It proved to be a long hot summer as Mġarr ix-Xini was closed to the public as the set of Brangelina's movie By the Sea was set up. The government also let Judge Lino Farrugia Sacco retire without facing impeachment and a man - known to the police - was murdered in a drive by shooting.
3 August: After missing the deadline for replying to a request made by The Malta Independent under the Freedom of Information Act, the Home Affairs Ministry announced that it would not be publishing the contract signed with Henley and Partners, who was made the concessionaire of the controversial Individual Investor Programme. The ministry cited various reasons for its refusal, including that the publication of the contract was somehow not in the public interest.
7 August: The Malta Employers' Association in a report which recommended, among other things, that sick leave should not be granted for "self-inflicted" conditions such as sports injuries, sunburn, cosmetic surgery and hangovers. Trade unions were unanimous in their criticism, but the association stood its ground, noting that critics chose to focus on the sensational aspects of a report which focused on wide-ranging proposed changes to employment law.
17 August: The picturesque beach of Mġarr ix-Xini in Gozo is closed to the public to allow for the filming of a film described by Prime Minister Joseph Muscat as a blockbuster starring Angelina Jolie and her husband Brad Pitt. The film, By the Sea, was actually described as a "very small drama" about marriage by Jolie, who has written and directed it. It is set for release later this year.
21 August: 31-year-old Jonathan Pace, the former owner of Tyson Butcher in Żejtun, was killed in a drive-by shooting in the evening of 21 August while he was standing in the balcony of a Fgura resident. Mr Pace had recently been granted bail after being charged with the attempted murder of Vince Muscat, known as il-Koħħu, who is himself accused of attempted murder after his involvement in a failed heist on the HSBC headquarters in Qormi which culminated in shots being exchanged with police officers. Mr Pace had also been investigated over the 2013 murder of meat production plant owner Ronald Galea, but the case remains unsolved.
22 August: Judge Farrugia Sacco had reason to celebrate on his 65th birthday, as it allowed him to retire before impeachment proceedings against him could be concluded. The government's insistence that the court cases instituted by the judge had to be concluded before parliament decided on impeaching the judge - even though these appeared to be attempts to buy time - were crucial in ensuring that Dr Farrugia Sacco, whose son was a Labour Party candidate in the 2013 general election, did not end his career on a sour note.
Coincidentally, in a ruling concerning the opposition's request to view the Henley contract, Speaker Anġlu Farrugia had observed that parliament was sovereign and could not be subject to what takes place in court: the contract had been presented as evidence in a case filed by a bidder who contested the government's decision to award the contract to For Henley.