Dingli cliffs shimmered gold in the late-afternoon light yesterday, but the mood under the ancient garigue was far from serene. Beneath a fluttering banner reading “Ġustizzja għal Artna – Justice for Our Land”, a coalition of 14 Maltese NGOs launched a campaign that could become the loudest grassroots pushback against government planning reform since the…
Bail for Żabbar brothers accused of €1.7 million fraud sparks island-wide debate over trust and tradition A Valletta courtroom erupted in murmurs on Tuesday afternoon as Magistrate Donatella Frendo Dimech granted bail to two Żabbar brothers accused of siphoning “substantial sums” from clients who thought they were investing in Maltese property and classic-car flips. Joseph…
A rare moment of cross-party harmony echoed through Parliament this week when Health Minister Chris Fearne and two contenders for the Nationalist Party leadership, Adrian Delia and Bernard Grech, united behind a Maltese proposal for a sweeping “right to be forgotten”. The initiative, tabled by Labour back-bencher Alex Muscat, would allow citizens to request the…
Harbour Horror at Dawn: Mġarr Reels After Boat Blast Leaves Skipper Critical By Luke Briffa | Hot Malta | 07:45 CET Mġarr Harbour, the postcard-perfect gateway to Gozo that usually wakes to the clatter of fishing pots and the soft thud of ferry ropes, was jolted awake just after 5.30 a.m. today by a thunderous…
# Malta’s Millennials Wake Up to a New Kind of Saint While most of us were still rubbing the sleep from our eyes this morning, a 29-year-old Italian web-designer-turned-monk was preparing to step into eternity—and straight onto every millennial’s Instagram feed. On Sunday, Pope Francis will canonise Carlo Acutis, the tech-savvy teenager already nicknamed “God’s…
On a windswept evening in Birżebbuġa’s Pretty Bay, a circle of children are painting storm-surge lines directly onto the promenade’s concrete. Their chalk strokes start at ankle height, then climb—one metre, two metres, four—until the fluorescent scribbles reach the shuttered kiosks. Passers-by stop, take photos, frown, then nod. The piece, called “High Tide 2050”, is…
Between the honey-coloured bastions of Valletta and the salt-crusted fishing boats of Marsaxlokk, Malta’s readers have always turned to books as portable shelters from the midsummer glare or the January gale. Two recent releases—Michael Shurtleff’s evergreen Audition and Danish-American author Kirsten Klitgaard’s quietly devastating The Land in Winter—have slipped onto bedside tables across the islands…
On a sticky August night in Valletta, the bronze doors of the Manoel Theatre creak open and the crowd that spills onto Strait Street is humming the same chorus: “Għanja ta’ l-Arġent”, but not the 1970s original by Enzo Gusman. Tonight it’s Nadine Axisa’s stripped-down jazz trio version, slowed to a crawl, her voice brushing…
Letters to the Editor – September 5, 2025 Hot Malta readers have once again filled our inbox with the raw, unfiltered pulse of the islands. From the scent of ħobż biż-żejt cooling on a Sliema balcony to the roar of motorbikes zipping through Valletta’s silent streets at 3 a.m., these letters capture a Malta in…
The Future Starts Tomorrow — and It Begins in a Sliema Side-Street By 11 p.m. tonight, the last ferry from Valletta will glide beneath the orange halo of the Grand Harbour cranes, their lights blinking like Morse code to anyone still awake on the bastions. Most passengers will scroll through their phones, half-watching Netflix, half-listening…
Announcements – September 5, 2025: A Maltese Mosaic of Change, Celebration and Collective Purpose By 08:00 this morning, the first shaft of sunlight had already painted the honey-coloured limestone of Valletta’s balconied façades gold, but the city’s heartbeat was beating even faster than usual. From the steps of the Grandmaster’s Palace, Prime Minister Roberta Abela…
Police Step Up Patrols Amid Sliema Burglary Reports: Islanders Rally to Reclaim Their “Gentleman’s Promenade” Sliema—The seafront promenade that locals still affectionately call “Il-Prom” was unusually quiet at 02:30 on Tuesday. Instead of the familiar clink of wine glasses from late-night cafés, the only sounds were the low hum of police quad bikes and the…
