Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in southern Europe, located in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago between Italy and Libya. It lies 80 km (50 mi) south of Sicily (Italy), 284 km (176 mi) east of Tunisia, and 333 km (207 mi) north of Libya. The official languages are Maltese and English, and the nation's capital is Valletta.
The Seduction of Mimi is a 1972 Italian comedy drama film written and directed by Lina Wertmüller, starring Giancarlo Giannini, Mariangela Melato, Turi Ferro and Agostina Belli.
Man on Fire is a 2004 action thriller film directed by Tony Scott from a screenplay by Brian Helgeland, and based on the 1980 novel of the same name by A. J. Quinnell. The novel had previously been adapted into a feature film in 1987. Denzel Washington portrays John Creasy, a despondent, alcoholic former CIA SAD/SOG officer turned bodyguard, who goes on a revenge rampage after his charge, nine-year-old Lupita "Pita" Ramos, is abducted in Mexico City. The supporting cast includes Christopher Walken, Radha Mitchell, Giancarlo Giannini, Marc Anthony, Rachel Ticotin and Mickey Rourke.
Philip Nicholson, known by his pen name A. J. Quinnell, was an English thriller novelist. He is best known for his novel Man on Fire, which has been adapted to film twice, most recently in 2004 featuring Denzel Washington. Later in life he spent much of his time in Gozo, Malta, where he died.
John Paul Getty III was the grandson of American oil tycoon J. Paul Getty, who was once the richest man in the world. While living in Rome in 1973, he was kidnapped by the 'Ndrangheta and held for a $17 million ransom. His grandfather was reluctant to pay, but, after John Paul Getty III's severed ear was received by a newspaper, the grandfather negotiated a payment of $2.2 million, and Getty was released five months after being kidnapped. Getty developed an addiction to drugs, including alcohol, soon after, eventually leading to an overdose and stroke which left him severely disabled for the rest of his life.
Ek Ajnabee – A Man Apart is a 2005 Indian Hindi-language action-thriller film directed by Apoorva Lakhia, starring Amitabh Bachchan, Arjun Rampal and Perizaad Zorabian. It is a remake of Tony Scott's Man on Fire, a film based on a novel of the same name, which was also adapted into another film in 1987.
Man on Fire is a 1987 action thriller film directed by Élie Chouraqui and starring Scott Glenn and Jade Malle. It is based on the 1980 novel of the same name by A. J. Quinnell, with a screenplay by Chouraqui, Sergio Donati, and Fabrice Ziolkowski. The rest of the cast includes Joe Pesci, Jonathan Pryce, Brooke Adams, Danny Aiello, and Paul Shenar.
Il Cuore nel Pozzo is a TV movie, produced by state broadcaster RAI, that focuses on the escape of a group of children from Tito's partisans in the aftermath of World War II, as they start an ethnic cleansing of all Italians from Istria and the Julian March. The word "pit" in the movie's title refers to a foiba, indicating foibe massacres.
Maggia is a fictional international crime syndicate appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The organization exists in Marvel's main shared universe, known as Earth-616, as well as other Marvel universes. Its structure is somewhat similar to the real-world New York Mafia, but the Maggia differs in that it frequently hires supervillains and mad scientists to work for them. Some of the prominent Maggia members are supervillains themselves, such as Hammerhead, Silvermane, Count Nefaria and his daughter Madame Masque. The Maggia has come into conflict with various superheroes, including Spider-Man, Daredevil, the Fantastic Four, the X-Men, and the Avengers.
The Azure Window, also known as the Dwejra Window, was a 28-metre-tall (92 ft) natural arch on the island of Gozo, located just off the shores of Malta. The limestone feature, which was in Dwejra Bay close to the Inland Sea and Fungus Rock, was one of the island's major tourist attractions until it collapsed in stormy weather on 8 March 2017. The arch, together with other natural features in the area, has appeared in a number of international films and media productions.
Richard Cantarella, also known as Shellackhead, was an American mobster who became a caporegime for the New York City-based Bonanno crime family and later a government witness.
Contraband is a 1980 poliziotteschi film directed by Lucio Fulci.
Guglielmo Grasso, sometimes anglicized William Grassus, was a Genoese merchant, pirate and admiral.
The Trafficante crime family, also known as the Tampa Mafia, is an Italian-American Mafia crime family based in Tampa, Florida. The most notable boss was Santo Trafficante, Jr. who ruled Tampa and the crime family with an iron fist. Author Scott Deitche reported that Santo Jr. was involved with the CIA to plot assassination attempts on Fidel Castro. After the death of Santo Jr. in 1987, the Tampa Mafia family has been controlled by Vincent LoScalzo.
The Unholy Alliance is an action crime-thriller television drama created by Jazz Boon and TVB. Principal photography began in Hong Kong in September 2016, and continued in Taiwan in December 2016. It premiered on TVB Jade on 7 August 2017, and for MediaCorp's Channel U in July 2019, and ran for 28 episodes.
A political and institutional crisis within the Republic of Malta followed the uncovering of alleged links between government officials and the 2017 assassination of investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia. The Prime Minister's Chief of Staff Keith Schembri and Minister for Tourism Konrad Mizzi resigned following the arrest of businessman Yorgen Fenech in connection with the murder.
The 2019–2020 Maltese protests started in Valletta and other urban centres of Malta on 20 November 2019, mainly calling for resignations after alleged political links to the assassination of journalist and blogger Daphne Caruana Galizia surfaced following the arrest of businessman Yorgen Fenech. The protesters also targeted government corruption and the lack of action on money laundering. The protests consisted of demonstrations, marches, sit-ins, and civil disobedience and have been unprecedented in Malta's political history since its independence from the United Kingdom.
The 1813–1814 Malta plague epidemic was the last major outbreak of plague on the islands of Malta and Gozo. It occurred between March 1813 and January 1814 on Malta and between February and May 1814 on Gozo, and the epidemic was officially declared to be over in September 1814. It resulted in approximately 4500 deaths, which was about 5% of the islands' population.
The Corfiot Maltese are a population from the Greek island of Corfu (Kerkyra) with ethnic and religious ties to the islands of Malta. A large community of descendants of Maltese is still present in Corfu. In the case of the Maltese Corfiot, who lost knowledge of the Maltese language in favour of Greek in the first half of the 20th century, religious confession remained the strongest identity marker. Maltese Corfiots today make up 2/3 of the local Catholic community.
