Joseph Muscat says he will stay on until January but journalist’s family calls for his immediate departure

Malta’s embattled prime minister Joseph Muscat has resigned, driven from office by the constitutional and political crisis triggered by the murder of the investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.

In a televised address broadcast on Sunday evening, Muscat announced that he would stay on until a new leader of his ruling Labour party was elected in January. The prime minister expressed “deep regret” for Caruana Galizia’s murder and spoke of the need for a “fresh page”.

Yorgen Fenech entered not guilty plea to charges relating to killing of Daphne Caruana Galizia

A businessman has been charged with the murder of Malta’s best known investigative journalist, Daphne Caruana Galizia.

Local tycoon Yorgen Fenech, the 38-year-old head of a gambling and property empire, was arraigned on Saturday evening, and charged with participating in a criminal organisation, complicity in causing an explosion, and complicity in the murder of Caruana Galizia.

Joseph Muscat faced increasing pressure over handling of Daphne Caruana Galizia case

Malta’s prime minister, Joseph Muscat, has told associates he plans to resign imminently after the political and legal crisis stemming from the murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia engulfed his government this week.

His decision follows the arrest and questioning of one of Muscat’s key allies by police investigating the 2017 murder of the prominent investigative journalist, who had exposed corruption at the highest levels of government and business circles in Malta.