The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press.
The Times says the police believe yesterday's two murders are linked. It also reports how a judge is being quizzed by the police, and how, according to evidence given in court yesterday, John Dalli was ready to 'take risks' on the EU tobacco directive.
The Malta Independent reports how two were killed within hours of each other. It also says that Joseph Muscat said the general election could have been held in February.
In-Nazzjon gives prominence to the rally held yesterday by the PN and quotes the prime minister saying the government achieved good results despite the currents against it.
L-orizzont also leads with yesterday's murders and also says that a judge has been arrested over 'a serious crime'.
The overseas press
VOA News reports the UN Security Council has condemned North Korea’s successful rocket launch and said it would urgently consider “an appropriate response”. The successful rocket launch was widely seen as a test which takes North Korea one step closer to being capable of sending a nuclear-tipped warhead as far as California. North Korean officials said the rocket was meant to send a satellite into orbit to study crops and weather patterns, and Pyongyang maintained its right to develop a civilian space programme.
A US official quoted by Reuters and Associated Press has confirmed forces loyal to the Syrian government have fired what he called "Scud-type missiles" at rebels. AP quoted the official as saying that more than half a dozen missiles were fired from the Damascus area into northern Syria. There was no indication any chemical weapons had been used. The US State Department would Syria was resorting to "more vicious weapons".
Meanwhile, al-bawaba reports that more than 100 countries, attending the Friends of Syr5ia Conference in Morocco, have recognised a new Syrian opposition coalition, opening the way for greater humanitarian assistance for the forces battling President Bashar Assad. However, military intervention does not appear to be on the cards for Syria, where the government has the backing of Russia, China and Iran.
Al Akhbar says Egypt's leading opposition group has called on citizens to vote "no" on a referendum concerning the country's controversial constitution, drafted by the country's Islamist-dominated assembly with the approval of President Mohammed Morsi. On Tuesday, thousands of protesters gathered outside the presidential palace in Cairo in protest against the referendum. Violence between the opposition and the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood, who supported Morsi in his June election, has claimed seven lives and injured hundreds more.
Meanwhile, the official state news agency MENA reports some 500,000 Egyptians in 150 countries began the voting process at embassies and consulates yesterday. On the same day, the country army said it had postponed scheduled talks between the two factions fighting over the constitution, citing a lack of response from the invited parties. Morsi was expected to attend.
ABC says the Australian Communications Authority has opened a formal investigation into the broadcast by 2DayFM of a prank call to King Edward VII’s Hospital in London. The authority would be examining whether the licensee had complied with its broadcasting obligations. Meanwhile, London’s Sky News quotes sources saying the nurse who died after the hoax call had hanged herself. Jacintha Saldanha was discovered on Friday morning in her room at staff accommodation near the hospital in west London. An inquest is due to open today.
Almost 600 people in Britain have now come forward with information surrounding the Jimmy Savile sex abuse scandal. The Daily Mirror says that since the Police began investigations 10 weeks ago’ 31 allegations of rape against the late star have been made. John Cameron, head of the NSPCC's helpline, said the publicity surrounding the scandal had created more awareness about sexual abuse in general.
USA Today quotes US census studies which reveal that white people would no longer make up a majority of Americans by 2043. The total US population should climb to 420 million by 2060, with whites making up 43 per cent of the population. Hispanics, currently 17 per cent of the population, will jump to 31 per cent, or nearly one in three residents. African-Americans will make up 14.7 per cent, a slight increase. The point when minority children become the majority is expected to occur in 2019. Last year, minorities became the majority among US newborns.
L’Avvenire reports Pope Benedict XVI posted his first tweet on Wednesday under user name @pontifex, blessing his hundreds of thousands of new followers “from his heart”. Since the pope announced that he would start tweeting, more than a million people have registered to follow his main account in English.
L’Equipe says the EU’s Court of Justice legal adviser has backed the rights of football fans to see World Cup and European Championship matches on television free of charge. He has advised the court to dismiss the appeal by Fifa and Uefa, which seek more leeway to sell games to the highest bidders without the constraints of EU law. The television packages for the month-long footballing events are among the most valuable in international sports. Uefa gained at least £621 million in broadcast rights from Euro 2012, which was hosted in Ukraine and Poland in the summer. Fifa took £1.49 billion in broadcast rights for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.