The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press.
Times of Malta reports that Albert Pace, a consultant to the Animal Rights Parliamentary Secretary, has been tasked with revising the law on trapping, including decriminalisation of the use of electronic bird callers for hunting
and trapping. Mr Pace was himself convicted for the illegal use of bird callers on November 11, 2009.
The Malta Independent says Leisure Clothing is saying that Vietnamese workers have accused the company of abuse because they are 'less productive'. It says only eight workers have complained.
In-Nazzjon quotes Simon Busuttil saying the people want politics to safeguard the common good.
l-orizzont reports that the government is holding talks on new oil exploration efforts.
The overseas press
Le Soir reports NATO has rejected a new military doctrine adopted by Russia that lists the Western alliance as its top security threat. A NATO spokesperson said it was Russia that was “undermining European security”. Political analysts said President Putin’s new military doctrine raised the possibility of a broader use of precision conventional weapons to deter foreign aggression.
Dawn says a suspected US drone fired missiles at two compounds in Pakistan’s North Waziristan tribal region, killing at least seven alleged militants.
Malaysia has evacuated over 120,341 people from floods that have hit seven states. According to a report by state news agency Bernama, Prime Minister Najib Razak has cut short his visit to the US and returned to Malaysia after being criticized for holidaying while the nation fought the floods.
El Universal says some 3,000 people have taken to the streets of downtown Mexico City – three months after the disappearance and likely massacre of 43 students. The students went missing on September 26, in an apparent massacre by a police-backed gang that sparked nationwide protests and caused a crisis for President Enrique Pena Nieto.
USA Today reports thousands of uniformed police officers from New York City and around the country gathered at the solemn, eight-hour wake of a city policeman who was killed along with his partner in a brazen daytime shooting a week ago. Mayor Bill de Blasio, who had been criticised by the police union for his handling of protests critical of officers, briefly attended Officer Rafael Ramos’ viewing in full dress uniform in a flag-draped casket.
TASS says OSCE chairman Didier Burkhalter has urged the Ukraine contact group to resume the Moscow-Kiev negotiations as soon as possible. He urged the leaders of Germany, France, Russia, and Ukraine to work on four key areas once they gather again in Minsk – implementing the ceasefire and withdrawing armed forces, freeing prisoners of war, providing humanitarian aid, and economic affairs.
Kyiv Post reports Ukraine and pro-Russia rebels are expected to carry out more prisoner swaps on Saturday, completing a deal agreed earlier in the week. It comes as Kyiv cut off transport services to Crimea due to a “deteriorating” security situation on the Black Sea peninsula – effectively creating a Ukrainian transport blockade to and from the region. Ukraine has already banned sea and air traffic with the territory.
Moscow Times says Russian gas giant Gazprom is considering raising loans from Chinese banks for general corporate needs. It quotes Gazprom deputy CEO Andrey Kruglov saying they saw Chinese commercial banks “not only as our key partners to finance facilities necessary for gas supplies to China but also as possible organisers of Gazprom’s funding for corporate needs”.
International Business Times reports Seoul reports South Korea has increased security around power plants after hackers penetrated their computer network and released sensitive documents online. Using email addresses of retired employees, the hackers were able to plant 300 different types of malware in the company’s network. They are now threatening to damage three nuclear plants unless the government shuts them down.
The Examiner says a brain-dead expectant woman has been taken off life support after a court ruled that her 18-week-old foetus was doomed to die – a case that exposed fear and confusion among doctors over how to apply Ireland’s strict ban on abortion in an age of medical innovation. Dublin’s High Court said that all artificial support for the woman should end more than three weeks after she was declared clinically dead. Her relatives gathered at a hospital in the Irish Midlands to bid farewell to the woman, who was in her late 20s and had two young children.
Egypt has followed Morocco in banning Hollywood’s big screen biblical epic “Exodus: Gods and Kings”. ABC reports a 20th Century Fox spokesman declined to give a reason for the ban, but films that depict biblical figures have been prohibited before in the Muslim countries for their depiction of the Prophet Mohammed, which is forbidden in Islam.
According to Hollywood Reporter, “The Interview”, Sony’s satirical film on North Korean leader Kim Jong-un whose release was cancelled following a menacing cyber attack against the production company, was screened in over 300 North American cinemas on Christmas Day. All sold out and box office takings hit over a million dollars. The owners of the cinemas styled themselves “champions of the freedom of expression”. The film, which was available on line for $5.99 since Wednesday, has also been illegally downloaded 750,000 times.