When summer is upon us, the only thing on some people's mind in Malta is how hot the temperatures will get and how high the humidity readings will be. Our online weather service certainly helps me keep in touch with the latest weather reports and forecasts. This also reminds me that GozoWeather.com is about to celebrate its sixth full year online.

Meanwhile, the aboutmalta.com team prepares to give the site a major overhaul; the first in many years. Although it may look like we're working on half-days, rest assured that there are great new things brewing at our end.

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. Festa Season in Malta & Gozo
     b. The aboutmalta.com Visitors Book
3. This Month in Maltese History
4. What's On This Month

01 Man reported missing found 165 miles off Malta
02 Couple to sue company over tragic loss of son
03 Autopsy conducted on corpse found on Monday
04 MEPA board presents proposals for reform
05 Dr Charles Mangion sworn in as Opposition Leader
06 Dr Joseph Muscat elected new MLP leader
07 Malta commemorates Sette Giugno riots
08 56 illegal immigrants rescued by AFM
09 Muscat and Gonzi officially meet for the first time
10 Facebook petition passes 1,000 signature target
11 Drugs seized from Maltese-flagged ship in Russia
12 2,127 patients in waiting list for knee replacement
13 Contravention presented after Mistra investigations
14 Prof. Arnold Cassola is new AD Chairperson
15 Phase One of SmartCity project launched
16 109 immigrants brought ashore in just one night
17 750 Maltese pledge to be part of world downloading record
18 PM announces start of Shipyards' privatisation
19 PM Gonzi focused on rising food and oil prices
20 Migrants rescued by Italian trawler
21 Two found guilty of illegal employment
22 27-year-old dies in Cirkewwa traffic accident
23 44.1% increase in cruise passenger traffic in May
24 40,000 expected for Isle of MTV concert
25 Jo Said accused of blackmailing PN MP
26 Policeman attempts to strangle wife in Marsascala
27 Paul Borg Olivier selected as PN secretary general
28 White Paper on rent reforms launched
29 16 arrested over possession of drugs at party
30 €8.8m improvement in Malta's international deficit

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

a. Festa Season in Malta & Gozo

The Maltese sky rumbles during the day and lights up at night; church bells toll for hours on end and people flock to the streets and squares of every town and village in Malta and Gozo. It's festa season! This special feature from MaltaMedia is packed with interactive information about the various aspects of the festa season in the Maltese Islands. The feature includes various audio and video webcasts in Maltese about particular celebrations, which stand out in the Maltese calendar of summertime celebrations.
 

b. The aboutmalta.com Visitors Book

The aboutmalta.com Visitors Book is now back in working order after an unexpected hiatus. It appears that new security measures on the server, meant to avoid junk and spamming, were preventing absolutely everyone from posting to this section of our site. Apologies for any inconvenience this outage may have caused. Please feel free to post your entry now. We look forward to hearing from you!

30 YEARS AGO (13 July 1978)
Work begins on the creation of an extra lane at Marina Street in Msida, to avoid traffic congestion.

25 YEARS AGO (15 July 1983)
In terms of Section 4 of Act XIII/1983, the Unit of Currency in Malta shall be the Maltese Lira, and the symbol of the Maltese Lira will be "Lm" replacing any legal reference to Maltese Pounds and the symbol "£M".

10 YEARS AGO (8 July 1998)
At the Malta Labour Party (MLP) General Conference, Leader Alfred Sant proposes a motion that condemns without reservation Dom Mintoff's action in voting against the Cottonera Waterfront motion when he had previously declared that he would abstain. The motion also calls for a general election, nearly three and a half years before it is due.

FAMOUS BIRTHDAYS
1 July 1953: Lawrence Gonzi, Prime Minister
5 July 1844: Fortunato Mizzi, Prime Minister
5 July 1911: Gorg Borg Olivier, Prime Minister
17 July 1933: Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici, Prime Minister

DEATH ANNIVERSARIES
2 July 1997: Carmen Carbonaro, Broadcaster, dies at 92
6 July 1962: Paul Boffa, Prime Minister, dies at 72
18 July 2006: Ġużé Chetcuti, Author, dies at 91
31 July 2004: Mario Ellul, Singer and TV Producer, dies at 40

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.

12 July 2008
Xtruppaw Live! (with The I Skandal)
The sensational Xtruppaw will be playing a live show for the first time since they stopped promoting their debut CD in 2006. Also appearing at the Poxx Bar in Paceville that night will be The I Skandal who return on the scene after an even longer hiatus.

12 July 2008
Gay Pride
This year the pride celebrations will take place in Paceville starting with a march/parade at 9:30pm from Baystreet towards Ball Street, ending outside Klozet Club, organised by the Malta Gay Rights Movement.

13 July 2008
Collage of Cultures at Argotti
A festival organised by Third World Group celebrating the richness of different cultures on a local and global level at the Argotti Gardens in Floriana from 4.00pm till 11.00pm. The main attraction is a concert by several bands, including Big Band Brothers, Shilloo's tree, Walter Micallef and Marc Galea.

26 July 2008
Extreme Maltese Metal Festival 2008
20 live bands on 3 stages starting at 3pm at the Montekristo Wine Vaults in Luqa. Bands include Slit, Loathe, Knockturn Alley, X-Vandals, Fire, BNI, Cable 35, White Crimson, Kartridge and Angelcrypt among others.

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