The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press.
Times of Malta says workers’ wages were at risk in a cash crisis in the Gozo Channel company.
The Malta Independent says importers are up in arms over ammunition storage fees.
In-Nazzjon reports that the PN yesterday called for publication of all agreements related to the energy sector before the debate in Parliament tomorrow. It also reports that Sai Mizzi is about to get an office in Shanghai, 18 months after her appointment.
l-orizzont reports that a male teacher, 38, is expected to be accused of harassment after filming female colleagues using the toilet. The case happened in a state primary school. One of the teachers noticed the camera and called in the police.
The overseas press
ABC quotes Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott describing the violent 16-hour siege in Sydney, which ended with the deaths of two hostages and the gunman, as a “brush with terrorism”. He said the lone gunman, Iranian-born refugee Man Haron Monis was well known to the authorities because of his long history of violent crime, infatuation with extremism and mental instability. He sought to cloak his actions with the symbolism of the Islamic State death cult. Four hostages and a police officer ere also wounded.
French police have launched nationwide raids to dismantle a network that was sending jihadists to Syria. A police source told AFP the raids were focused mainly near Toulouse but also around Paris and Normandy. It was not immediately clear how many people were arrested.
France 24 says the Islamic State group on Monday released pictures of the execution of 13 men described as anti-jihadist Sunni tribal fighters near the northern Iraqi city of Tikrit, which has been under IS control since the last six months. Iraqi government forces have inflicted a string of defeats on the jihadists in recent weeks.
Le Soir reports trade unions brought Belgium to a standstill as the biggest general strike in years grounded flights, cut international rail links and shut sea ports in protest at the new government’s austerity plans. Tensions boiled over in isolated incidents of violence as union members clashed with riot police.
Berlin Zeitung says a record 15,000 people marched in eastern Germany against “asylum cheats” and the country’s “Islamisation” in the latest show of strength of a growing far-right populist movement. Earlier, reacting to the nascent movement called “Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the Occident” or PEGIDA, Chancellor Angela Merkel had cautioned Germans against falling prey to xenophobic “rabble-rousing”.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday sought assurances from US Secretary of State John Kerry that Washington would block efforts by Europeans on Palestinian statehood. Ansa reports that after the meeting in Rome, Netanyahu declined to comment on whether he was given an assurance that the United States would exercise its veto. Jordan has circulated a Palestinian-drafted resolution to the 15-member UN Security Cuncil calling for Israeli occupation of Palestinian land to end by November 2016.
Fox News says US police are hunting for a gunman suspected of killing his former wife and five members of her family, as well as seriously wounding another in a series of shootings in three towns in Pennsylvania. The gunman, 35-year-old Bradley William Stone, reportedly battled with his ex-wife over custody of their two children.
RIA Novosti announces the Russian central bank has decided to raise its key interest rate from 10.5 to 17 per cent “to limit the risks of devaluation and inflation”. It came hours after the rouble suffered its worst drop since 1998, falling by more than 10 per cent. In recent months, Russia’s economy has been showing signs of a slowdown due to tensions over Ukraine, the continuing decline in oil prices and Western sanctions.
EU Observer reports Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk has appealed to the European Union for urgent financial aid, saying the government was doing all it could to fix a shattered economy but needed help. The EU, which last year offered a $15 billion package of loans and grants to Ukraine, is demanding far-reaching economic reforms in return.
Gazete Oko says Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has defended raids on media outlets linked to a US-based Muslim cleric as a necessary response to “dirty” actions by the government’s enemies. He told the European Union, which had condemned Sunday’s raids on the Zaman daily and Samanyolu TV, to mind its own business.
According to Sport, Spanish prosecutors are investigating 41 players, coaches and directors of the Real Saragoza football club in connection with the alleged fixing of crucial end-of-season match in 2011 in which Real beat Levante to escape relegation. Those suspected include Manchester United mid-fielder Ander Herrera, the Atletico Madrid captain Gabi and the coach of the Japanese national team Javier Aguirre. Prosecutors allege almost one million Euros was used to pay Levante players to lose the match.