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

Times of Malta reports that Karmenu Vella is expected to face a tough grilling by MEPs in Brussels.

The Malta Independent keeps to the same theme and says leading European environmental NGOs have questioned Karmenu Vella’s credentials to serve as EU commissioner.  The newspaper also reports how Oscar Pistorius was found not guilty of premeditated murder.

In-Nazzjon and l-orizzont report that a director of Fantasy Tours is expected to face fraud charges. L-orizzont also reports that a dockyard museum will be set up at the revamped Dock 1 in Cospicua.

The overseas press

Ten Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia, have agreed to help the United States in its fight against the Islamic State militants. Al Hayat reports that after a meeting in Jeddah with Secretary of State John Kerry, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and six Gulf states including Saudi Arabia and Qatar also agreed to stop the flow of funds and fighters for the militants who have seized large swathes of Iraq and Syria.

The Washington Post quotes the CIA saying the Islamic State group has significantly more fighters than previously thought. The agency put the number between 20,000 and just over 30,000 – up to three times its previous estimate. It said the new total reflects stronger recruitment since June, following Battlefield successes.

ABC says the suspected brother of a suicide bomber killed in Syria and another alleged jihadist have appeared in an Australian court charged with funding and recruiting for al-Qaida offshoot terrorists in the Middle East.  

The Daily Record reports Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond has called for an investigation into what he says is a Treasury leak about RBS plans to relocate its HQ to London in the event of independence.  

An Nahar announces al-Qaida-linked militants released 45 Fijian peacekeepers captured two week ago on the Syrian-controlled side of the Golan Heights by fighters from the Nusra Front.  

Mail & Guardian leads with the clearance yesterday by a Pretoria court of South African athlete Oscar Pistorius from a charge of having murdered his girl friend Reeva Steenkamp.  

La Vanguardia reports hundreds of thousands of people have taken part in a rally in Barcelona to demand that their Catalan region be allowed to hold a Scottish-style referendum split from Spain. The Spanish government maintains such a vote would be anti-constitutional.

Ansa says the chief executive of the Italian energy company ENI is being investigated over allegations of corruption. Claudio Descalzi is facing questions over the company’s one-million-dollar acquisition of offshore Nigeria oilfields in 2011. The company has denied any wrongdoing.

Clarin says congress in Buenos Aires has approved a Bill to restructure the country’s debts and side-step a recent US court ruling that cause the Argentina to default. Under the plane, the country’s administration would be able to repay creditors locally beyond the reach of the American courts.

 

 

 

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