Maltese prime minister announces plans to step down

Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat announced on Sunday he planned to step down, saying on state television he would ask his ruling Labour Party to start a process to choose a new leader on Jan. 12 next year.

Calls for Muscat to step down grew after a probe into the 2017 car bomb killing of anti-corruption journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia led to charges on Saturday against a prominent businessman with alleged ties to government ministers and senior officials.