The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press. The local newspapers are dominated by pictures of yesterday’s hailstorm.
In other stories, The Times reports how Judge Lino Farrugia Sacco is seeking the removal of two members of the Commission for the Administration of Justice which is considering the impeachment case against him.
The Malta Independent reports that the Labour Party is promising to reduce red tape by a quarter for a better business environment.
Malta Today says there are fresh doubts on the interconnector projects, with claims that a regional head signed agreement for the project after he had resigned.
In-Nazzjon leads with comments by energy experts Miles Seaman that a gas pipeline would be better than a gas terminal for the power station.
l-orizzont also gives prominence to Labour’s prominence to reduce bureaucracy by 25%.
The overseas press
New York has became the first state to pass a gun control law – the toughest in the US – since the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting massacre last month that left 20 children and six adults dead. ABS News says the new law includes a tougher assault weapons ban that broadens the definition of what constitutes an assault weapon, and limits the capacity of magazines to seven bullets, down from 10. The law also requires background checks of ammunition and gun buyers, even in private sales, imposes tougher penalties for illegal gun use, a one-state check on all firearms purchases, and programmes to cut gun violence in high-crime neighbourhoods.
Meanwhile, Reuters reports President Obama would propose an assault weapons ban and better background checks for gun buyers later on today as part of a package of proposals to curb gun violence. The White House said he would appear with children who wrote letters to him after the Newtown shooting. The proposals would include executive and legislative measures.
France 24 reports a convoy of French tanks rolled towards Mali’s restive north on Tuesday as part of a growing Malian-French offensive to retake the region from Islamist rebels. Earlier in the day, France’s Defence Ministry announced plans to increase the number of its ground troops to 2,500. Speaking in Dubai, where he is on an official visit to the UAE, French President François Hollande said France would not end its intervention in Mali until the country was “safe”.
Ynetnews says two explosions tore through the University of Aleppo, one of Syria’s biggest universities, on the first day of student exams on Tuesday, killing 83 people and wounding dozens. Each side in the 22-month-old conflict blamed the other for the blasts. Meanwhile, more than 50 countries have asked the UN Security Council to refer the Syrian crisis to the International Criminal Court, which prosecutes people for genocide and war crimes. But Russia – Assad’s long-standing ally and arms supplier – blocked the initiative, calling it “ill-timed and counterproductive”.
An All Nippon Airways Boeing 787 Dreamliner, with 129 passengers and eight crew members, has made an emergency landing in Japan after smoke appeared in the cabin. Public broadcaster NHK says all passengers on board were evacuated and no one was injured. The incident comes after the US Federal Aviation Administration ordered a comprehensive review of the Dreamliner after five separate problems with the aircraft in as many days.
Dawn says Pakistan’s Supreme Court has given authorities 24 hours to arrest Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf and 16 others in connection with a corruption case linked to power generation schemes. The move came as populist Sufi cleric Tahirul Qadri, who is believed to be backed by the military, demanded the resignation of the US-backed civilian government in protests attended by thousands of followers in the heart of the capital Islamabad.
London’s Independent reports a British Airways employee who claimed she suffered discrimination at work because of her faith has won a landmark legal battle at the European Court of Human Rights. Nadia Eweida, 60, took the airline to a tribunal after she was forced out of her job for wearing a cross in breach of company uniform codes. Her case was rejected in Britain but the European judges found in her favour.
Research published in the journal Human Gene Therapy shows scientists from the Queensland Institute of Medical Research have made a breakthrough that could lead to a potential cure for AIDS. Associate Professor David Harrich says they had discovered how to modify a protein in HIV so that, instead of replicating, it protected against the infection. If clinical trials are successful, one treatment could be effective enough to replace the multiple therapies they currently need.
A study in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry reveals autism is a condition some children grow out of. Experts studied 34 school-age children and young adults who had been diagnosed with autism early in life but now appeared to be functioning normally. Tests confirmed that the group, aged eight to 21, no longer suffered symptoms of the developmental condition that makes it difficult to communicate and socialise. Previous studies looking at the likelihood of autism recovery have proved inconclusive.
Globalpost reports that a cleaner stole an empty commuter train from a depot and drove it off the rails and into a Swedish apartment building. Police said the woman was seriously injured in the early morning crash outside Stockholm and was flown to hospital. No one else was hurt. Train operator Arriva said the woman, in her 20s, stole the four-car train at a depot outside the city.
Cycling could be dropped from the Olympics if Lance Armstrong implicated the sport's governing body – the International Cycling Union (UCI) – of covering up a widespread doping scheme. According to Cycling News, IOC member Dick Pound said the IOC might be left with no choice other than to take drastic action if Armstrong proved the UCI had acted improperly. Pound made his comments after talk show host Oprah Winfrey confirmed media reports that Armstrong admitted to using performance-enhancing drugs in an interview that was taped on Monday and will be broadcast on Friday.