The following are the top stories in the national and international press today
All Maltese newspapers lead with the approval of Karmenu Vella’s nomination for Commissioner of the EU following his European Parliament hearing yesterday.
Times of Malta says a lack of planning, monitoring and oversight by the Foundation of Educational Services led to July’s Skolasajf fiasco, which forced the Education Ministry to postpone its opening by several days.
MaltaToday quotes an Amnesty International report which says that some 200 migrants presumed to have died in the Lampedusa shipwreck in 2014 could have been saved if Italian and Maltese authorities had not dithered over rescue operations.
The Malta Independent also says Amnesty International questioned whether Malta and Italy acted swiftly to save migrants in the Lampedusa Tragedy. In another story it says that trained shooters culled birds at St Luke’s Hospital last Sunday.
In-Nazzjon says that although Mr Vella had been approved for EU Commissioner the committees also expressed their serious reservations in a letter, indicating that no political group was completely satisfied with his answers.
L-Orizzont also says quotes Transport Mininster Joe Mizzi insisting he was confident geological structures in Malta which probably contained petroleum in commercial quantities existed in Maltese waters.
International news
The United States has diagnosed its first case of the deadly Ebola virus in a man who became infected in Liberia and travelled to Texas . A Centre for Disease Control and Prevention spokesman told Fox News the patient was hospitalised with symptoms that were confirmed to be caused by Ebola, which has killed more than 3,000 people in West Africa.
South China Morning Post reports that the official flag-raising ceremony in Hong Kong’s Wan Chai, marking the start of the two-day National Day holiday in China, was over in a matter of minutes. Members of the Occupy Central Movement turned their backs, raising their hands to form crosses and displaying yellow ribbons, as the national flag was sung and the flag was raised. At the back of the Square, some protesters gave Beijing a display of their middle fingers, although they quickly dispersed.
The Washington Times says the US Marine Corps plans to deploy 2,300 troops to the Middle East for a new unit designed to quickly respond to crises in the region. The Pentagon said the unit would include several aircraft and be prepared to move rapidly in the case of contingencies.
Al Bawaba reports Iraqi Kurdish troops have driven Islamic State fighters from a strategic border crossing with Syria and won the support of members of a major Sunni tribe, in one of the biggest successes since US forces began bombing the Islamists. The victory, which could make it harder for militants to operate on both sides of the frontier, was also achieved with help from Kurds from the Syrian side of the frontier – a new sign of cooperation across the border.
Meanwhile, The Times says British jets made their first air strikes on two strategic positions in Iraq. Defence Secretary Michael Fallon said two Tornado jets hit a heavy weapons post that was endangering Kurdish forces and also struck an armed pick-up truck in the same area. It was the seventh combat mission for the RAF since the GR4 jets took to the skies on Saturday.
An Nahar reports the Islamic State has freed more than 70 Kurdish students kidnapped near Aleppo last May. The Syrian Observatory of Human Rights says it was not clear why the students, part of a larger group of 153, were set free. The observatory also reported that Islamic State Sunni jihadists beheaded four Kurdish fighters, including three were women, captured during clashes near Kobane. The victims’ heads were displayed in the city of Jarablus.
According to El Pais, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has said he was open to proposals on reforming the country’s constitution as demanded by rivals in response to the Catalonia region’s demands for independence. But he said it was “not the government’s priority to reform the constitution” since he wanted to concentrate on Spain’s economic recovery.
O Globo says President Dilma Rousseff has solidified her lead over opposition candidate Marina Silva and would win a runoff vote in Brazil’s presidential election. Polls showed Rousseff with 49 per cent support, compared with 41 percent for Silva – doubling the four percentage-point lead Brazil‘s first female president had in the previous poll released last Friday. Brazilians go to the polls on Sunday.
Chosun Ilbo reports concealed heels in Kim Jong-un’s shoes have been blamed for the month-long absence of North Korea’s leader from public view. The Korean news site said Kim underwent double surgery to fix fractures in both ankles, caused by an elevation trick used by his father Kim Jong-il. The internal thickness of the shoes reportedly added several more centimetres to the height of the shoes than what could be seen externally.
Berliner Zeitung says that the German government’s ethics council has said sex between brothers and sisters should be legal and is a “fundamental right”. The recommendation follows the case of Patrick Stuebing, who was jailed for more than three years after having four children – two of whom are disabled – with his sister Susan Karolewski. Stuebing was put up for adoption as a toddler and only met his sister when he was 24 and she was 16.
USA Today reports Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps has been arrested on a charge of driving under the influence in the US. The police they stopped the 29-year-old as he was going at 84mph in a 45mph zone. Phelps was charged and released after his arrest. Phelps is the most decorated Olympian of all time with 22 Olympic medals.