Press digest

The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press:

The Sunday Times says soldiers and detention officers have been held after a migrant’s death in a Detention Service van. It also carries an interview with Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando, who says he will not vote at the next election, but does not rule out being a PN candidate in future elections.

The Malta Independent quotes participants at yesterday’s Gay Pride parade saying they are seeking marriage equality.

MaltaToday says that the PN Executive will not, at its next meeting, discuss Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando’s call for the party to dismiss Richard Cachia Caruana.

Il-Mument highlights Dr Gonzi’s birthday and his achievements. It also says consultation has opened on the future use of the former fish market building, currently empty, and Boffa Hospital, which will be vacant next year. Both overlook Grand Harbour.

It-Torca quotes Alfred Sant saying the PN knew from the outset about Pullicino Orlando’s Mistra case.  

Illum quotes Finance Minister Tonio Fenech saying a party cannot go divided before the electorate with serenity.

KullHadd accuses Foreign Minister Tonio Borg of political hypocrisy saying he backed Italy’s push back policy on migrants. 

The overseas press

Ansa reports that more than 47 people have died and hundreds others have been wounded in three days of tribal clashes in Kufra in southeastern Libya. The Italian agency quotes a local tribal leader and a doctor saying more than half the dead were women and children. The doctor said 32 people of the Tubus tribe were killed in two residential areas of Kufra, where mortar shells have caused dozens of casualties. The head of a rival Zwai tribe put their own dead at 14. Tribalism is an age-old challenge for Libya, always threatening stability and security.

Greek television NET says Monday sees the return in Athens of inspectors from the troika – the Commission, the European Central Bank and the IMF. The troika had postponed the visit because of the recent health problems of the Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, who had an eye operation, and Economy Minister Vassilis Rapanos, who has since been replaced. Ekathimerini also noted that there were delays in the payment of the next tranche of the loan granted to Greece, a value of €5 billion, which should have been paid by yesterday.  

Prime Minister David Cameron has suggested he could call a referendum on the UK's relationship with Europe. In an article for The Sunday Telegraph, he acknowledged that the country's position within an evolving European Union must have "the full-hearted support of the British people". But he insisted that the vast majority of the public did not support an immediate referendum on whether Britain should be in or out. Cameron's article in the newspaper comes after an EU summit called to tackle the eurozone crisis moved the bloc towards closer economic and political integration. After the meeting, he told reporters he was not in favour of an in/out referendum leading some to believe he was ruling out a popular vote altogether.

Al Jazeera says world powers have agreed on a plan calling for a transitional government in Syria to try to end the fighting. US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton said the agreement, reached at an international meeting in Geneva, paved the way for a post-Assad government. But Russia Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the deal set no pre-conditions as to who should be in the interim administration.

Early projections in Iceland’s presidential election suggest the incumbent Olafur Ragnar Grimsson was heading for a record fifth term in office. Morgunbladid says that with 41.6 per cent of votes counted, Grimsson was seen garnering 51.2 per cent of votes, while Arnorsdottir, who interrupted her campaign for a week in May to give birth to her third child, was credited with 34.8 per cent. Arnorsdottir, a respected journalist with no political background, has already admitted defeat.

Sydney Morning Herald reports that a carbon tax for the 500 companies that produce the most greenhouse gas has come into force in Australia. The highly-controversial measure would cost big polluters 23 Australia dollars (€18.5) for every tonne of greenhouse gas they produce. The government argues the tax was needed to meet climate change obligations.

Voice of America says violent thunderstorms across the eastern United States have killed at least 12 people as widespread destruction left millions without power. States-wide emergencies have been declared in Virginia, West Virginia and Ohio.

Kounda says Islamist fighters from the Ansar Dine group in Mali have damaged the shrines of Muslim saints in the city of Timbuktu. They attacked the mausoleum of Sidi Mahmoud, one of 16 shrines in the city, using shovels and pickaxes. Islamists regard shrines as idolatrous. Last week, Unesco put Timbuktu on its list of endangered world heritage sites, fearing damage following the coup which toppled the Malian government in March.

Arutz Sheva reports some 10,000 "outraged" Israelis took to the streets of Tel Aviv, calling fr the resignation of Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu. They were protesting “in the name of social justice and against the economic liberalism of the government”. Some arrests were made.

Police in the Czech Republic say they have arrested Randy Blythe, the lead singer for the heavy metal band Lamb of God, as part of an investigation into the death of a fan at a concert in Prague in 2010. Radio Praha says he was accused of pushing a fan off the stage.

Reuters quotes the organisers for a group of gay people saying the authorities in the Moroccan city of Casablanca have withdrawn permission to dock. The Casablanca visit was supposed to be the first and the only non-European leg of a week-long journey for the cruise liner, which sailed from Barcelona on Friday with mostly American and European passengers. However, Morocco's Tourism Minister Lahcen Haddad said no official decision had been made to prevent the ship from stopping in Morocco. Homosexuality is illegal in Morocco, which is generally considered one of the more liberal Islamic countries.

Katie Holmes will receive $3 million for every year she was married to Tom Cruise. Hollywoodlife reports the 33-year-old actress has filed for divorce from the 49-year-old actor, whom she wed in November 2006, and as she had signed a pre-nuptial agreement before they tied the knot, she is unable to seek half his rumoured $275 million fortune. Instead, she will reportedly be paid $15 million for the five-year union as well as being given their $35-million Beverly Hills mansion. However, Katie – who has cited "irreconcilable differences" as the reason behind their split – is seeking sole custody of the couple's six-year-old daughter, Suri, and experts believe she will get a huge amount of child support from Tom.