The following are the top stories in the national and international press today.
The Sunday Times of Malta interviews new Home Affairs Minister Carmelo Abela who says his calm demeanour should not be mistaken for weakness as he pledges to resolve the problems in the police force. In another story, Corinthia chairman Alfred Pisani says politicians and business leaders need to take bold steps to take Malta to the next level in the tourism industry by moving away from the mass market and embracing quality tourism.
MaltaToday says that a key witness in the oil scandal was never interrogated by the police.
Il-Mument says that the government is keeping the fact that a deal on the monorail project has been reached with the Chinese government under wraps.
The Malta Independent says that the person who leaked police recordings about the Manuel Mallia driver shooting incident is not protected by the Whistle Blower Act.
Illum says that Culture Minister Owen Bonnici does not have a problem working with Anton Attard and Lou Bondi.
It-Torca leads with a report of President Marie Louise Coleiro Preca's speech during yesterday's Republic Day celebrations.
International news
Invoking the names of black men who died at the hands of police, tens of thousands of Americans have marched throughout the nation to protest what they see as “rampant racial injustice”. CNN reports the throngs of people – young and old, black and white, and of all religions – took to the streets in major cities, including New York, Washington, Boston, San Francisco and Oakland, California. Many were holding banners proclaiming, “Stop racist police” and “Black lives matter.”
Frecuencia Latina announces the UN talks on slowing climate change were threatened with collapse after China clashed with the United States and led emerging nations to reject a compromise outline of an agreement. The clash between the two top emitters of greenhouse gases underscored that an agreement jointly announced by President Obama and President Xi Jinping last month. The EU, Russia and other developed nations all said they could accept a watered-down text on measures to be taken by all before the Paris summit in December 2015.
Le Soir reports a European rule requiring restaurants, bakeries and supermarkets – or anyone mass-producing meals – to list any of 14 allergens that might appear on their menus, is being met with confusion. Many of the 28 EU member-states have yet to outline how the rules approved three years ago should be put into effect. They are aimed at ensuring that consumers receive clearer and more accurate information about what they buy and eat.
The US Senate has given itself four additional days to pass a $1.1 trillion federal spending bill, easing the threat of a government shutdown that was looming at midnight, AFP reported.
Amid deep divisions between Republicans and Democrats over how to proceed on funding government through September, feuding lawmakers unanimously passed a measure that extends funds to late Wednesday.
Jakarta Post says a landslide triggered by torrential downpours has killed at least 18 people and left nearly 100 others missing on Indonesia's main island of Java. Hundreds of rescuers were digging through mud and rubble after the landslide buried scores of houses.
Fuji TV reports Japanese voters have started casting their votes in one of over 48,000 polling stations across the nation, with 1,191 candidates running for 475 seats in the country’s powerful House of Representatives. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is counting on a landslide victory but surveys showed many voters, fed up with or indifferent to the choices on offer, planned to stay away from polling stations.
According to Reuters, the Afghan Taliban killed a Supreme Court official, a dozen mine clearers and several national and foreign soldiers but also suffered heavy losses from intensifying violence ahead of the withdrawal of most international troops in the next two weeks. About 5,000 Afghan police and soldiers as well as more than 1,500 civilians have been killed in the first half of the year.
Al Ayyam reports some 17 million Shiite Muslim pilgrims, including more than four million foreigners from 60 countries, defied the threat of jihadist attacks and thronged the Iraqi shrine city of Karbala for the climax of annual Arbaeen mourning rituals on Saturday. Some had walked for more than 12 days, from Iraq's far south or across the border from Iran.
Huffington Post says Angelina Jolie Jolie will not attend Monday’s premiere of “Unbroken” in Los Angeles. In a YouTube video posted by Universal on Friday, Jolie revealed that she has chickenpox. “I will be home, itching and missing everyone,” Jolie said in the video. “I can't believe it because this film means so much to me.” Universal announced on Facebook that her husband Brad Pitt and her children will attend the premiere in her place. “Unbroken” was also shut out of the Golden Globes on Thursday, so it hasn't been the best week for Jolie.
Males suffering from low semen quality are more liable to be suffering from additional medical problems, especially conditions involving hormones, the circulatory system or diseases of the skin, a study published in the journal Fertility and Sterility reveals. The findings suggest men who were suffering from hormone, circulatory, skin and urinary conditions were significantly more likely to display semen abnormalities.