The following are the top stories in the national and international press today.
Times of Malta says reinstated foster care team leader John Rolé never imagined his removal would result in such an overwhelming public response and he hopes his experience will spawn a discussion about much needed change to the system. In another story, the newspaper says the medical certificate of prison inmate Jason Decelis, highlights bruises he claims to have sustained during when a guard allegedly started beating him for refusing to use a hole in his cell floor as a toilet.
In-Nazzjon also speaks to Mr Decelis who recounted his experience as he was allegedly beaten up by the guard.
The Malta Independent says Mgr Joseph Spiteri is one of the favourites to take up the post of Malta’s Archbishop.
L-Orizzont speaks to the representative of fuel pumps, Carlo Cini, who says that the procedure to reduce the price of petrol and diesel was not as simple as many believed.
International news
Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi has told the Wall Street Journal that closing the borders of European countries was “not the solution to deal with the terrorist threat”. In an interview from Davos, where he is attending the World Economic Forum, Renzi said one must reject demagogic attacks, recalling that the perpetrators of the attack on satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo were “born in France and grew up in France”.
Meanwhile, The Times reports high representatives were expected to take part in a London inaugural meeting of 21 counties allied against Islamist terrorism. The group will discuss political lines and common action for strategy to counter the Daesh terror movement – the Arabic acronym for the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), also known as ISIS or the Islamic State group.
France 24 says that reeling from the Paris terror attacks, Prime Minister Manuel Valls announced broad new measures to fight home-grown terrorism. They include giving police better equipment and hiring more intelligence agents.
A day after Amnesty International published a report on Europe’s collusion with the CIA’s torture programme, the Council of Europe published its own shocking survey of abuse in detention centres across the continent. Le Monde says that according to the CPT’s report, guards in at least 10 European countries carried out reprisals against detainees who gave an interview its Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT).
Deutsche Welle reports the leader of the fast-growing German anti-Muslim movement PEGIDA has resigned after a photo of him posing as Hitler, as well as reports that he called refugees “animals” and “scumbags”, prompted prosecutors to investigate him for inciting hatred. Lutz Bachmann, 41, had appeared on the front page of top-selling daily newspaper Bild yesterday sporting a Hitler moustache and haircut.
Berliner Zeitung says amid fresh clashes in eastern Ukraine on Wednesday, the foreign ministers of Ukraine and Russia made progress in negotiations toward a ceasefire. The high-level meetings held in Berlin were mediated by their German and French counterparts. While a truce remained beyond their reach, the opposing sides - with Russia widely believed to be providing financial and militaristic support to separatist rebels in eastern Ukraine - said they would ensure that heavy arms were pulled back from the front lines.
Meanwhile, Bloomberg reports Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko told the Davos World Economic Forum there were currently 9,000 Russian troops and 500 armed vehicles and tanks on Ukrainian soil. Responding to similar allegations earlier in the day, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov denied the claims.
Defying President Barack Obama, House Speaker John Boehner has announced that he had invited Israel’s prime minister to stand before Congress and push for new sanctions against its archenemy Iran. The Associated Press says Boehner’s decision to bring Benjamin Netanyahu before a joint meeting of Congress on February 11 seemed to catch the White House by surprise. And it added fuel to a drive by lawmakers from both parties to pass legislation calling for fresh penalties if there is no deal soon to prevent a nuclear-armed Iran.
Haaretz reports a Palestinian stabbed 11 people on and near a bus in central Tel Aviv, seriously wounding three of them before he was shot and arrested by Israeli police. Police described the assault as a terrorist attack, and the Islamic militant group Hamas praised it. It appeared to be the latest in a series of lone-wolf attacks in which Palestinians have killed and wounded Israelis using knives, acid and vehicles, citing tensions surrounding a disputed Jerusalem holy site.
El Pais says Spain’s lower house of parliament has approved a Bill aimed at tightening political party accounting rules as part of measures to fight corruption. Anonymous donations to political parties above €50,000 are prohibited and the Bill provides for fines equivalent from three to four times the amount of money that was illegally donated. If the donations surpass €500,000 euros, or just €100,000 if the money came from a foreign body, jail terms ranging from six months to four years apply.
Corriere della Sera reports Milan prosecutors have asked that rocker Gianna Nannini be sent to trial for allegedly evading €3.75 million in taxes. A preliminary hearing has been set for March 3. Nannini, 60, is probably best known for her 1986 song, ‘Bello e Impossibile’, has had hits in various European countries.
And The Sun has brought back its Page 3 topless photos as a topless woman appears on Page 3 of the newspaper for the first time in almost a week – bringing to an end speculation that the paper had dropped the long-running controversial segment after 44 years. But today’s paper shows 22-year-old Nicole from Bournemouth winking and baring her breasts.