Malta

Law requires non-residents to obtain a permit before buying property preventing wealthy foreigners from speculating in Malta real estate, PM Robert Abela reminded to curb controversial affirmations made by officials at Shanghai Luxury Property Exhibition

A constitutional amendment to formally recognise Valletta as Malta's capital and introduce a new National Anthem Day on 27 December is being discussed in Parliament; the proposal prompted reflection on national identity and Valletta as a living city

National AI Strategy towards 2030 has been realigned: the question shaping Malta's AI frame is no longer whether AI will boost economy and transform society, but whether citizens will manage to shape that transformation or be shaped by it

The 2025 autumn trapping season for the song thrush (malvizz) and the golden plover (pluviera), that will run from 20 October to 31 December 2025 and from 1 November 2025 to 10 January 2026, with quotas set at 5.000 song thrushes and 700 golden plovers

Valletta and Swieqi will benefit from a new tourism community support pilot project providing resources and administrative support to address locality-specific challenges linked to tourism: waste management, public order, regulation of accommodation

Door-to-door distribution of gas cylinders is no longer considered of general economic interest: the 2014 entrustment of the service to distributors has been terminated and so does a 15-year obligation, subsidised to ensure that they serve remote areas

Maltese Fireworks Association rejected criticism over a display in Mosta, with horses nearby appearing panicked in a video, insisting responsibility lies with animals’ owner, duly noticed, adding that stables are illegal and subject to enforcement notice

Times of Malta received a court injunction preventing it from publishing an article about an e-money firm just one day after sending questions to the company; union of journalists and Institute for Maltese Journalists are concerned about press freedom

The opposition Nationalist Party claimed government unilaterally decided to suspend two parliamentary sessions with 17 opposition motions still pending; the PN said that the fact shows disrespect for the highest institution in Malta

A €5.000 bounty is offered to anyone with useful information on a cat killer who has butchered cats in Sliema, Gżira, and Valletta, after a string of sadistic episodes connected to the same individual or group have been brought to light

St John’s Co-cathedral celebrated the arrival of a new bronze bell that will join Grandmaster Pinto bell in the belfry tower to restore harmonic balance to the unique bell ensemble; Carola Francisca was cast by the Royal Eijsbouts Bellfoundry, Netherlands

White taxi operators at Malta International Airport proposed that passengers who book ride-hailing cabs should be required to walk 260 metres away from the arrivals terminal to a deisgnated pick up point near the Kirkop tunnels