The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press.

Times of Malta quotes Sai Mizzi saying she believed she had the best qualities for her job.

The Malta Independent reports that the European Commission had no comment on  John Dalli's 'absurd statement'.

In-Nazzjon reports that Ernest Azzopardi, chairman of the Institute for Tourism Studies, has resigned.

l-orizzont leads with the prime minister's comments on innovative initiatives between Malta and China in renewable energy.

The overseas press

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has said it is more urgent than ever to avoid another Israeli-Palestinian war that could spill into the Middle East and called on both sides to agree a ceasefire. Fox News quotes Ban saying it was “unacceptable for citizens on both sides to permanently live in fear of the next aerial attack”.

The New York Times reports that in a moment of drama at an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council, Israel’s ambassador Ron Prosor suddenly played the piercing 15-second siren that warns Israelis to run to bomb shelters to escape rocket attacks to highlight the threat his country faces.

 Deutsche Welle says the White House has declined to comment directly on the expulsion of a high-ranking CIA official from Berlin. Spokesperson Josh Earnest said he could not comment on the current spying allegations as that “would put at risk US assets, US personnel and United States national security”. Last Friday, an employee of Germany’s foreign intelligence agency, the BND, was arrested. He later admitted to selling the CIA over 200 documents for €18,373.

The Times reports the UK government is rushing emergency laws through parliament to ensure police and security services continue to have access to phone and internet records – to “protect the public from criminals, terrorists and paedophiles”, according to Prime Minister David Cameron. The move follows a court decision that a EU directive which forces companies to retain communications logs was unlawful and infringed human rights. The recent ruling by the European Court of Justice removed the obligation of British data companies to retain records.

USA Today reports a man accused of fatally shooting four children aged between four and 14 and their parents has been charged with capital murder. Ronald Lee Haskell, 33, went to the home searching for his former wife, who is related to the victims, and held the children at gunpoint until their parents returned. He then brought all seven family members into a room and shot them, killing all except a teenage girl, authorities said.

Le Soir says the EU population reached 507.4 million last January – slightly more than in the previous 12 months, thanks to a natural increase of 80,000 people and a 700,000-unit positive migration balance. According to demographic data from Eurostat, over the long term the population of the 28 states forming the EU has increased by about 100 million people in comparison to 1960, when it equalled 407 million.

Al Sumaria says Jihadist militants have seized unspecified quantities of radioactive material from an academic research facility in Mosul. In a letter published on Thursday and addressed to the United Nations, the Iraqi government appealed for the international community to ward off the threat of such material being deployed for military purposes in Iraq or elsewhere.

Los Angeles Times announces the death of Eileen Ford, whose Ford Models agency grew into an international powerhouse and fostered the careers of a plethora of super models. She was 92. 

Il Domani reports a bishop in Calabria has suspended indefinitely religious processions in his diocese after a group of faithful following a statue of the Madonna purportedly gave a bow of respect to a notorious crime boss. 

 

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.