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

The Sunday Times of Malta reports how a nation-wide survey has pointed to the need for binge drinking to be tackled urgently. It also reports that an investigation is underway over how a fake Danish doctor bypassed Mater Dei Hospital security and procedures. 

The Malta Independent on Sunday quotes Lawrence Gonzi saying that the Public Accounts Committee should investigate how the Farrugia brothers were not arraigned while Manuel Mallia was minister. 

MaltaToday says former Malta Resources Authority official Godwin Sant sent oil trader George Farrugia draft legislation before it was passed on to the minister.

Illum reports that Renzo Piano will get €7.7 million for the City Gate project.

It-Torca gives prominence to calls for an improvement of the national minimum pension.

KullHadd claims Nationalist MP Toni Bezzina forced workers to make false declarations.

Il-Mument says elderly people are being exploited by having 80 per cent of their pension taken from them in a home owned by former Labour MP Louis Buhagiar.

The overseas press

Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe  called the apparent killing of Japanese captive Harman Yukawa by Islamic State militants “outrageous and impermissible” and again called for the release of Japanese journalist Kenji Goto being held by the group. Speaking to public broadcaster NHK Abe said he was putting top priority on saving Goto’s life but he reiterated that Japan would not give in to terrorism.

CBS reports two US airliners – one belong to Delta and another to Southwest – landed safely at the international airport in Atlanta after “credible” bomb threats were made against them. The aircraft were escorted by military jets. Both were searched as a result but no bomb was found.  

El Mundo says Spanish Police have arrested four suspected jihadists in Ceuta who allegedly had formed a terror cell and were ready to carry out an attack. Interior Minister Jorge Fernandez Diaz said investigators, working with their Moroccan counterparts, were struck by the similarities between the suspected cell members and the two French brothers who killed 12 people in an attack upon the Charlie Hebdo newspaper in Paris.

Voting has opened in Greece in a general election which could result in Athens trying to renegotiate the terms of its bailout with international lenders. Kathimerini reports if, as polls predict, the leftist Syriza Party wins, it would need around 40 percent of the vote for an overall majority.  

Saudi Radio announces world leaders are converging on Saudi Arabia to offer condolences following the death of King Abdullah.  Among the dignitaries the newly enthroned King Salman is expected to receive in the coming days is US President Barack Obama. King Abdullah was buried in a Muslim-only funeral on Friday wrapped in an unadorned, beige cloth without a coffin in an unmarked grave after a prayer service in Riyadh.

Clarin says the Argentine journalist who broke the story that federal prosecutor Alberto Nisman had been murdered, has left Argentina after he feared for his safety.  

Kyiv Post reports at least 30 people were killed and 83 others injured in a rocket attack on the port city of Mariupol, which is controlled by government troops. The Kyiv government and the pro-Russia rebels had blamed the shelling on each other, but investigators from the OSCE, who rushed to the scene shortly afterwards, concluded that the attack had been launched from the east and northeast of the city – territory controlled by the separatists. 

Voice of Nigeria says Islamist group Boko Haram militants have freed about 200 hostages, mostly women, abducted from a village in the northeastern Nigerian state of Yobe. Community leaders said these included 192 persons taken hostage on January 6 and 16 others abducted earlier.

Lusaka Post reports Edgar Lungu has been declared the winner of Zambia’s presidential election. He obtained 48.3 percent of the votes. Shortly after the result was announced, Hakainde Hichilema, a wealthy economist from the opposition United Party for National Development accused the Electoral Commission of manipulating the results to ensure victory for Lungu.

Avvenire says Pope Francis has again asked ecclesiastical tribunals that deal with marriage annulments to “shorten the proceedings, which are often perceived by the spouses to be long and wearisome”.  

The Chicago Tribune reports that 1.25 billion chicken wings would be consumed during Super Bowl today week – enough to put 572 on every seat in all 32 NFL stadiums.  

 

 

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