The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press.
Times of Malta and the Malta Independent report that Malta's banks passed the ECB stress tests.
In-Nazzjon quotes Simon Busuttil saying yesterday that the PN's aim is wealth creation. It also says 'orders from above' led the police to stop an investigation into the human trafficking of Asians.
l-orizzont reports how a woman gave birth near her husband, who had been unaware that she was pregnant.
The overseas press
O Gobo TV announces Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff has been re-elected for a second term, defeating her centre-right challenger Aecio Neves by three percentage points – the closest presidential race for years. She told cheering supporters that political reform would be her top priority.
Kyiv Post reports President Petro Poroshenko of Ukraine has hailed a sweeping victory for pro-European parties in the country’s first parliamentary since Viktor Yanukovych was overthrown in February. According to international exit polls, the Poroshenko Bloc took a winning margin with 23 per cent and is closely followed by the People’s Front party which got over 21 percent.
Al Jazeera reports a high turnout in first parliamentary elections in Tunisia since the ouster of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in 2011. Contrary to expectations, an estimated 60 per cent of the 5.2 million registered voters turned out to vote for the 217-seat parliament.
Uruguay’s Teledoce TV says the political party of outgoing President Josè Mujica, who gained international notice for social reforms such as legalisation of marijuana and gay marriage, was leading the results of Sunday’s election to replace him. However, polls suggest that neither of the parties of the top two presidential candidates would obtain the 50 percent needed to avoid a second round on November 30.
Reuters reports heavy fighting between Libya’s armed forces and Islamist militias apparently trying retake one of their largest camps in the eastern city of Benghazi. At least 130 people have been killed in the past 10 days during street fighting in Libya’s second-largest city.
According to Bild am Sonntag, the jiahdisti Sunni Islamic State appeared to have in its possession portable anti-aircraft missiles that could potentially bring down passenger planes. The German secret service has warned parliament Isis would have stolen Soviet-made some rocket launchers from the arsenals of Syria. Meanwhile, Deutsche Welle reports at least 13 German agents were injured – one seriously – in riots that broke out during a demonstration in Cologne against Islamic extremism.
Fox News says the White House has told New Jersey, New York and Illinois states that their policy to impose mandatory quarantines for travellers from Ebola-hit West Africa could impede the fight against the disease. Manwhile, the first health worker isolated under the rules, Kaci Hickox, has announced she would contest her quarantine in court, arguing the order violated her constitutional rights.
Globe & Mail reports Michael Zehaf-Bibeau had prepared a video shortly before he shot the Canadian soldier at the National War Memorial and stormed Parliament. The police said he was driven by a political and ideological motive.
Haaretz says Israeli President Reuven Rivlin made history by becoming the first Israeli president to attend the memorial ceremony marking the 58th anniversary of the Kfar Qasim massacre, in which 48 Palestinians, including a pregnant woman, were killed by Israeli border guards. He said the “criminal killing” was an irregular and dark chapter in the history of the relationship between Arabs and Jews”.
Radio Nigeria says a large group of teenagers, as well as numerous 11-year-old girls, were kidnapped on Sunday, with Boko Haram the most likely culprit. The village elder of Mafa said the insurgents took all boys aged 13 and overe, and all girls aged 11 or more.
USA Today says a Southern California school district will apologise to an 11-year-old atheist who says his teacher questioned him because he did not stand during the Pledge of Allegiance. Ivan Cobarrubias said he kept his seat because the words “under God” violate his beliefs. Also, a banner that read “Prayer Changes Things” has been removed from the teacher’s classroom.
Mail & Guardian reports that the captain of South Africa’s national soccer team, goalkeeper Senzo Meyiwa, was shot dead when gunmen entered his house near Johannesburg. The assailants then fled on foot, according to the police service, which offered a reward of nearly €11,000 for information leading to arrests in the case.