The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press.
Times of Malta reports that a playworker took 25 minutes to realise tht a boy, 3, was missing at SkolaSajf.
The Malta Independent says the PN is still to review loopholes in the Gender Identity Bill.
In-Nazzjon focuses on how a number of Maltese have been threatened by Syrians protected by ‘a big head’.
l-orizzont leads with how an extradition request for an alleged mafia boss is being contested in court.
The overseas press
Most US media lead with reports on the final campaigning for the mid-term elections later today which could see President Obama’s Democratic Party lose control of the US Senate. USA Today says Americans go to the polls to elect 435 members of the House of Representatives, 36 senators, 36 governors and 46 state legislatures. Republicans need to pick up only six Senate seats to end up in control of both chambers of legislative government.
The nеw chief of Britain’s electronic spying agency, GCHQ, has accused US technology companies of becoming “the command and control networks of choice” for terrorists. In an article for the Financial Times, Robert Hannigan, accuses some US tech companies of being “in denial” about the misuse of their services even as he calls for them to work more closely with intelligence agencies.
Euronews reports at least 24 irregular Afghan immigrants heading for Romania have drowned, and many others are still missing, as their boat sank off Istanbul. Women and children were among the over 40 migrants packed onto the boat. Local fishermen managed to save only six.
Meanwhile, Ansa says Italian police have stopped two Egyptian men believed to be the speedboat pilots responsible for trafficking 58 immigrants who landed in Ragusa on October 31. The immigrants told investigators they were kept locked in a warehouse and beaten repeatedly until the day of the speedboat’s departure. They paid an average of €1,200 each for the trip.
Kyiv Post reports Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has threatened to tear up a peace plan with pro-Russian separatist rebels after they defied his government and held elections intended to demonstrate their independence. In an address to the nation, Poroshenko said the “pseudo-elections” were a gross violation of the September truce deal.
British nationals lead with the news that a teenager who murdered a Leeds school teacher in front of other pupils has been jailed for life. According to The Guardian, he showed no emotion as he winked at another student and carried out his attack. Ahead of the killing in April, he had also planned to murder two other teachers, including one who was pregnant.
AGI reports a planned tri-partite video conference between Pope Francis, Chilean President Michelle Bachelet and President Cristina Kirchner of Argentina has been postponed indefinitely as the latter has been admitted to hospital in Buenos Aires with an infectious fever. Ms Kircher underwent brain surgery in October 2013 for an intracranial haematoma, which kept her in hospital for six weeks. Last July and October, the 61-yar-old was out of action for a week and two days with a throat-related condition.
Reuters says a suicide bomber killed at least 29 people in a procession of Shi’ite Muslims marking the ritual of Ashoura in northeast Nigeria’s Yobe state. In a separate incident in central Kogi state, gunmen using explosives blew their way into a prison in the city of Lokoja, killing one person and freeing 144 inmates.
The New York Times says 13 years after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the resurrected World Trade Center has opened again. Publishing giant Conde Nast, with its 3,400 employees, started moving into the new offices, occupying floors 20 to 44. With a height of 541 metres, the 104-storey skyscraper is higher than the original World Trade Centre.
A replica of a two-metres-high iPad with the face of Steve Jobs has been removed from the courtyard of the National University in St Petersburg. The reason, according Pravda, is the recent announcement by Apple’s CEO Tim Cook that he was gay - automatically making the monument illegal in violation of Russian laws that condemn “homosexual propaganda”. The University says the monument was taken away for maintenance.
Meanwhile, Die Presse reports Eurovision drag diva Conchita Wurst met UN chief Ban Ki-moon in Vienna to call for an end to discrimination based on sexual orientation. Ban announced the extension of same-sex benefits to all UN employees, saying discrimination has no place in the United Nations. Since winning Eurovision, Wurst has made several public appearances to promote LGBT rights, despite attracting criticism from social conservatives.
People who work shifts for 10 years or more may suffer loss of memory and brain power, according to a study that also warns of safety concerns in high-risk jobs. The effects on brain function can be reversed, the team wrote in the journal Occupational & Environmental Medicine, but this may take at least five years. Shift work disrupts the body’s internal clock and has previously been linked to health problems like ulcers, cardiovascular disease and some cancers.