The following are the top stories in the national and international press today.

Times of Malta quotes European Home Affairs Commissioner Cecilia
Malmström saying during a visit yesterday that Frontex would not replace Mare Nostrum, the Italian migrants rescue mission. In another story it says that an Għadira nature reserve warden claimed “intimidation and harassment” after police officers showed up to question him after rescuing a flamingo chick from Paradise Bay.

The Malta Independent says the Parliament building within the Grand Master’s Palace in Valletta is being earmarked to house the EU Presidency when Malta chairs it in 2017.

L-Orizzont says the 18 kilogrammes of cannabis seized by the police in recent days after being brought over from Sicily were found in a basement under a block of apartments in Sliema.

In-Nazzjon says Indian doctor Ravindra Algarwal, who lives and work in Malta, admitted in court yesterday he made a gross error when he issued a medical certificate to an Irish woman without examining her.

International news

The Guardian reports NATO leaders have cautiously welcomed an apparent breakthrough in the five-month Ukrainian conflict after the President Petro Poroshenko and one of the leading pro-Russia separatist leaders agreed to order a ceasefire by mid-day today. Speaking on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Wales, Poroshenko said the ceasefire would be conditional on a planned meeting in Minsk of envoys from Ukraine, Russia and the OSCE. Both Ukrainian military and pro-Russia rebels have agreed to a ceasefire under terms proposed by Vladimir Putin.

The Times says NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has told the Kremlin to pull back Russian troops from Ukraine and to stop supporting rebels in eastern Ukraine. However, he told the NATO summit meeting in Wales NATO would not supply arms to Ukraine, saying it was up to individual members to decide whether to supply arms to the conflict-wrecked country.

Times of India reports the government has ordered states to be on the alert after al-Qaida announced it had created an Indian branch that the terror network vowed would bring Islamic rule to the entire subcontinent. Al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahri promised to “storm your barricades with cars packed with gunpowder”.

The New York Times says the UN Security Council has called on “countries with influence” to press al-Qaida-linked insurgents to release 45 UN peacekeepers from Fiji abducted last week in the Golan Heights. A statement approved by all 15 council members again demanded the immediate and unconditional release of the Fijian peacekeepers.

Luxemburger Wort reports the European Court of Justice has ruled an airliner's arrival time is not when it lands but when its doors are opened. The ruling, which is binding across the EU, affects compensation claims. A passenger can claim €250 euros for a delay of three hours or more. The EU's top court said on-board rules inconvenienced passengers until they left the plane.

Many UK national newspapers lead with the beheading of a woman in north London. The Sun reports the man who killed 82-year-old Palmira Silva was a Muslim convert. Metro describes him as a 25-year-old “madman in black” who was carrying a “big curved knife” in the attack carried in broad daylight. He has been arrested. Sky News quotes sources saying other potential victims escaped in what appears to be a random attack.

About 120 million girls around the world – slightly more than 10 per cent – have been raped or sexually assaulted by the age of 20. VOA News quotes a UNICEF report saying 95,000 children and teenagers, most of them in Latin America and the Caribbean, were murdered in 2012 alone. The document, drawing on data from 190 countries, notes children around the globe are routinely exposed to violence, including bullying.

Huffington Post reports tributes from the entertainment world are pouring in following the announcement of the death of comedian and TV host Joan Rivers. She was 81. Actress Whoopi Goldberg expressed sadness while TV show host Ellen DeGeneres described Rivers as a pioneer, adding she paved the way for a lot of comedians. Best known for her lacerating wit, Rivers stopped breathing during a procedure on her vocal cords at an outpatient clinic last week.

CNN says police handcuffed some 465 protesters who blocked traffic in cities across the United States in their latest attempt to get other fast-food chains to pay employees at least $15 an hour. The protests, which are the latest of ongoing actions aimed at raising fast-food workers’ wages, were planned by labour organisers in about 150 cities nationwide.

The Associates Press quotes Japan's first lady saying she has such a busy schedule that sometimes it was up to the prime minister to do the dishes or take out the garbage. It's the kind of flexibility that Akie Abe says is needed for the advancement of women in Japan.

 

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