The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press.
Times of Malta reports that the prime minister indicated that heads will roll over the incident involving the driver of the Home Affairs Minister.
The Malta Independent and l-orizzont quote the prime minister saying he will take decisions without fear or favour. He was referring to the shooting incident involving the driver of Home Affairs Minister Manuel Mallia.
In-Nazzjon reports how the driver of Home Affairs Minister Manuel Mallia was heard telling the police control room that he had fired at a car and would continue firing.
The overseas press
Alpha TV reports the Greek parliament early this morning adopted a budget for 2015 that forecast 2.9 per cent growth and a deficit of 0.2 per cent. Before the vote, Prime Minister Antonis Samaras hailed the budget as a sign that Greece was approaching an end to “an era of forced bailouts.” Outside parliament, several thousand anti-austerity protesters demonstrated against the government’s plans.
According to Manila Times, schools, government offices and stock markets in the capital remain closed as a weakened Typhoon Hagupit approached the Philippines capital after lashing outer provinces.
Tribune de Genève says that ahead of a United Nations donors’ conference in Geneva, 30 non-governmental organizations, including Save the Children and Islamic Relief, have urged the world to take in a minimum of five per cent or 180,000 of those displaced by Syria’s civil-war. Syria’s neighbours are already sheltering 3.6 million.
Al Thawra says 70 Ethiopian migrants drowned yesterday when the boat they were travelling on capsized in rough weather off the coast of Yemen. Officials in the province of Taiz said the boat was carrying 70 people, all from Ethiopia.
Al Jazeera reports Syria has accused Israel of launching airstrikes near its capital Damascus, causing damage but no casualties. There was no immediate reaction from the Israeli government and a spokesman for the country’s military said it did not comment on “reports in the foreign media”.
Panapress says Ugandan rebels wielding machetes and axes have killed 36 people in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. The raid came despite vows by the government and a United Nations mission to restore security near Beni after the murder of more than 250 people since October.
Johannesburg Times reports South Africa has mourned a teacher who had left a comfortable life back home to help children in Yemen, but was taken hostage and killed in a botched attempt to rescue a US hostage. Pierre Korkie, a 56-year-old teacher who had been held captive since May 2013, was killed along with American photojournalist Luke Somers when US commandos stormed an Al-Qaeda hideout
The New York Times says a long-awaited Senate report condemning torture by the CIA has not even been made public yet, but former President George W. Bush’s team has decided to link arms with former intelligence officials and challenge its conclusions. The report is said to assert that the CIA misled Mr. Bush and his top advisers about the nature, extent and results of brutal techniques like waterboarding.
Espectador reports six prisoners held for 12 years at Guantanamo Bay have arrived as refugees in Uruguay, a South American nation with only a tiny Muslim population, amid a renewed push by President Barack Obama to close the prison. The six men – four Syrians, a Tunisian and a Palestinian – were detained as suspected militants with ties to al-Qaeda in 2002 but were never charged.
The mayor of Paris has called for diesel cars to be banned from the French capital by 2020 as part of plans to reduce pollution. Anne Hidalgo told France’s Journal du Dimanche she wanted only ultra low-emission vehicles on the capitals’ main thoroughfares. She also suggested more pedestrianised areas and a doubling of cycle lanes.
Corriere della Sera reports four policemen were injured in clashes in front of Milan’s La Scala between riot police and demonstrators protesting against austerity and demanding rights for social housing following a series of squatter evictions. The season premier Fidelio marked the end of musical director Daniel Barenboim’s nine years at the prestigious opera house.
An Indian taxi driver, who reportedly raped a 25-year-old woman in New Delhi, has been arrested. The Press Trust of India quoted a police officer who said that the woman had managed to take a picture of the car’s number plate before alerting authorities.