Keith Schembri and Konrad Mizzi resign, as police continue inquiry into 2017 death of Daphne Caruana Galizia

The Maltese prime minister’s chief of staff and the country’s tourism minister have resigned in an escalation of the political turmoil surrounding the investigation into the murder of the prominent anti-corruption journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia in 2017.

“Yesterday evening, my chief of staff informed me that from today he would be relinquishing his post,” the prime minister, Joseph Muscat, said at a brief press conference on the steps of his office on Tuesday morning.

Two members of government linked to man arrested over Daphne Caruana Galizia killing

A senior European monitor is calling for Malta’s prime minister to distance himself from the investigation into the killing of the prominent investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia due to a potential conflict of interest.

Malta’s prime minister, Joseph Muscat, has the power to grant immunity from prosecution to a key witness who may have vital evidence about those who commissioned Caruana Galizia’s assassination two years ago.

Maltese journalist was killed by car bomb on Mediterranean island in 2017

A prominent Maltese businessman has been arrested onboard his yacht as it was heading out to sea, in an operation linked to the murder of the Maltese anti-corruption journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.

Armed forces personnel boarded a vessel at about 5.30am on Wednesday and detained Yorgen Fenech.