Valletta’s Republic Street fell silent for 60 seconds on Saturday afternoon as 500 placard-waving protesters marked the anniversary of Malta’s total abortion ban. The minute of silence—one second for every year since the 1981 criminal-code amendment—was followed by a roar: “Decriminalise now!” The annual pro-choice rally, organised by the Campaign for the Right to Safe…
Alex Borg begins shadow cabinet reshuffle By Hot Malta Newsroom | 09:42 • 24 June 2025 Valletta’s early-summer haze had barely lifted on Monday when Alex Borg, the Nationalist Party’s freshly re-elected leader, strode out of the doors of the Auberge d’Aragon and announced the first shake-up of his shadow cabinet. In a seven-minute press…
# Netanyahu’s UN Walkout Echoes in Valletta: Maltese Diplomats Join Global Rebuke, Sparking Debate in a Nation That Knows Occupation First-Hand Valletta’s Grand Harbour was unusually quiet yesterday afternoon, but inside cafés along Strait Street the espresso machines hissed louder than the usual political gossip. The reason? Mobile phones buzzed with push alerts that Israeli…
Prime Minister Robert Abela’s call for the European Union to maintain “the strongest possible pressure” on the Russian economy has struck a chord across Malta, from the boardrooms of Valletta’s financial-services firms to the kitchen tables of families still hosting Ukrainian refugees who fled Russian bombs in 2022. Speaking in Brussels on Thursday after an…
PN Puts ‘Children First’: €8,500 Sweetener Could Reverse Malta’s Shrinking Playgrounds By Hot Malta Newsroom Sliema mum-of-three Rebecca Camilleri burst out laughing when she heard the Nationalist Party’s latest pledge. “€8,500 a year? That’s basically my entire part-time salary,” she said, pushing a double-stroller along the Strand on Tuesday morning. “If Bernard Grech can deliver…
University students huddled over laptops outside Valletta’s campus canteen are used to swapping memes, lecture notes and relationship gossip on Discord and WhatsApp. This week, however, the chat among the usual espressos and pastizzi crumbs has turned unusually political: a home-grown student coalition has launched Malta’s first national petition against the EU’s proposed “Chat Control”…
**Tony Blair Could Lead Gaza Transitional Authority – What Malta Thinks** Valletta’s cafés are buzzing again, but this time it isn’t about Eurovision odds or the latest power-cut schedule. Over tiny glasses of Kinnie and ricotta-filled pastizzi, Maltese politicos, taxi drivers and TikTok activists are all asking the same question: could Tony Blair really be…
Prime Minister Robert Abela’s declaration that Malta considers the return of Crimea and all occupied Ukrainian territory “non-negotiable” has rippled through Valletta’s cafés, university corridors and parish halls, placing the island’s foreign-policy stance at the centre of dinner-table talk far beyond the usual diplomatic circles. Speaking to the UN Security Council via video-link on Tuesday…
Valletta’s morning cafés buzzed louder than usual this week after news broke that former FBI director Andrew McCabe—once the United States’ top counter-terror cop—has been criminally charged at the very moment Donald Trump steps up a sweeping retribution drive against perceived enemies. While the courtroom drama is playing out 8,000 kilometres away, the ripple is…
# Ex-police commissioner says he used car dealer to ‘gain’ information: A very Maltese tale of power, petrol-heads and parish-whispers Valletta – When Lawrence Cutajar took the witness stand on Tuesday and admitted he had used a Sliema car-dealer as an unofficial “ears on the street”, half the island nodded in recognition. In Malta, the…
**Don’t turn family leave into a bidding war, businesses tell politicians** *By Hot Malta Staff* Valletta – Maltese employers are pleading with MPs to stop treating parental leave like an auction, warning that competing electoral promises risk piling unsustainable costs on already-stretched island firms. The plea comes after both major parties floated rival extensions to…
Young Europeans are losing faith in democracy – here’s how Malta can earn it back By Hot Malta Staff The queue outside the Mosta polling station on 8 June looked more like a quiet bus stop than the beating heart of a republic. By 10:00 am only 37 of the 800 registered voters had bothered…
