The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press.
The Sunday Times of Malta and MaltaToday report that the March 2015 deadline for the building of the new power station will be missed, but businesses will still get their power tariff reduction. The Sunday Times of Malta also reports that Air Malta will report a €16 million loss.
The Malta Independent on Sunday says Mepa’s record since March last year has failed to impress NGOs.
It-Torca recalls how the PN administration had considered having Parliament in the Auberge de Castille.
Il-Mument reports that a second businessman, Adrian Agius, has disappeared in the case of the €40 million fraud. Creditors had reportedly handed huge amounts to him and he gave them to Ryan Schembri, who disappeared after his business collapsed. Agius’s father, Raymond, had been killed at the Butterfly Bay in Birkrikara.
Illum says Franco Mercieca, the former Gozitan parliamentary secretary, would like to return to the Cabinet but have different responsibilities than before. It also says Enemalta has cut its losses by €20 million.
KullHadd says Enemalta's agreement with Shanghai Electric is expected to be concluded by the end of the year. The Chinese company will buy a minority stake in Enemalta.
The overseas press
Libya Herald reports UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has called on Libyan political forces to cease clashes, warning that “if violent confrontations do not cease immediately, prosperity and a better life will be a distant dream”. During a surprise stop in Tripoli, Ban told Libyan parliamentarians the country needed both strong government and parliament.
CNN says US customs and health officials have begun taking the temperatures of passengers arriving at New York’s Kennedy International Airport from three West African countries in a stepped-up screening effort meant to prevent the spread of the Ebola virus that has killed more than 4,000 people. The screening will be expanded over the next week to four other airports: New Jersey’s Newark Liberty, Washington Dulles, Chicago O’Hare and Hartsfield-Jackson in Atlanta.
Russian virologists are planning to introduce vaccines to fight Ebola within the next six months. The country’s Health Minister Veronika Skvortsova said in an interview to Rossiya-1 TV channel Russia had begun the creation of special drugs that would also be used for the prevention and treatment of Ebola.
Al Bawaba reports Kurdish forces defending the Syrian border town of Kobani want the US-led coalition to escalate air strikes on Islamic State with the town in danger of falling to the militants.
Voice of America says thousands of protesters have marched through the streets of St Louis condemning police violence and demanding the arrest of a white police officer who fatally shot an unarmed black teenager in August this year.
Cameroon Tribune announces that 27 hostages presumed to have been kidnapped by Boko Haram, including 10 Chinese construction workers and the wife of a vice prime minister, have been freed. The hostages were returned early on Saturday and “are safe and sound,” according to a statement from President Paul Biya’s office read on state radio.
Australian Treasurer Joe Hockey told the ABC on Sunday morning that President Vladimir Putin would attend the G20 leaders’ summit in November, despite concerns about Russia’s actions in Ukraine in recent months. Australia’s confirmation came after Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko said he would also meet Putin next week.
Nationwide support for the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) has surged to 25 percent after the anti-EU party won its first seat in parliament. The Sunday Times newspaper leads that a leaked UKIP polling analysis saying the party is now targeting 25 seats where they feel they can win. And if the results of a poll appearing in the Mail on Sunday were translated into general election results, Labour could win 253 of the 650 seats in parliament, the Conservatives 187, UKIP 128, the Lib Dems 11, and other parties such as the Scottish nationalists, 71.
All India Radio reports a hurricane alert has been declared in south-eastern India, where the Hudhud cyclone is expected to reach the coast with winds up to 190km/h. Officials said they are ready to evacuate all the villages on the Andhra Pradesh and Orissa coastlines, where some 400,000 people would be forced to leave their homes.
Dawn says a powerful splinter group of the Pakistani Taliban, Jamaat ul Ahrar, has threatened to kill activist Malala Yousafzai with ‘‘sharp and shiny knives”. Malala was on Friday awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace for her efforts in defence of women’s education. Malala, now 17, two yars ago survived an assassination attempt by the Taliban.
Ansa reports a 42-year-old nurse has been arrested in Italy in connection with 11 suspicious deaths at a hospital in Lugo, near Ravenna. Daniela Poggiali was already under investigation for the sudden death of a 78-year-old woman on April 8. Police said they suspect the accused became frustrated with patients that needed extra care or had pushy relatives.
After 65 years of marriage, one Brazilian couple’s bond was so strong they stayed together even in death. The Huffington Post reports Italvino and Diva Poss passed away in the same hospital room, side-by-side, only 40 minutes apart. The couple first met at a dance in 1948, where Italvino was smitten at first sight. They were never apart for a day. They had 10 children and 14 grandchildren, who remembered the couple as a legendary romance.
Formula 1 legend Michael Schumacher is “waking up very slowly” following the skiing accident which left him with horrific brain injuries, according to his 15-year-old son Mick. French F1 commentator Jean-Louis Moncet told Europe 1 radio station, “I saw his son and he told me that Schumi is waking up very slowly; very slowly.” The 45-year-old, seven times world champion, was left in a medically-induced coma after the accident, which happened in the French resort of Meribel.