The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press:
The Times reports that Simon Busuttil ‘scooped’ the PN leadership post. It also reports how a soldier was jailed for ‘torturing’ his wife.
The Malta Independent says Simon Busuttil was elected PN deputy leader.
In-Nazzjon leads with Simon Busuttil’s comments that the PN is full of enthusiasm, ideas and determination.
l-orizzont says 2,000 people will be affected by the government's decision to tax minimum wage earners. It also features the story of a boy who needs 500 pills per month.
The overseas press
Just a day after a landmark UN vote recognising Palestine as a non-member observer state, Haaretz announces that Israel has authorised the construction of 3,000 new homes on occupied land in East Jerusalem and the West Bank. The move, which has drawn widespread criticism, including from stalwart Israel ally the United States, is seen as punishment for the UN General Assembly vote. The Washington Times quotes a US State Department official saying both the vote and the settlement expansion are counter-productive to reaching a peace settlement and a two-state solution.
Huffington Post says prosecutors at the International Criminal Court say they would study what the Palestinian Authority’s upgraded status means for its relationship with the world’s first permanent war crimes tribunal. Last April, prosecutors rejected a Palestinian bid to get the Hague-based court to investigate possible war crimes during an Israeli military offensive in the Gaza strip that began in December 2008.
According to Bikya Masr, UN Human Rights Commissioner Navy Pillay has criticised Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi for granting himself sweeping powers. She said they were incompatible with international human rights law. She further warned that approving a constitution in these circumstances could be a deeply divisive move. Meanwhile, demonstrations are continuing in Cairo after an Islamist-led assembly rushed through a draft constitution. Opposition activists say the draft constitution raises serious concerns about human rights, including religious freedom.
Al Arabiya quotes UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon warning that the violence in Syria was reaching new and appalling heights of brutality. He was speaking as government forces clashed with rebels in and around Damascus. Internet and telephone lines remain down for a third day.
Ansa says the Italian government has forced one of Europe’s biggest steel mills to invest in technology needed to clean the plant up and so prevent its closure on health grounds. Pollution in the plant, in the southern city of Taranto, has long been blamed for causing higher-than-average local rates of cancer.
The BBC reports that the British government is coming under increasing pressure from victims of Press intrusion to fully implement the recommendations into unethical practices in the newspaper industry. But Prime Minister David Cameron has rejected a law regulating the media
Börzen Zeitung says the German Parliament has overwhelmingly backed a deal aimed at trimming Greece’s debt load and keeping the country financially afloat. The agreement paves the way for Greece to receive €44 billion in critical rescue loans, without which the country would face bankruptcy and a possible exit from the euro.
Unemployment in the eurozone rose to a record 18.7 million people or 11.7 per cent in October. Le Soir says Spain and Greece have the region’s highest unemployment rates – both over 25 per cent, with youth unemployment levels heading towards 60 per cent.
Slovenia Times reports clashes in the Slovenian capital of Ljubljana as angry demonstrators fought police trying to disperse the crowd, which was throwing rocks, bottles and firecrackers at them. Thousands joined the protests against Prime Minister Janez Jansa and his Cabinet, accusing them of corruption and fraud and demanding their resignations. The vote tomorrow pits incumbent President Danilo Turk against former Prime Minister Borut Pahor.
Al Watan says Kuwaitis head to the polls today to choose a new parliament amid growing unrest. On the eve of the election, tens of thousands of protesters in Kuwait City called for a boycott over changes made to the voting rules last month. Opposition MPs say the amendment manipulates the ballot in favour of pro-government candidates.
O Globo reports President Dilma Rousseff of Brazil has vetoed part of a bill that would give non-oil producing states a greater share of the country's oil royalties. Rousseff, who had until yesterday to rule on the measure, was under intense pressure from Rio de Janeiro state officials who warned that the new scheme would cripple their finances and jeopardise the financing of the 2016 Rio summer Olympics.
TV Azteca says Mayan priests started off ceremonies at a park in Mexico City aimed at marking the end of the current era in the Mayan long-count calendar today, with dancing, incense and rituals designed to thank the gods. The Mayas measure time in 394-year periods known as Baktuns. The thirteenth Baktun ends around December 21, and the estimated 800,000 surviving Mayas in Mexico are hoping for a better new Baktun than the one now ending, which began around 1618. It included the painful aftermath of the Spanish conquest in which Mayas and other indigenous groups saw their temples and sacred writings systematically destroyed and their population decimated by European diseases and forced labour.
France 24 reports that the lawyers of Dominique Strauss-Kahn have denied rumours that the disgraced IMF chief had reached a €4.6 million out-of-court settlement with Nafissatou Diallo, the New York hotel maid who accused him of sexually assaulting her last year. It was revealed he had discussed a settlement with the woman, but has yet to reach an agreement.