The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press. The local media is dominated by the official announcement that Mgr Charles Scicluna will be the new Archbishop of Malta.
Times of Malta says new Archbishop Charles Scicluna will face tough decisions.
In-Nazzjon quotes Mgr Scicluna saying he will dedicate his life to the people.
The Malta Independent says Mgr Scicluna promised to listen to the people.
l-orizzont says the new Archbishop will be installed on March 21.
The overseas press.
RT network reports Russian politician and former deputy prime minister Boris Nemtsov has been shot dead in central Moscow, in what President Putin says looks like a “contract killing”. He was shot four times from a passing car near the Kremlin.
USA Today says the Republican-controlled House unexpectedly voted down short-term funding for the Department of Homeland Security, increasing the prospect of a partial shutdown at midnight of an agency with major anti-terrorism responsibilities. Speaker John Boehner attempted to advance the short-term measure to buy more time to fight over the immigration policies. But 52 Republicans voted against his plan, and the Bill was rejected 203-224. A dozen Democrats voted for Boehner’s bill, but the rest opposed it.
Kathimerini reports the Greek government will bring legislation before parliament next week designed to help deal with the crippling effects of years of austerity. Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras made the announcement in a cabinet meeting broadcast live on television. The new laws include free electricity for 300,000 poor families, housing for 30,000 families, and debt relief for citizens and businesses who owe the state money. Other legislation will also protect many at risk of forfeiting their homes.
According to Ansa, Italy’s intelligence services have told parliament that Italy was a “potential target” for Islamic terrorists because of its “symbolic value as the epicenter of Christianity”. But as yet no “activities or plans” by Islamic terror groups to conduct attacks have been uncovered. Their warnings follow previous Islamic State (ISIS) threats that their jihadists had the Vatican and Pope Francis in their sights.
Reuters reports the UN Security Council has condemned the latest “barbaric terrorist acts” in Iraq by Islamic State militants, including the destruction of priceless religious and cultural artifacts. Among the recent ISIS acts the 15-nation council cited were the abduction of 100 Sunni tribesmen from outside Tikrit, the immolation of 45 Iraqis and daily attacks targeting civilians in Baghdad.
Sky News and six main London newspapers have revealed the first known photograph of Mohammed Emwazi, the Islamic State militant known as “Jihadi John”, as an adult. Showing him with a goatee beard and wearing a Pittsburgh Pirates baseball cap, the image is revealed in student records from his time at the University of Westminster. British Prime Minister David Cameron said Britain would do “everything” to bring terrorists to justice.
Le Parisien reports the police are holding a 38-year-old man on suspicion of having raped a 22-year-old Paris student on a train earlier this month in full view of other passengers who remained indifferent to the girl’s cries for help. The news emerged as it was only now that the girl reported the incident. The man was identified through the train’s CCTV cameras.
Voice of Nigeria says 18 people, including three women, have been killed in a suicide bombing at a bus station in Biu, in north-east Nigeria. Numerous bystanders were also injured in the blast. The attack was carried out by two suicide bombers; one was killed before he could detonate his belt. Two more suicide attacks, one at the university and the other once again at a bus station, killed at least 17 people in Jos. The two cities are over 400 km apart.
Dhaka Courier reports hundreds of protesters took to the streets of the Bangladeshi capital in protest against the machete killing of the American blogger of Bangladeshi descent, Avijit Roy. He had long been a target of Islamic fundamentalists. His wife, who was accompanying him, was also seriously injured.
El Universal says the Mexican federal police have captured Servando “La Tuta” Gomez, a former school teacher who became one of Mexico’s most-wanted drug lords as head of the Knights Templar cartel, He was arrested in a house in Morelia after months of intelligence work.
According to the Tribune de Genève, the World Health Organization says more than 1.1 billion people risk permanent hearing loss by exposing themselves to loud music and other sounds. WHO recommends limiting the use of personal audio players to an hour a day.
The New York Daily News announces the handmade, pearl-covered Oscar dress stolen from actress Lupita Nyong’o was recovered yesterday after it was returned to the Hollywood hotel where it was stolen. The police discovered the missing gown, estimated to be worth at least $150,000, in a bathroom of the hotel after a tipster called gossip site TMZ claiming to be the thief. The dress-snatcher returned the gown to the London West Hollywood hotel because he claimed the dress was worthless and wanted the world to know “Hollywood’s fake bulls**t”.