The following are the top stories in the national and international press today.
All national newspapers today lead with Malta’s football game against Italy yesterday which saw the latter winning by the slimmest of margins.
Times of Malta says next year’s local elections will be held together with the spring hunting referendum, once the court gives its go-ahead, after the government backed down from its plan to postpone all local elections. In another story it says an inexperienced workforce coupled with the long-standing mentality that it was acceptable for public projects to be extended pas the agreed deadline were among the factors causing the Parliament project’s continued delays.
The Malta Independent also says the 2015 council elections will be held as planned but those earmarked for 2017 will be postponed to 2019.
Both l-Orizzont and in-Nazzjon say the Opposition has presented a motion for Parliament to debate the implementation of the government’s promise for the building of a new gas energy plant and the impact of its delay.
International news
Avvenire reports an assembly of Roman Catholic bishops convened by Pope Francis at the Vatican has released a preliminary document calling for the Church to welcome and accept gay people, unmarried couples and those who have divorced, as well as the children of these less traditional families. The bishops’ report does not change Church doctrine or teaching but it is the first signal that the Church may follow the direction the Pontiff has set in the first 18 months of his papacy, away from condemnation of unconventional family situations and toward understanding, openness and mercy.
Kim Jong Un, the missing leader of North Korea, has resurfaced, with state media Tuesday showing him walking with a cane as he gave “field guidance” at a new apartment complex. The Rodong Sinmun, the mouthpiece of the Workers’ Party, featured an unusual photo spread on its front page. The report put an end to rumours that Kim had been overthrown or was under house arrest.
Fox News quotes US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel saying rising sea levels and other effects of climate change would pose major challenges for America’s military. Addressing a conference of military leaders in Peru as the Pentagon released a new report on the issue, Hagel said these include more and worse natural disasters and the threat that food and water shortages could fuel disputes and instability around the world.
The Washington Post reports UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and President Obama have discussed the need for more “robust” international effort to fight the deadly Ebola epidemic gripping West Africa. The White House said in a statement the two leaders called for the international community to redouble its resolve and commitment and ensure the rapid delivery of assistance.
According to AFP, military commanders from the US-led coalition against the Islamic State will meet in Washington later today to discuss ways to halt the jihadist group’s relentless advance in Iraq and Syria. Top brass, including national chiefs of staff, from 22 countries, will also meet US President Obama at Andrews Air Force Base outside the US capital.
Meanwhile, AP reports militants with the Islamic State group have captured a military training camp in western Iraq as a spate of deadly bombings shook Baghdad, leaving at least 30 dead. And jihadists also fought their way into central Kobani in heavy clashes with the Syrian border town’s Kurdish defenders. The breakthrough saw IS claim half of Kobani, despite more than three weeks of US-led air strikes in Syria aimed at stopping them.
Gazeta Oku quotes Turkish officials saying Ankara had not reached a new agreement to let the United States use its Incirlik air base in the fight against Islamic State militants. The comments come after US National Security Adviser Susan Rice said Turkey had agreed to let forces from a US-led military coalition use its bases for activities inside Iraq and Syria and to train moderate Syrian rebels.
Ukraine is not willing to make pre-payments for deliveries of Russian natural gas. Energy Minister Yuriy Prodan told Apostrof if Ukraine were to make pre-payments, the two sides should also go back to the existing contractual conditions that stipulate payments should be made upon the delivery and not before. In Junee, Russia’s energy giant Gazprom introduced a prepayment system for gas deliveries to Ukraine due to Kiev’s massive gas debt.
Ansa says the new budget law the Italian cabinet will approve on Wednesday includes tax cuts for a total of €18 billion. Prime Minister Matteo Renzi said the budget would reduce taxes “as never before”, adding $10 billion would be used to finance the €80 bonus in a structural way and €500 million were for tax deduction for families. Of the remaining sum, €6.5 billion would serve to remove the labour component from regional tax on production.
Oscar Pistorius should not go to jail over the killing of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, on Valentine’s Day in 2013, his sentencing hearing was told by a probation officer appearing for the defence. Mail & Guardian reports Joel Maringa, a prison service officer, suggested Pistorius should serve house arrest and community service for 16 hours a week rather than imprisonment.