Malta

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Stranded Refugees Get Italy's Help
Refugees Swamp
Tiny Italian Island

Refugees Swamp Tiny Italian Island

Protest meets arrivals, as mayor says nation has no plan

(Newser) - Italy dispatched a coast guard patrol in the Mediterranean Sea to save refugees stranded on a bright pink rescue boat—painted and funded by Banksy, the British street artist. But now there's another problem. The hundreds of evacuees have overwhelmed the shelters on the small island they were ferried...

Car-Bombing Case Triggers Big Resignation

Maltese PM Joseph Muscat is stepping down

(Newser) - Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat told the nation Sunday night that he would resign in January following pressure from angry citizens for the truth about the 2017 car bombing that killed a journalist, the AP reports. In a televised message, Muscat said he has informed Malta's president that he...

Journo's Murder Leads to Tense Courtroom Scene

Daphne Caruana Galizia exposed corruption and linked politicians to the Panama Papers

(Newser) - To no one's surprise, he denied everything. Yorgen Fenech, a prominent Maltese businessman, pleaded not guilty Saturday to paying for the car-bomb murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, the New York Times reports. Fenech, 38, seemed impassive in a gray business suit as he heard the charges: complicity in...

Looks Like Businessman Paid $500K to Kill Journo

The Daphne Caruana Galizia case is heating up in Malta

(Newser) - A probe into the killing of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia has led investigators all the way to the halls of power in Malta, the Guardian reports. Last week, prominent Maltese businessman Yorgen Fenech was arrested after trying to flee the country on his yacht, and told authorities that Keith Schembri—...

Queen Elizabeth's Old Island Home Is Shabby but for Sale

Malta's 'dilapidated' Villa Guardamangia is up for grabs for $6.8M

(Newser) - For a couple of years after World War II, when she was still just a princess, Queen Elizabeth lived in a home rented by her husband's uncle outside of the United Kingdom, the only time she resided away from her native land. That estate in Malta, Villa Guardamangia, is...

Rescued Migrants Hijack Ship
An Unusual
'Act of Piracy
on the High Seas'
UPDATED

An Unusual 'Act of Piracy on the High Seas'

Rescued migrants hijack ship, which is later retaken

(Newser) - A Maltese special operations team on Thursday boarded a tanker that had been hijacked by migrants rescued at sea and returned control to the captain before escorting it to a Maltese port. Armed military personnel stood guard on the ship's deck, and a dozen or so migrants were also...

Region Known for Healthy Diet Now Known for Overweight Kids

For children, the 'Mediterranean diet is gone,' says researchers

(Newser) - The Mediterranean diet is seen as one of the world's healthiest. Now, however, a new report suggests a surprising irony: Kids who live in the Mediterranean region are among the most overweight children in the world. For example, 43% of 9-year-old boys and girls in Cyprus are overweight or...

Sources: A Text Sent From Sea Led to Malta Journalist's Death

3 men are charged with Daphne Caruana Galizia's murder

(Newser) - Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia's life ended via a bomb and a text message sent from sea, sources with knowledge of the investigation say. A man is suspected of placing the TNT bomb beneath the driver's seat of Galizia's car in the early hours of Oct. 16,...

There's Been a Break in Case of Murdered Journalist

Malta arrests 10 after car bombing of Daphne Caruana Galizia

(Newser) - Ten suspects were arrested Monday in the October car bomb murder of investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia in Malta. All 10 are believed to be Maltese citizens, but few details were released. The investigation appeared to be continuing, as police and armed forces had cordoned off an area in Marsa,...

'There Were My Mother's Body Parts All Around Me'

Journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia dies in car bomb attack in Malta

(Newser) - "Tragic is someone being run over by a bus. When there is blood and fire all around you, that's war." So writes the son of Daphne Caruana Galizia, a 53-year-old journalist who Politico dubbed a "one-woman WikiLeaks," following her death by car bomb near her...

