The following are the top stories in the national and international press today.
The front pages of all national newspapers today deal with the appointment of Carmelo Abela as Home Affairs Minister and the dismissal of his predecessor Manuel Mallia.
Dr Mallia was asked to step down on Monday night after an inquiry into the shooting incident involving his driver found the minister failed to correct an official statement claiming that warning shots had been fired, when the facts indicated otherwise.
Times of Malta says Prime Minister Joseph Muscat formally terminated Dr Mallia’s job yesterday after he refused to resign. Mr Abela was sworn in to replace him as Home Affairs Minister.
L-Orizzont says the Prime Minister was constrained to remove Dr Mallia after he did not resign.
The Malta Independent says Dr Muscat gave Dr Mallia two options - resignation or dismissal.
MaltaToday says Dr Mallia forced Dr Muscat’s hand after refusing to resign, leaving the Prime Minister with no option but to sack him.
In-Nazzjon quotes Opposition leader Simon Busuttil saying the Prime Minister failed in his first real test.
International news
Fox News quotes President Obama vowing he would make sure that the United States never again resorted to torture after a damning Senate report on the CIA’s detention and interrogation programme. Tactics included sleep deprivation, slapping and slamming of detainees against walls, confining them to small boxes, keeping them isolated for prolonged periods and threatening them with death. Three detainees faced the simulated drowning technique known as water boarding. In a statement, the CIA insisted the interrogations had helped save lives.
The Washington Post says US Secretary of State John Kerry has urged lawmakers to adopt a new legal authorisation to underpin military action against Islamic State militants for at least three years. The US-led coalition has already carried out some 1,100 air strikes in Syria and Iraq since September targeting IS extremists in a bid to defeat the group which has seized a large territory and imposed harsh Islamic law.
Pakistani activist Malala Yousafzai has told the BBC ahead of receiving the Nobel Peace Prize later today she hopes to pursue a career in politics. The youngest ever recipient of the prize said that she may even aspire to be prime minister of Pakistan once she has completed her studies in the UK. Ms Yousafzai was shot in the head by Taliban gunmen in October 2012 for campaigning for girls’ education.
AFP reports EU member states and the European Parliament have announced they have reached a deal on a new 2015 budget for the 28-country bloc after bridging gaps that threatened to scupper a deal. The Parliament’s budgets committee is expected to confirm the agreement tomorrow, with the council to take a final decision on Friday and Parliament on December 17.
Euronews says the ruling coalition party in Greece has announced a snap Presidential election will be held on December 17 – two months ahead of schedule. Prime Minister Antonis Samaras hopes to rally enough support for his candidate Stavros Dimas. If he fails, a general election will be called in early 2015.
Bloomberg reports the World Bank has predicted that Russia’s economy would shrink by 0.7 per cent in 2015, but warned that the contraction would be worse if oil prices were to keep sliding. It said Russia would avoid recession in 2015 if oil prices averaged $85.
Ansa announces Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi has vowed that the culprits to emerge from a probe into links between politicians in Rome and the Mafia would be punished to the full. The leader of the centre-left Democratic Party (PD) also announced that his government would raise the minimum jail term for corruption to six years, and that the statute of limitations for graft felonies will be lengthened.
Huffington Post reports Spain and Thailand have followed India in banning the ride-sharing taxi service Uber. The moves follow a case where a woman was allegedly raped by her driver in New Delhi, prompting India’s Minister of Home Affairs, Rajnath Singh, to ban the cab service in the city.
Newsday says President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe has sacked his long-time vice-president and eight other cabinet ministers. Joice Mujuru was dismissed amid accusations of corruption and allegations she was plotting to kill the president. She has dismissed the accusations.
The Financial Times quotes Unicef saying at least 15 million children have been directly caught up in armed conflict in 2014. The situation is most acute in the Central African Republic, Iraq, South Sudan, the Palestinian territories, Syria and Ukraine. On a global level the agency estimates that some 230 million children are living in countries or regions torn by war.
Metro says the London headquarters of Scotland Yard have been sold for €468 million to an investment fund based in Abu Dhabi. The Middle Eastern investors plan to build a luxury residential complex instead.
al bawaba reports jihadists of the Islamic State have killed a man accused of being homosexual by throwing him from a two-storey building on the border between Iraq and Syria. The news came from Isis itself which also showed pictures of the execution.
Korean Air has apologised for inconveniencing passengers after the daughter of its chairman ordered a crew member off a flight for serving bagged nuts in the first class cabin instead of serving them on a plate. South Korean daily Segye Ilbo said that the flight from New York City to Incheon, South Korea, returned to the gate after Cho Hyun-ah told the head of cabin crew to leave the plane.
AGI reports the brother of 60-year-old Italian pop star Pino Mango, who died of a heart attack onstage on Sunday, has died just a day later. Giovanni Mango, 75, died during a vigil ahead of his brother’s funeral. Pino Mango collapsed while singing one of his most famous hits, Oro, at the Pala Ercole in the southern Italian town of Policoro and was immediately taken to hospital but was pronounced dead on arrival.
Los Angeles Times says a Southwest Airlines flight landed in Los Angeles with one more passenger than when it took off. A passenger gave birth shortly after Flight 623 took off from San Francisco on Tuesday and the Phoenix-bound jet diverted to Los Angeles International Airport. Both mother and baby are doing fine.