The plane carrying the 80-year-old pope landed at Valletta airport after a three-and-a-half hour flight from Damascus.

CNN: Pope in Malta after peace plea

"This was all about politics for the treasurer, " Paul Valletta, president of the Cranston firefighters union, tells me.

WSJ: The Weekend Interview with Gina Raimondo: The Democrat Who Took on the Unions

VALLETTA, Malta -- Cheering crowds have greeted Pope John Paul II on his arrival in predominantly Catholic Malta.

CNN: Pope in Malta after peace plea

And Valletta theatre director Herman Grech is keen to stage it in the Maltese capital later this year.

BBC: Lockerbie bomb play may be shown in Malta

"I wasn't expecting such a landslide victory for Labour, " he said after the count in Naxxar, outside the capital Valletta.

BBC: Labour returns to power in Malta after 15 years

Yet she still expressed surprise at receiving a standing ovation from the audience at the Mediterranean Conference Centre in the Maltese capital, Valletta.

BBC: Entertainment & Arts

There was nothing exceptional about the fact that a conference was taking place in the Aula Magna of the Old University building in Valletta.

UNESCO: WHO IS THE OTHER?

The following article shortly describes the Conference on "Stereotypes and Alterity: perceptions of otherness in the Mediterranean", Valletta, Malta, November 27-29 1997.

UNESCO: WHO IS THE OTHER?

The awards will be held in Valletta, Malta, on 1 December.

BBC: Amour leads European Film Award nominations

The 72-year-old will be recognised for his "unique and dedicated contribution to the world of film" at the 1 December event, to be held in Valletta, Malta.

BBC: Bertolucci to be honoured at European Film Awards