Authorities Ignored Pleas for Help for Hours, 268 Drowned

Leaked audio tapes reveal debate about jurisdiction while Syrian refugees sink

(Newser) - Audio tapes leaked Monday reveal authorities had a chance to save the 268 Syrian refugees—including 60 children—who drowned when their boat capsized in October 2013 but instead wasted time with, as the Times of Malta puts it, "bureaucratic wrangling and indifference." Mohammed Jammo, a Syrian doctor...

Iconic Game of Thrones Arch Collapses Into Sea
'Sad Day' Arrives for
Azure Window

'Sad Day' Arrives for Azure Window

'Game of Thrones' landmark collapsed into the sea

(Newser) - A landmark familiar to Game of Thrones fans vanished in suitably dramatic style Wednesday when it crashed into the sea during a storm. The Azure Window rock arch in Malta was the backdrop to the wedding of Daenerys Targaryen and Khal Drogo in the first episode of Game of Thrones...

Hijacked Plane With 118 People Sits on Runway
All Passengers Freed
From Hijacked Plane
UPDATED

All Passengers Freed From Hijacked Plane

Ordeal on tarmac in Malta is over

(Newser) - A hijacking drama unfolded on an airport tarmac in Malta Friday, but it ended without violence. It began when two hijackers commandeered an aircraft carrying 118 people in the skies over Libya and diverted it to the Mediterranean island, reports Reuters . Claiming to have a hand grenade, the hijackers threatened...

R2-D2's 'Dad' Dies at 68

 R2-D2's 'Dad' 
 Dies at 68 
OBITUARY

R2-D2's 'Dad' Dies at 68

Inventor Tony Dyson was found dead at his home in Malta

(Newser) - The man who created Star Wars' most famous droid has died. Tony Dyson, the British inventor who built R2-D2, was found dead at his home in Malta, on the island of Gozo, the Guardian reports. He was 68. "A neighbor realized the front door was open and called the...

US Navy Saves 282 in Mediterranean

Boat belonging to apparent migrants was sinking

(Newser) - The US Navy rescued 282 people in the Mediterranean Sea following a call yesterday from the Italian military. Those rescued were apparently migrants from Africa; one of their six boats had begun to sink. The USS Bataan sent a pair of helicopters to the scene, and swimmers rescued those in...

Shark Eggs Rescued From Fish Market Grow Into Pups

Three are released at sea in Malta

(Newser) - Three baby sharks swimming off the coast of Malta got there in incredible fashion. Members of the conservation group Sharklab Malta came across dead nursehound sharks being sold at a local fish market, and got permission from vendors to remove the eggs, reports Malta Today . They brought the eggs to...

John Roberts: I'm Headed to 'Island Fortress'

He jokes about going to Malta, ducks ObamaCare questions

(Newser) - Don't hold your breath for any personal revelation by Chief Justice John Roberts about his pivotal role in the ObamaCare decision . When asked at a conference today how his vote might fit into his legacy, he responded, "Well, I won't answer anything that has to do with...

US Team Finds Sunken WWII Sub

HMS Olympus found on sea floor near Malta

(Newser) - The watery grave of scores of British servicemen has been found nearly 70 years after their submarine was sunk by a mine off the coast of Malta. A team from the American marine archaeology group Aurora Trust used a remotely operated vehicle to find the HMS Olympus on the floor...

Divorce Finally Allowed in Malta

Until now, citizens had to get un-hitched abroad

(Newser) - Maltese citizens will finally be able to divorce in their own country after lawmakers overwhelmingly voted to allow it today, ending sharp debate on the issue in this heavily Catholic island nation. Up to now, Maltese citizens could only obtain divorce abroad. In the last 30 years, 785 Maltese couples...

Bound, Shot Dog Buried Alive, Survives

Case sparks calls for tougher penalties for animal abuse

(Newser) - Man's best friend just found out how evil man can be. A female dog was found bound and whimpering with gunshot wounds to her head, and buried up to her muzzle in Malta. Incredibly, the dog rescuers nicknamed Star is recovering in an animal shelter while cops seek the...

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