**Cycle of Hope: LifeCycle Challenge Sponsors Kidney Patients on Sacred Journey to Lourdes** In a powerful display of Maltese solidarity, the annual LifeCycle Challenge has expanded its mission beyond raising funds for renal research to directly sponsoring kidney patients on their pilgrimage to Lourdes, transforming what was once an impossible dream into reality for Malta’s…
**‘Defaults are part of the risk’ for bond investors – finance minister** *By a Hot Malta correspondent* Valletta – Finance Minister Clyde Caruana has told Maltese retail bondholders that “defaults are part of the risk you take,” after two local companies suspended interest payments this summer, wiping millions off the savings of ordinary families. Speaking…
‘APS is no longer a secondary option’: How Malta’s oldest bank reclaimed centre stage Valletta’s Republic Street hums with the familiar rhythms of cappuccino steam and shop-door bells, but step inside the APS Centre and the soundtrack changes. Young couples huddle over mortgage spreadsheets on tablets, retirees tap contactless to top-up their BOV-powered Apple Pay,…
The Convenience Shop rebrands as MyConvenience and MySupermarket – a very Maltese evolution Sliema’s Tower Road woke up yesterday to a splash of neon green where the familiar red-and-white “The Convenience Shop” sign had stood for 17 years. By the time the 7 a.m. church bells rang, staff were already peeling off old vinyl and…
**Malta Plugs Into Europe: Second Energy Lifeline Begins in Sicily** The dusty coastal roads of Ragusa, Sicily, are humming with Maltese anticipation this week as engineers break ground on the island-nation’s second electricity interconnector—a 120-kilometre umbilical cord that will tether Malta more tightly to the European grid than ever before. For a country that spent…
**TargetMI: Behind the Scenes of Malta’s Life-Saving Heart Attack Research** In a nondescript laboratory tucked within the University of Malta’s biomedical complex, Dr. Stephanie Bezzina adjusts her microscope with the precision of someone who knows that every second counts. The molecular biologist isn’t just conducting routine research – she’s part of TargetMI, a groundbreaking Maltese…
APS Bank CEO Marcel Cassar has insisted his institution “had the resources to complete the HSBC Malta acquisition” had political winds blown differently, delivering a rare post-mortem on the collapsed €1 billion deal that would have redrawn the island’s banking map. Speaking to *Hot Malta* after last week’s AGM, Cassar said APS walked away “capital-ready”…
Sunday morning in Żejtun, and the bronze-skinned fisherman who sells lampuki at the parish steps is not just “the guy with the fish”. To 82-year-old Marija, who still pins her lace pattern to the balcony, he is Ġorġ—“Tal-Ajkla’s boy who lost his father at sea”. The Gospel read moments earlier, Luke’s Emmaus story, is still…
Christian spirituality: A tale of two Carpenters By our Hot Malta correspondent Żejtun parish priest Fr Reuben Micallef still remembers the moment he decided to re-instate the old “Quddiesa tal-Ħatab” (Mass of the Logs) on the feast of the Epiphany. “A carpenter from next door walked in with two olive-wood off-cuts shaped like a cross,”…
It starts with a smile, a free shot of ħelwa tat-Tork, and a “special price just for you, my friend”. Ten minutes later you’re standing outside a Sliema jewellery shop clutching a €380 coral necklace you never intended to buy, wondering how the word “no” evaporated from your Maltese vocabulary. Somewhere between the glass of…
**A Humanoid Robot for €5,000: Malta’s Newest Household Helper or High-Tech Novelty?** Picture this: you’re sipping a cappuccino on your Sliema balcony, the church bells of Stella Maris chiming noon, while a sleek, two-legged robot waters your geraniums and reminds you that your pastizz delivery is two minutes away. Science-fiction? Not any more. Chinese start-up…
**Tickets for Malta-Netherlands clash priced higher than monthly rent, fans fume** *By Hot Malta Newsroom* Football-crazy Maltese families were left open-mouthed yesterday when the Malta Football Association unveiled ticket prices for next month’s sold-out Nations League showdown against the Netherlands: €150 for a centre-stand seat, €95 behind the goal, and €250 for the VIP “Orange…
