The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press:
The Times and l-orizzont lead with evidence in court yesterday showing that DNA of the accused was found under the fingernails of murder victim Margaret Mifsud. The Times also follows up the story on the pay rise being given to members of the judiciary, quoting the Chief Justice as saying that old practices must change.
The Malta Independent asks if taser guns are safe.
In-Nazzjon says there is ‘war’ between Anglu Farrugia and Jason Micallef, rivals on the Mosta district, with the former insisting that the latter must step down as One Productions chairman.
The overseas press
A senior lawmaker says Germany would block any new aid to Greece if Athens did not fully comply with the terms of previous rescue packages, even if other countries support unlocking funds. The deputy head of Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative parliamentary bloc, Michael Fuchs, told business daily Handelsblatt that Berlin was ready to use its veto if it was unhappy with findings from Greece’s creditors – the European Union, International Monetary Fund and European Central Bank.
EU Observer quotes the European Commission saying that some 120,000 women and underage girls from Central and Eastern Europe are smuggled each year to Western Europe and forced into prostitution. According to Brussels statistics, as many as a third of all sexually-exploited females in the 27-nation European Union were recruited in Bulgaria and Romania alone.
al bawaba says Syrian rebels have released a dramatic video they say proved they had shot down a government fighter jet and captured the pilot. Syrian state TV acknowledged the loss of an aircraft, but blamed mechanical failure and said rescue teams were searching for the crew. The claim came as regime forces appeared to seize the upper hand in Aleppo and videos emerged showing alleged rebel atrocities in the Aleppo area. One appeared to show rebels throwing bodies off the roof of a post office building, while another video showed a man, blindfolded and bound, having his throat cut.
The death toll after twin earthquakes struck rural northwest Iran jumped to 306 on Monday, including 219 women and children. Iran's state-run Press TV says 3,037 other people were injured.
NBC News reports a federal judge has ordered a Somali pirate, Mohammad Saaili Shibin, to serve a dozen life sentences in prison for his role in the hijacking of a German merchant vessel and a US yacht. Four Americans aboard the yacht were shot dead by pirates off the coast of Africa in 2011, and the crew on the other vessel was tortured to get a higher ransom in 2010. Prosecutors said they would seek the death penalty against the three men charged with shooting the Americans. Eleven other men in the case who boarded the yacht have already pleaded guilty and been sentenced to life in prison.
Avvenire says the Vatican has ordered the former butler of Pope Benedict XVI to stand trial for theft and leaking confidential papers in a scandal that has embroiled the Holy See. It also accused Paolo Gabriele of stealing a $100,000 cheque made out to the Pope. Another man, identified as computer expert Claudio Sciarpelletti, has also been charged with complicity over the scandal that saw the leaking of confidential Vatican papers to an Italian journalist. Gabriele faces up to six years in prison.
CNN reports President Barack Obama has congratulated NASA scientists for landing a rover on Mars – and asked for an update if they find Martians. His comments, during a conference call to NASA mission headquarters, came as the US space agency released a stunning new colour 360-degree panorama of the surface of the Red Planet.
The New York Times announces the death of Helen Gurley Brown, the editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan magazine and author of “Sex and the Single Girl”. She was 90. The BBC says that she was hired by magazine publisher Hearst to turn around Cosmopolitan three years after her 1962 best-selling book. She edited the magazine for 32 years. Under her, the magazine became famous for encouraging women to have sex, regardless of marital status. She had coined the phrase: “Good girls go to heaven, bad girls go everywhere”.
The Daily Telegraph says London said goodbye to thousands of visitors and athletes on Monday after more than two weeks of excitement surrounding the 30th Olympic Games. Heathrow Airport was the busiest. Meanwhile, the Olympic flag has arrived in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janiero which will host the 2016 Summer Olympics. And ABC reports the prime minister of the state of Victoria, Ted Baillieu, has hinted that Melbourne could bid to again host the Games in 2028. Baillieu said a bid was not currently on the government's agenda, but he believed Melbourne would be well equipped to host the Olympics.
Eurosport reports four members of Congo’s Olympics delegation have gone missing in London. They are a judoka two officials with the boxing and judo teams, and a national athletics official. Already at least seven Cameroonian athletes have failed to return home after the Games.