The following are the top stories in the national and international press today.

The Sunday Times of Malta says the electorate will have to vote against the position of the two main political leaders if spring hunting is to be abolished. In another story, it says 100 families which have repeatedly ignored truancy fines will be receiving a “letter of final notice” warning they will face legal action if they fail to pay up.

Malta Today says e-mails show oil trader George Farrugia got freebie UK football tickets from Trafigura for Malta Resources Authority’s former director in 2009.

The Malta Independent on Sunday says a new study found that the number of deaths from cancer associated to asbestos exposure is still rising in Malta and many other parts of the world.

Illum leads says bullying among children is leading to self harm.

It-Torca says a letter from a Syrian to a journalist in Cairo shows many immigrants spend days at sea on boats in the Mediterranean believing they were on their way to Italy only to be handed over to Egyptian authorities.

Il-Mument leads with the leader of the Opposition’s decision to vote for spring hunting in the April referendum.

Kullhadd says the Nationalist Party continued to insist it should be politicians who decide by how much their honoraria should increase.

International news

Widening a European counter-terrorism dragnet, Greek authorities have detained four terrorism suspects, including a man believed to be the ringleader of a Belgian jihadi cell. Kathimerini reports the four were arrested separately in Athens. The announcement came amid a upsurge of popular antagonism across Europe against radical Islam, stepped-up police efforts to prevent terrorism, and protests against caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed across the Muslim world.

Le Soir says Belgium has raised its terror warning to three, the second-highest, and deployed 150 paratroopers to guard possible terrorism targets, including some buildings in Antwerp’s Jewish quarter. It was the first time in 30 years that authorities had used troops to reinforce police.

Meanwhile in France, Le Journal du Dimanche reports the authorities sought to head off possible civil unrest and glorification of terrorism after the country’s worst attacks in decades – assenting to quietly bury the two brothers involved in the attack against Charlie Hebdo and banning an anti-Islamist demonstration in Paris.

Le Parisien says French President François Hollande reacted to the violence which has erupted throughout the Muslim world against the publication of caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad by saying the anti-Charlie Hebdo protesters in other countries did not understand France’s attachment to freedom of speech. He emphasised that “freedom of expression” was “non-negotiable.”

Hollande’s comment came as Le Sahel reported a violent mob set alight at least eight churches in Niger in protests that left 10 people dead and some 45 injured. The French embassy in Niamey urged its citizens to stay at home.

El Pais reports the interior ministers of Italy and Spain, Angelino Alfano and Jorge Fernandez Diaz, have agreed on “enhanced cooperation” in the EU to prevent jihadist terrorism. During a meeting in Madrid, they analysed the jihadist threat after the attacks in Paris.

In Moscow, the agency for the control of the media, Rozcomnadzor, says Russian authorities have ruled it a crime to publish cartoons of a religious nature.

Irna reports Iranian authorities have closed down a three-month-old newspaper, “Mardome-Emruz” (Today’s People) for publishing a photo of actor George Clooney during the Golden Globes award ceremony and quoting the actor saying “I am Charlie Hebdo”.

Mgr Ignatius Kaigama, the Catholic Archbishop of the Nigerian city of Jos, has questioned the quality of the help the international community has given to Nigeria to help that country fight the extremist group Boko Haram. In an interview with the BBC, the archbishop said that the same spirit that energised France after the Charlie Hebdo attacks should inspire people to help Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon, and many poor countries where Boko Haram militants unleashed their terror. 

Toronto Star says the suspect in the shootings of two Canadian police officers in an Alberta casino yesterday was found dead after being tracked to an unoccupied home. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police did not disclose the cause of death but said they did not speak with the suspect or fire their weapons during their efforts to arrest him there. The wounded officers, both in serious condition, were being treated in hospital.

France 24 reports the UN Security Council has welcomed a ceasefire announced by an Islamist-backed militia in Libya and threatened to impose sanctions on those who obstruct peace efforts. The 15-member council voiced support for a second round of UN-brokered talks to be held in Geneva next week and strongly urged all warring sides to attend. A first round of talks yielded an agreement on a roadmap to forming a unity government in Libya.

Al Jazeera reports the Islamic State, through a photo with caption posted on Twitter, has claimed responsibility for the bombing of the Algerian Embassy in Tripoli that caused three injuries. Two bombs exploded yesterday outside the embassies of Saudi Arabia and Algeria in Tripoli. Most of the diplomatic missions have been closed because of the civil unrest in the country.

Jakarta Post says there have been string reactions from Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff and Dutch Foreign Minister Bert Koenders to the execution of two of their citizens by Indonesia on drug charges. Five foreigners and an Indonesian woman, who had all been sentenced to death, were execyted by a firing squad despite world-wide calls for a stay of execution. The foreigners came from Brazil, the Netherlands, Vietnam, Malawi and Nigeria.

Times of India reports a man has been charged with attempted murder after he tried to bury alive his nine-year old daughter because he had wanted a son. It was a neighbour who saved the child as she called the police when she saw what he was about to do. The girl was already buried up to her neck when the police arrived. The girl is in hospital in a serious condition. In India many families consider girls as a burden.

 

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