of Maltese anti-money laundering law

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2021-02-17T10:00:13+01:00Wed, 17th Feb '21, 10:00|

The European Commission has told the petitions committee of the European Parliament that “it fully shares the assessment made public by the Council of Europe, which found important shortcomings in the manner in which the Maltese criminal legal framework is applied in practice”. But in spite of these concerns the European Commission says it cannot [...]

Idiocracy

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2021-02-17T09:16:30+01:00Wed, 17th Feb '21, 09:16|

There’s been some backlash at the point I made that appointing a party crony to the governership of Finance Malta was just the sort of nepotistic partisanship that is harming this country’s chances of having a future to speak of. The argument was twisted to the point that Carlos Zarb’s defenders claimed and that any [...]

We’re not done

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2021-02-16T09:19:35+01:00Tue, 16th Feb '21, 09:19|

?40 long months of no justice for #DaphneCaruanaGalizia. But we will never, ever give up. ? Vigil for Truth & Justice ⏰ 7.00 p.m. ?Great Siege Square, Valletta. ▶️ Follow Live ? online on our Facebook pages@occupyjusticema @Manwel_Delia ? by @Tanti_Burlo pic.twitter.com/B7xhke9gTV — repubblika ?? (@repubblikaMT) February 16, 2021

‘I did not do the business with Yorgen Fenech’

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2021-02-16T08:56:59+01:00Tue, 16th Feb '21, 08:56|

What does it take to displease Robert Abela? In Parliament yesterday he was seen having a lengthy chat with Rosianne Cutajar. It wasn’t the sort of frowning exchange of officious concerns or the whipping into place prime ministers sometimes publicly inflict on their wayward ministers to impress people with how tough he is. The show [...]

THE SUNDAY TIMES: Let’s all come together

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2021-02-14T07:21:16+01:00Sun, 14th Feb '21, 07:21|

From my article in The Sunday Times today: "Being Maltese means living in Malta, whatever your faith or whether you have any; whatever your race if you even belong to one; wherever it was that you were born; as long as you’re committed to fundamental values: not imqaret or nar tal-art. "Try truth, solidarity, compassion, [...]

GUEST POST: No chokehold

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2021-02-11T14:52:39+01:00Thu, 11th Feb '21, 12:16|

Sent in by someone known to me. In the past days, Labour Party media channels and subservient others reported as if it were a journalistic scoop, a meeting between Ray Bezzina, a Nationalist Party functionary, and Richard Cachia Caruana. The latter’s very long service to the country and the Nationalist Party has earned him respect [...]

The Nationalist Party too is accountable

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2021-02-11T12:46:45+01:00Thu, 11th Feb '21, 10:59|

Some of us never had any doubt but Lovin Malta’s strip-tease reporting confirms the long-held suspicion that Pierre Portelli, as one of the most senior employees of the PN, colluded with Yorgen Fenech to plant stories on media that supports the Labour Party. Pierre Portelli appears to have asked Yorgen Fenech – publicly known then [...]

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