The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press.
The Times of Malta and l-orizzont report how a court has ordered an investigation into alleged perjury by former GRTU Director-General Vince Farrugia. They also report how Moody’s has welcomed reforms in the energy sector.
The Malta Independent says there is a bigger chance of winning the lottery than to have as many pilots on sick leave as Air Malta had on Tuesday.
In-Nazzjon quotes Simon Busuttil saying that six months on, the government had no roadmap and still needed to start to govern.
The overseas press
President Assad of Syria has pledged to destroy his stockpile of chemical arms but warned it would take a year to do so and would cost “about a million” US dollars. In an interview with Fox News, Assad described the operation as “very complicated”. Assad also insisted his country was not gripped by civil war but has been attacked by tens of thousands of foreign jihadist fighters allied to Al-Qaeda. He urged President Obama not to threaten Syria with armed intervention but to “listen to the common sense of your people”.
Forbes reports the United States has accused Russia of ignoring “the facts” which have emerged from the UN inspectors' report on the sarin gas attack on August 21 in Damascus. Moscow has insisted that, in reality, it is not Assad's regime that is responsible for the massacre, but rather the rebel forces.
Meanwhile, Al Thawra announces that Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Serghei Ryabkov will meet President Assad later today after reportedly receiving material from the Syrian government showing the rebels to be responsible for the chemical weapons attack.
Gazzetta del Sud reports 149 migrants, all of Syrian nationality, landed in Catania last night after being rescued by a cargo ship. The migrants included 40 minors, several newborn babies and three pregnant women.
Iran's new President Hassan Rowhani has praised his US counterpart Barack Obama for taking a “positive” approach in an exchange of letters. He told NBC News that “the tone of the letter was positive and constructive”.
Ansa says that the Italian Senate has moved a step closer to expelling former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi from parliament following his conviction for tax fraud. In a late night vote, a Senate rejected an attempt by his supporters to block his disqualification from public office.
France 24 says the French Senate has voted 197-146 to ban beauty pageants for children under 16, in an effort to defend youngster’s rights. Anyone who enters a child into such a contest would now face up to two years in prison and €30,000 in fines. The legislation must go to the lower house of parliament for further debate and another vote.
The Daily Mirror dedicates its front page to the story of a four-year-old boy whose mummified body was found in a cot in his mother’s bedroom two years after he had starved to death in the family home. Hamzah Khan’s corpse was still dressed in a baby-gro when police made the “dreadful discovery”. Details of how Hamzah’s body was found in September 2011 were outlined when his mother Amanda Hutton, 43, went on trial at Bradford Crown Court. She denies her son’s manslaughter.
The Los Angeles Times announces the death of former boxing champion Ken Norton, who was considered one of the greatest heavyweights of his era. He died of heart failure, aged 70. Norton is best known for beating Muhammad Ali in 1973, breaking the Hall of Famer's jaw in the process. He ended his brilliant career with a record of 42 wins, seven losses, one draw and 33 knockouts.
Strait Times reports authorities in Singapore have arrested 14 people allegedly part of a global match-fixing ring that has made millions from rigged sporting events.
FIFA president Sepp Blatter has admitted that the choice of Qatar as 2022 World Cup hosts was partly influenced by political and economic interests. In an interview with German weekly Die Zeit, to be published tomorrow, Blatter said European leaders had “recommended to its voting members to opt for Qatar, because of major economic interests”. A new, independent ethics commission has been appointed to re-examine the awarding of the World Cup to Qatar as rumours of corruption still reverbate around FIFA's decision in 2010 to award the 2022 tournament to the Arab state.