French Plan to Ban Social Media for Under-15s Sparks Debate in Malta: Could the Islands Follow Suit? Valletta – When France’s top health authority recommended a total ban on social media for children under 15 this week, Maltese parents didn’t just scroll past. Within hours, Facebook groups from Birżebbuġa to Għargħur were alight with screen-shots…
Watch: ‘Animals are treated better than us construction workers’ By Hot Malta Staff | 09 June 2025, 07:00 CEST A 43-second TikTok clip filmed last week on a dusty Ħamrun side-street has detonated across Maltese group chats like a summer firework. In the video, shot on a colleague’s phone at 13:45 under a 36 °C…
‘I walked in like a zombie’: Sliema resident recalls walking into burgled home By Hot Malta Staff Sliema – The front door was ajar, the lock splintered like a cracked seashell. Inside, drawers hung open like broken jaws, cushions gutted, the air thick with the metallic scent of violation. “I walked in like a zombie,”…
Letters to the Editor: The Maltese Pulse on 11 September 2025 By Luke Caruana, Hot Malta The print edition of Times of Malta may land on doorsteps later than it used to, but the letters page still sparks faster than a July firework. This morning’s crop—19 missives in all—shows a nation wrestling with the same…
# A Nation Pauses: Malta Commemorates 9/11 with Reflection and Resilience As the Mediterranean sun cast its golden glow over Malta’s limestone buildings this morning, the island joined the global community in marking the 24th anniversary of September 11, 2001. While physically distant from Ground Zero, Malta’s commemoration carries unique significance, weaving together international solidarity…
Charlie Kirk, the 30-year-old American conservative firebrand who helped turn college campuses into culture-war battlegrounds, was shot and killed Monday night while speaking at the University of Arizona. The news reached Malta just after dawn, ricocheting through Valletta cafés, university corridors and parish squares with the same stunned disbelief that greeted the 2021 Capitol riot….
Government caves to pressure, adds three more weeks to ‘Vision 2050’ consultation By Hot Malta Staff Valletta – After a week of parliamentary sparring and a 3,000-signature petition fronted by NGOs, the government has agreed to extend the public consultation on “Vision 2050 – Malta’s National Development Strategy” until 14 July, giving citizens an extra…
**Valletta Reacts After US Conservative Star Charlie Kirk Shot on Arizona Campus** Valletta’s Republic Street cafés were still buzzing with Monday-morning espresso chatter when the push notification landed: Charlie Kirk, the 30-year-old American right-wing firebrand who headlined a Maltese youth conference only eight months ago, had been shot and wounded while touring Arizona State University….
**Trump Ally Charlie Kirk Shot: How a US Political Firestorm Echoes in Malta’s Café Debates** Valletta’s morning espresso machines were still hissing when push-notifications lit up across the island: Charlie Kirk, the 30-year-old conservative prodigy who packs American arenas, had been shot. Within minutes, the news leapt from Twitter to the granite bar tops of…
# After 15 Years of Promises, Gozo’s Olympic-Size Pool Makes a Splash **Victoria, Gozo** – The air on Triq it-Tuffiera smelled of chlorine and celebration this morning as Prime Minister Robert Abela cut a ribbon made from recycled fishing nets and declared the €22 million Gozo Aquatic Complex officially open. Teenagers who had learned to…
**Israel vows to strike foes anywhere after Qatar attack: How Malta’s neutrality offers a Mediterranean haven amid rising tensions** A stone’s throw from the world’s most volatile region, Malta woke up yesterday to news that Israel had promised “to strike its enemies anywhere” after a drone launched from Qatar targeted Tel Aviv. While the blast…
Government bows to pressure: Vision 2050 consultation window widened after PN outcry By Antoine Cassar, Hot Malta Valletta – In a rare mid-summer U-turn, the Office of the Prime Minister announced last night that the public consultation on “Vision 2050: Malta’s National Strategy for the Future” will be extended by six weeks, pushing the original…
