This month's newsletter coincides with the Malta Government's Budget for 2006. As in previous years, aboutmalta.com is pleased to bring you all the salient points and more from our country's most-followed parliamentary session. This special feature is produced by the award-winning MaltaMedia.com News service.

The MaltaMedia News service was recently nominated twice in the e-journalism category of the 15th Annual Malta Journalism Awards. One nomination is for the whole team that worked on the perennial year-end feature 2004: A Year in Review, covereage of Chiara at the 2005 Eurovision Song Contest, and the 2004 PN leadership election. The other nomination goes to aboutmalta.com's managing editor Pierre J. Mejlak for his interviews with the President of the European Commission Romano Prodi and Jens-Peter Bonde, MEP and chairman of the euro-critic Group for a Europe of Democracies and Diversities, as well as a follow-up interview with Sharon Ellul Bonici and other reports he wrote from Brussels in March/April 2004. Julian Zarb from First Magazine is also nominated in this category. The award winners will be announced on Monday 14th November.

Good luck and best wishes to all!

Toni Sant
Consulting Editor, aboutmalta.com

P.S. To subscribe to this newsletter just contact us.

1. Last Month's Daily News from MaltaMedia
2. Top Picks:
     a. Malta Budget 2006
     b. Maltese Blogs
3. This Month in Maltese History
4. What's On This Month

01 Country in mourning after fatal traffic accident
02 Illegal immigrants fight in detention center
03 Prices of petrol and diesel up once more
04 Thunderstorm hits the Maltese islands
05 Government officially announces sale of 20% shares in MIA
06 Vandals strike Portes des Bombes once more
07 Missing elderly woman found dead
08 Two years imprisonment for seriously injuring her daughter
09 Another 70 repatriated to Egypt, Libya seeks control
10 Roadworks co-financed by the EU to start in November
11 Betfair to launch its operations in Malta
12 BWA spectrum assigned to Cellcom, go mobile and Vodafone
13 15 years imprisonment for drug trafficking
14 ADT sends warning letters to unlicensed vehicles owners
15 EU proposes improved regulation for fireworks
16 MaltaMedia among finalists for Malta Journalism Awards
17 Marsascala pharmacy held-up
18 EU holds talks following outbreak of bird flu in Greece
19 Malta cited 12th most transparent EU state
20 EU Health Ministers discuss avian influenza
21 Sea Malta privatisation concluded
22 Maltese registered ship attacked by pirates
23 Customs intercept 3,400 counterfeit pairs of shoes
24 Compilation of evidence over the death of five youths starts
25 Power surcharge goes up to 55%, increase in petrol price
26 Malta sends aid to Pakistani quake victims
27 Man accused of double attempted murder
28 Another dead body recovered from sea
29 Italy to issue visas for Malta in 46 countries
30 Key Maltese witness in Lockerbie case raises doubts
31 No new taxes in Budget 2006

Read and/or listen to the latest daily news from MaltaMedia.com.

a. Malta Budget 2006

MaltaMedia's special news feature about the Malta Government's Budget for 2006 brings you all the salient points and details, including the full text and audio of the Budget Speech. The budget was presented on Monday 31th October 2005.
 

b. Maltese Blogs

This relatively new phenomenon has now gripped the Maltese online community too, as we can all see from the ever-growing number of blogs by Maltese people and/or about the Maltese way of life. Blogs are a wonderful way for everyone to share personal thoughts on any topic that strikes their fancy.

30 YEARS AGO (7 November 1975)
Uniform cap wearing by route bus drivers and conductors is no longer compulsory.

20 YEARS AGO (24 November 1985)
Eleven hostages from a hijacked Egyptian Airlines Boeing 737 at Luqa Airport are released in the early hours. Following fruitless negotiations between Prime Minister Mintoff and the hijackers, and the shooting of one of the hostages, a special Egyptian Commando Unit, flown earlier to Malta, storms the plane at 8:00 pm; hijackers use hand grenades setting the aircraft on fire, killing 57 passengers and injuring many others; two more die on the way to hospital.

10 YEARS AGO (1 November 1995)
Libya holds Malta responsible for the death of Islamic Jihad Leader Fathi ash-Shiqaqi in Sliema on Wednesday 26 October 1995 and brings its sea link with the Maltese ialands to a standstill.

FAMOUS BIRTHDAYS
1 November 1954: Luciano Micallef, Artist
5 November 1930: Lino Grech, Actor/Writer
7 November 1939: Gloria Mizzi, Broadcaster
30 November 1960: Michael Laus, National Orchestra Director

DEATH ANNIVERSARIES
2 November 1935: Themistocles Zammit, Archaeologist, dies at 71
9 November 2003: Fredu Abela - "Il-Bamboccu", Ghannej (Folk Singer), dies at 58
29 November 1988: Mabel Strickland, Politician/Journalist, dies at 89
30 November 2001: Doreen Micallef, Poet/Writer, dies at 52

See aboutmalta.com's daily full list of birthdays, deaths, and events in Maltese history.

Today in Maltese History is produced exclusively for aboutmalta.com by Mario Axiaq.

3 – 6 November 2005
Literature Across Frontiers Malta Symposium
Inizjamed will be hosting 25 writers, literary translators, publishers, editors, organizers of literary festivals and representatives of literature organisations from 16 European countries at St. James Cavalier in Valletta to discuss the international promotion of literature.

4 - 5 November 2005
King Lear
TNT Theatre Britain and the American Drama Group Europe will present Shakespeare's King Lear at the Manoel Theatre in Valletta.

from 13 November 2005
Original Aviation Art On Canvas
This exhibition features works by Godfrey Mangion and Charles Stafrace at the Aviation Museum New Hanger, Ta’ Qali.

25 – 27 November 2005
Commonwealth Heads of Government (CHOGM) meeting
53 heads of government, for the most part Presidents and Prime Ministers, of almost all Commonwealth countries and many other Maltese and foreign dignitaries, 800 delegates, 1,200 journalists and around 600 NGO officials will be in Malta for this meeting.

View aboutmalta.com's full calendar for this month's events in Malta and Gozo, or to submit a future event to our calendar.