The following are the top stories in the national and international press today.
Times of Malta says Prime Minister Joseph Muscat pushed for Libya to be high on the EU agenda during talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel yesterday as it was “on the verge” of becoming a failed State. In another story, the newspaper says that exposure to harmful chemicals found in everyday products can save the country up to €519 million a year, according to a report by the Health and Environment Alliance (HEAL).
The Malta Independent says monti stalls may be placed between the new Parliament building and the Teatru Rjal if there is not enough space in the lower part of Ordnance Street.
In-Nazzjon says V18 chairman Jason Micallef has appealed for common sense to reign and for monti stalls not to be set up near the new Parliament building.
L-Orizzont says the General Workers Union is satisfied that members of disciplinary forces will soon be able to join a union.
International news
The New York Times quotes US security officials saying the United Arab Emirates has stopped flying air strikes against the Islamic State militia in Syria after its capture of a downed Jordanian pilot, 26-year-old Muath al-Kasaesbeh, since burnt alive. The UAE wants rescue aircraft posted closer. Officially, there has been no comment on the matter from the UAE, which, alongside Qatar and Bahrain, is one of the most visible Arab members of the 60-nation US-led coalition.
Ad Dustour reports King Abdullah of Jordan has sworn that the death of the young Jordanian army pilot “will not be in vain”. King Abdullah, who had cut short a trip to Washington to address the situation in Amman, promised that Jordan will take tough action against the IS terrorists, beyond hanging two convicted militants. The country is in shock, the pilot’s mother had to be hospitalised and his father told Reuters he wanted “revenge for my son’s blood through more executions of those who follow this criminal group that shares nothing with Islam”.
Pope Francis has said it is a “scandal” that Christians are fighting between themselves in Ukraine. Avvenire says that at his weekly general audience on Wednesday, the Pope called for an end to this “horrible, violent fratricide”, saying that words like victory and defeat, brought pain to his heart. He appealed again for every effort to be made, also at international level, “to restore dialogue” between the warring factions.
Reuters reports attackers killed 12 people, including two Filipinos and two Ghanaians, after storming a remote Libyan oil field. “Most were beheaded or killed by gunfire,” said Abdelhakim Maazab, commander of a security force in charge of protecting the Mabruk oil field, about 100 miles south of the Mediterranean city of Surt. Maazab added that his men had regained control of the field, which is not operating. The French energy company Total has a stake in the site, but it is contracted to a Libyan company.
According to Börzen Zeitung, decision by the European Central Bank late yesterday to end its waiver on Greek debt as collateral sent the euro tumbling more than one per cent. The move effectively cuts off from September 11 much access to ECB liquidity funding for already-weak Greek banks, and puts a new block in front of Athens’s campaign to renegotiate its bailout.
Meanwhile, Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis told public radio Ard their European partners “have until May to develop our suggestions for a solution” on the rescheduling of Greek debt. Varoufakis also revealed that he had contacted the secretary general of OECD to ask him to help him work out a programme of reform that goes in the direction of greater fairness and the fight against tax evasion and corruption.
China Times reports rescuers were searching for 12 people this morning after using a crane to hoist the fuselage of a wrecked TransAsia Airways plane from a shallow river in Taiwan’s capital following a crash that killed at least 31 others. Flight 235 with 58 people aboard, many of them travellers from China, banked sharply on its side shortly after takeoff from Taipei, clipped a highway bridge and then careened into the Keelung River.
Al Jazeera journalist Peter Greste has spoken to the media in Brisbane following his 400-day prison ordeal in Egypt, thanking all of his supporters who championed for his release. ABC says arriving to cheers from fellow members of the media, Greste publicly recognised his colleagues, Canadian-Egyptian Mohamed Fahmy and Egyptian national Baher Mohamed, who remain in prison, for the support they gave him. Greste was emotional when he said: “We'll see them out”.
According to Radio Nigeria, Boko Haram fighters went on the rampage in the Cameroonian border town of Fotokol yesterday, massacring dozens of civilians and setting fire to a mosque before being repelled by regional forces. The onslaught came a day after Chad sent troops across the border to flush the jihadists out of the Nigerian town of Gamboru, 500 metres from Fotokol on the other side of a bridge. Chad’s army said it had killed more than 200 Boko Haram militants in the intervention – the first by regional forces against Boko Haram on its home ground.
The Irish Examiner says last night’s Irish Lotto draw – with a €10 million jackpot at stake – had to be postponed due to network connectivity problems that saw the country’s 3,500 Lotto machines unable to process Lotto slips. A technical issue affecting the 3G telecommunications infrastructure provided by Telefónica affected business customers across Ireland and Europe - including more than 3,500 National Lottery agents. The draw will now take place tonight instead.
The Washington Post reports US police have arrested a couple who allegedly left their two toddlers in a car in near-freezing temperatures while attending a wine-tasting event in an upmarket Washington restaurant. The children, who were not physically harmed, were placed in protective custody. The parents, who were granted bail, have been barred from seeing their children before their next court date on February 18.
Business Insider says that with 10,500 selfies, the Eiffel Tower tops the list of the most popular tourist attractions around the world based on Instagram searches for hashtags around landmarks and the self portrait photos. It is followed by Disneyworld (Florida), the Burj Khalifa (Dubai), the Big Ben (London), the Empire State Building (New York), the Sagrada Familia (Barcelona), Disneyland (Paris), the Colosseum (Rome), the Top of the Rock (New York) and the London Bridge.