August marks the best of the summer season in Malta. The weather dominates most of our thoughts. How hot will it be and how humid? MaltaWeather.com continues to help us keep in touch with the latest weather reports and forecasts, as does GozoWeather.com, which has already been online for five years now. Where does the time go?

The aboutmalta.com online calendar of events has also entered its sixth year. The calendar provides a guide to what's on in Malta and Gozo, with detailed entries about the most interesting events in the fields of entertainment, sports, the arts, and any other event worth attending.

Event organisers can submit their events directly at no charge, by simply filling out an online form telling us about their activity. The calendar is available at www.aboutmalta.com/events

Enjoy the rest of the summer!

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. Lanċa Ġejja u Oħra Sejra: Malta and its migrations
     b. 2008 Festa Season in Malta & Gozo
3. This Month in Maltese History
4. What's On This Month

01 Utility surcharge rate rises to 95% as from Tuesday
02 Customs seize contraband alcohol and cigarettes
03 Corpse found in sea in St Paul's Bay
04 MGRM welcomes EU report on homophobia
05 MLP announces major changes in shadow cabinet
06 No 'condoms' in national sex health policy draft
07 Archbishop visiting Maltese community in Melbourne
08 MIA handles over 1.4 million passengers in 6 months
09 Malta registers 1.7% GDP growth rate
10 Transport ministry reacts to fresh threats of strike
11 More immigrants rescued and brought ashore
12 Pre-Budget 2009 consultation document launched
13 Local fishing vessel with five onboard missing
14 Transport strike starts on Monday morning
15 MLP opens nominations for top administration posts
16 Palestinian President Abbas in Malta
17 Public transport service to resume on Friday
18 Corpse identified as missing 33 year-old fisherman
19 Oil exploration and production contract signed
20 Search for missing fishermen still ongoing
21 Search for missing boy continues on eighth day
22 AFM rescue two children and two men from sea
23 Transport reform document considers trams, 24-hour service
24 Nine EU states to adopt common divorce law
25 Deficit increases by €80.1 million in first six months
26 New rules for written Maltese
27 15 year-old under house arrest over drug charges
28 Stock of vehicles rises by 2,470 in second quarter
29 Three-year-old dies in traffic accident at Ghajn Tuffieha
30 31 year-old woman dies after swimming incident
31 Condemnations against St John's development multiply

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

a. Lanċa Ġejja u Oħra Sejra: Malta and its migrations

Malta's stategic position in the Mediterranean Sea has given it a long, interesting history of migration. Emigration was a significant aspect of Maltese life in the last century, however, Malta is also a magnet for all sorts of immigrants. Most recently, the plight of irregular immigrants from various countries seeking a better life in Europe has become an almost daily topic in the news, especially because very few are actually granted refugee status. Over a thousand have reached the Maltese islands this year alone. MaltaMedia's special feature about Malta and its migrations covers all of this and more.
 

b. 2008 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.

40 YEARS AGO ( 25 August 1968 )
The new St Julian's Parish Church is blessed and opened to the public.

30 YEARS AGO ( 6 August 1978 )
Malta is shocked at the news that Pope Paul VI died in his summer residence at Castel Gandolfo; three days later Archbishop Mercieca conducts solemn requiem mass for the dead pontiff at St. John's Co-Cathedral.

10 YEARS AGO ( 12 August 1998 )
Former Prime Minister Dom Mintoff announces that he will not be contesting the September 5 general election.

FAMOUS BIRTHDAYS
6 August 1916: Dom Mintoff, Politician
14 August 1960: Mary Anne Lauri, Psychologist
16 August 1944: Charles "City" Gatt, Musician/Artist
26 August 1964: Daphne Caruana Galizia, Opinion Writer

DEATH ANNIVERSARIES
1 August 1964: Nosi Ghirlando, Actor, dies at 56
3 August 2004: Maggie Borg, Social Activist, dies at 52
12 August 1996: Oscar Lucas, Jazz Musician/Band Leader, 75
31 August 2005: Paul Carachi, Jouralist & Politician, dies at 80

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.

4 August 2008
Opera vs Pop Under the Stars
The Gozo Youth Orchestra presents a free concert and an exhibition of works by well-known Gozitan artist Paul A. Stellini at the Gozo Ministry's Courtyard in Victoria from 2015 CEST.

8 August 2008
Midnight Express - 30th Anniversary Screening
As part of the annual Evenings on Campus, Cinema Forum Group and Koperattiva Kulturali Universitarja celebrate the 30th anniversary since this partly-shot-in-Malta film was released; from 2050 CEST at the Old University Building Courtyard in St Paul's Street, Valletta.

23-24 + 30-31 August 2008
The Play in a Day Festival
MADC attempts to raise money for the Malta Hospice Movement by introducing something new to the theatrical calendar at The Playhouse in Santa Venera.

24 August 2008
Gozo Music Festival
Ira Losca, Tribali and 80s sensation Modern Talking are among the acts at the Gozo Music Festival at the Gozitano Complex Gozo in Victoria starting at 2100 CET.

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