Let’s Move Malta Winter Programme 2026/27 Returns with More Sports and More Opportunities for All
The Journal
Camille Franke's Blog
Death by suicide
▪️ Death by suicide ▪️ The three clowns ▪️ Keeping the Germans down Some people, a few of whom should know better, have been talking about a pandemic of suicides, linking it with increased mental health problems. A flurry of posts on the social media by the usual uninformed brigade have made it seem that this is a daily...
Voices
One day you’ll wake up and ask, ‘What the fuck am I doing?’
Edward Said’s legacy: Our often racist or romanticised stereotypes of the Middle East create a worldview that justifies Western colonialism and imperialism. Twenty years ago last September, Edward Wadie Said ̶ a Palestinian and American scholar, intellectual, and literary critic who was the pioneer and leading figure of post-colonial studies ̶ passed away. Said published innumersable influential books, including...
EP elections 2024
Your vote in the European elections: why it really matters
The more people turn out to vote, the stronger European democracy becomes, the Head of the European Parliament’s Office in Valletta tells The Journal. “Many of us still don’t realise how much the European Union influences our everyday lives and, therefore, how important it is to go to the polls next June to choose those who will represent us in the next European Parliament,” says Mario Sammut, Head of the...
Letter from Lilliput
Read my lips: the EU wants Maltese out
▪️ Read my lips: the EU wants Maltese out ▪️ The perfect rebuke No, not us prime achievers within the EU are the target, but our national language. This may be a pet subject for yours truly, but the recent revelation that an important EU bureau chaired by our own Maltese girl Roberta Metsola has decided to do without Maltese...
Stories
Food prices fell by 1.1% last month
Malta now has an inflation rate that has come back very close to that in the rest of the European Union. Official statistics show that food prices fell by 1.1% last February compared with what they were a month earlier. This was the first time in three years that food prices decreased, as it was precisely in February 2021 when food prices were last lower than they were a...
Stories
A record for outbound travel
More than a third of the trips that were made in 2023 were to Italy. The second favourite destination was the UK, followed by Spain and France. Last year there were more than 814,000 residents of Malta who travelled abroad. This means that, on average, all Maltese residents travelled out of Malta more than once a year. This was an absolute record for outbound travel from Malta, as in fact, in 2019, before the...
Camille Franke's Blog
Wedding blues
▪️ Wedding blues ▪️ Stable prices ▪️ Swift votes Post-wedding blues are well-known and commonly talked about. After all, planning the happiest day of a woman’s life is like a time of floating on air for her. It is not as well-known that pre-wedding blues are also common. Weddings can bring extra pressure, family...
Stories
Schemes have helped hundreds become homeowners
600 vulnerable families have become homeowners thanks to Housing Authority schemes In the first three years since the establishment of the Ministry for Social and Affordable Housing there were almost 600 vulnerable families who became homeowners thanks to Housing Authority schemes. This means an average of one family every two days. Deposit Scheme...
Voices
Beyond the icons
This Black History Month, let us remember not only the celebrated icons but also the unacclaimed figures whose contributions continue to shape our world. In the United States, February is Black History Month, an annual celebration of achievements by African Americans and a time for recognising their central role in the country’s history. While luminaries like Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, and Harriet Tubman...
Global News Digest
EP adopts law to restore 20% of EU’s land and sea
This morning's top world news, in a nutshell - Wednesday, 28th February 2024 EU lawmakers on Tuesday gave the final green light to a milestone Bill aimed at protecting nature in the bloc, overriding conservative attempts to torpedo a law that has angered European farmers. The rules, agreed with the Council, are a central part of the EU’s...
Letter from Lilliput
Some Malteasers
▪️ Some Malteasers ▪️ A case of ‘Only in Malta’? Given this contributor has already written about the state of the Maltese language today and the enemies – within and without – it has to deal with on a daily basis, last week’s National Forum on the Maltese Language organised by the Maltese Language...
Stories
“Bad habits must change” – notes on cleanliness
Asked to identify the biggest overall challenge in his remit, the Parliamentary Secretary for Public Cleanliness, Glenn Bedingfield, is clear: "people's mentality". The Parliamentary Secretariat for Public Cleanliness is currently consulting with various local councils to gain a comprehensive understanding of each locality’s unique cleanliness needs. The Journal spoke with Parliamentary Secretary Glenn Bedingfield, tasked...