The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press.

Times of Malta, The Malta Independent and l-orizzont report how a man was charged with involuntary homicide after the fatal car crash in Sliema on Monday. The accused claimed to have suffered a blackout.

Times of Malta also reports how, according to the Foreign Ministry, half of Algerian applications for a Schenghen visa were rejected.

The Malta Independent reports how Lawrence Gonzi yesterday again strongly denied prior knowledge of corruption at Enemalta.

In-Nazzjon says that according to Inspector Angelo Gafa', the Attorney General had advised the police to arraign John Dalli for alleged trading in influence.

The overseas press

Fox News reports FBI agents in Ohio have arrested and charged a man claiming sympathy with Islamic State militants with plotting to attack the US Capitol in Washington with guns and bombs. Court documents disclosed how Christopher Cornell, 20, researched the construction of pipe bombs, purchased a semi-automatic rifle and 600 rounds of ammunition and made plans to travel to Washington to carry out the plot.

Le Figaro quotes the Paris prosecutor’s office saying 54 people have been detained for defending or glorifying terrorism since Islamic radicals began a rampage a week ago that left 17 people dead.  

Euronews says early risers making their way to Charlie Hebdo sales points across France were rewarded with the first copies of the satirical newspaper special issue to hit the stands. It marks the magazine’s global launch with five million copies, to feature in more than 20 countries and multiple translations. Charlie Hebdo’s typical print run was 60,000, which it couldn’t always sell. The number of readers now is unprecedented.

The Flemish newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws reports four bookshops in Belgium have revealed they had received letters warning of reprisals if they choose to stock the controversial first issue of Charlie Hebdo since the attacks. Meanwhile, Muslim leaders have criticised the new issue of Charlie Hebdo saying “it is neither reasonable, nor logical, nor wise”.

Al Thawra says a top leader of Yemen’s al-Qaida branch has claimed responsibility for last week’s attack on Charlie Hebdo. Nasr al-Ansi, a top commander of Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, or AQAP, appeared in an 11-minute Internet video, saying that the massacre at the newspaper was in “vengeance for the prophet.” The paper had published cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad, which is considered an insult in Islam.

Meanwhile, NDTV reports the Islamic extremist group Boko Haram in Nigeria released a video in which its leader praises last week’s deadly Paris attacks.The SITE intelligence group said Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau expressed joy over the violence in France in an Arabic-language video that was uploaded to YouTube.

El Mundo says the Spanish Supreme Court has agreed to examine a paternity claim against the former King Juan Carlos. The plaintiff is a Belgian citizen who alleges she is the king’s illegitimate daughter. She claims the monarch had an affair with her mother after he married Queen Sofia. Juan Carlos lost his legal immunity after he abdicated last year in favour of his son, King Philippe.

Barcelona’s La Vanguardia reports Catalan president Artur Mas has called a snap election for September centred on its independence bid – just two months after the wealthy region held a contested symbolic referendum on the issue that strained ties with Spain’s central government. The vote will be held on September 27, just a few months before Spain is expected to hold a general election.

AP says North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is looking increasingly likely to visit Russia in his first trip abroad since taking power three years ago. Moscow has invited many world leaders – including Kim and the presidents of China and South Korea – to celebrations marking the 70th anniversary of the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany.

Pope Francis travels to the Philippines today in the next stage of his week-long Asian tour. Manila Times says he would be welcomed by Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, a boyish-looking priest who rode the bus as a bishop and has impressed many with his intellect, humble life and compassion for the poor.

Colombo’s Mirror reports the pontiff yesterday he went to the jungles of war-torn northern Sri Lanka to show solidarity with the victims of the country’s 25-year civil war and urge forgiveness and reconciliation “for all the evil which this land has known”. No pope has ever visited the Tamil region of northern Sri Lanka.

Ansa reports Italian Senate Speaker Pietro Grasso took office as interim president of Italy after Senator Giorgio Napolitano stepped down. Lower House MPs from the ruling majority honoured Napolitano with a standing ovation that lasted several minutes. While no front runners have emerged to replace Napolitano, Premier Matteo Renzi said earlier in the day it would be “reasonable” to expect Italy will have a new president by the end of the month.

The Odessa American reports a prison bus skidded off an icy Texas highway, slid down an embankment and collided with a passing freight train yesterday, killing eight inmates and two corrections officers, including the bus driver. The overpass on Interstate 20 was slick with ice.

The Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office in Florida has gone to the dogs. Well, at least its rugs have! Largo Leader says a new, $500 rug at the sheriff’s administration building said “In Dog We Trust” instead of “In God We Trust”. The green rug with the sheriff’s yellow badge was in the entrance area for a couple of months before the error was by a deputy. 

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.