The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press.
The Times of Malta, The Malta Independent and Malta Today lead with the autumn hunting dates and reactions to the reduction of the curfew. The Times of Malta also reports about a campaign to encourage swimmers, particularly swimmers to check conditions when the sea is rough.
In-Nazzjon says Gozo Minister Anton Refalo has not replied to questions about his declaration of assets, including 24 properties he has in Malta.
l-orizzont say the Cottonera project will be fully completed in a year.
The overseas press
At least 18 sailors are feared to be trapped on board an Indian submarine that caught fire after an explosion in a Mumbai port. All India Radio says the fire has now been brought under control but the vessel is partly submerged at its berth. Rescue workers are at the scene. Many sailors jumped to safety and some of the injured were taken to hospital. It is unclear what caused the explosion on the INS Sindhurakshak – a 16-year-old Russian-made vessel that had recently returned from Russia after undergoing an upgrade.
Haaretz reports 26 Palestinian prisoners were released from prison by Israel on Tuesday evening as Mideast peace talks, scheduled to start in Jerusalem later on today, were threatened by the announcement of new Jewish settlements. In all, 104 Palestinian are to be released in four batches, although their freedom is contingent on progress of the talks. Celebrations are planned in the West Bank and Gaza where they are viewed as heroes.
The Jerusalem Post says Israel has intercepted and destroyed a “Grad” rocket launch by an Al-Qaeda-linked Jihadist group in Sinai. The rocket was targeted on Eilat, the Red Sea resort, and it was intercepted without consequences by a battery of the Iron Dome anti-missile defence system.
The Egyptian Gazette reports a member of the Muslim Brotherhood was shot dead and at least 11 people were wounded when Egyptian police fired tear gas to break up clashes between supporters of ousted President Mohamed Morsi and residents of a central Cairo neighbourhood. The clashes began when dozens of religious scholars affiliated with Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood entered the Ministry of Endowments and were ordered out by police. They then clashed with residents of the area prompting police to fire tear gas. The confrontations came as Morsi supporters demonstrated outside several government ministries in Cairo.
Industrial production in the 17-nation eurozone jumped 0.7 percent from the level in May when it fell 0.2 percent, bolstering hopes that overall economic growth figures due on today will show a long-awaited switch out of recession. Börzen Zeitung quotes the Eurostat statistics agency saying that compared with industrial output in June 2012, the eurozone gained 0.3 percent. The figures are the latest to suggest the eurozone is turning the corner, with retail sales, business and consumer confidence and now industrial output all encouraging after months in the doldrums.
The Wall Street Journal announces the US government has filed a suit to block a merger of American Airlines' parent firm AMR Corp and US Airways Group, a deal that would create the world’s biggest airline. The suit alleges the 11 billion dollar deal would lead to price hikes that harm consumers.
Tourists on the Greek resort of Santorini had candlelit dinners and drank warm beer after a power station fire left the entire island without electricity at the peak of the holiday season. Kathimerini says the blaze had been extinguished and efforts were being made to gradually restore power to the Aegean Sea island as soon as possible. No injuries were reported from the fire, the cause of which was not known. Local authorities said the Greek navy would send generators to the island.
USA Today says Britain’s E.L. James, the writer of the “Fifty Shades of Grey” series of erotic novels, has made it onto the Forbes list of the world’s top-earning authors – landing in first place. James, a former television executive, surpassed regulars on the list, including James Patterson, Danielle Steel and Stephen King, with estimated earnings of $95 million (€71.6 million) in the year to June 2013, thanks to the titillating trilogy. The e-book format was a key factor, giving readers an easy way to purchase sex-filled sequels – and a discreet way to read them in public.
Taiwan's first newborn panda has been reunited with its mother for the first time since it was taken away after birth. China Times says zookeepers in Taipei had to separate tiny Yuan Zai from its mother, Yuan Yuan, last month, to be raised in an incubator as the cub needed care and round-the-clock monitoring after it was slightly injured while being bred a few days after birth. The female cub was put inside Yuan Yuan's enclosure Tuesday where the mother gently picked her up, embraced and breastfed her in a heart-warming scene. The mother and daughter later fell asleep together following the reunion that lasted several hours.
Football has become a lucrative business and the game would do well to recover its sporting roots, Pope Francis on Tuesday. La Gazzetta dello Sport quotes the Pontiff telling the players and top officials from Argentina and Italy's national teams during an audience at the Vatican that “football, like other sports, has become big business”. Ahead of today's Italy-Argentina friendly in Rome in his honour, Francis urged them to make sure that the game does not lose its sporting character as “a match is weakened if it lacks comradeship, beauty and sportsmanship”.