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

Times of Malta says Mario Camilleri, the man who brokered the Café Premier deal, denies giving money to the Labour Party, saying, instead, that he made a donation to the Nationalist Party. In another story, it says the police are investigating DJ and convicted sex offender Joel Caruana after he allegedly used photos of underage girls to promote his latest event.

The Malta Independent says asset quality reviews carried out in Malta’s two largest banks have uncovered a greater proportion of non-performing loans than previously thought, leading the International Monetary Fund to suspect that a similar situation may be found in smaller Maltese banks.

MaltaToday says that autumn quail figures refuted hunters’ claim that spring was no alternative.

In-Nazzjon says that Cabinet had not been informed of the meeting Prime Minister Joseph Muscat’s had with Café Premier director Mario Camilleri before the election.

L-Orizzont reports that eight committee members of the Naxxar Peace Band were found not guilty of storing explosive material at the club.

International news

Libya Herald reports Islamist State forces have taken control of the Al-Bahi and Al-Mabrouk oil fields in the Sirte Basin from Petroleum Facilities Guards after fierce fighting in central Libya. A spokesman for the country’s oil industry security service, Colonel Ali al-Hassi,told AFP that the “extremists” were now heading to seize the Al-Dahra field following the retreat of the force guarding these sites “due to lack of ammunition”.

Ansa reports that at 7,882, the number of migrants arriving on Italian shores by boat in first two months of this year was 43 per cent greater than arrivals during the same time last year. Most have been coming from Libya. Interior ministry figures showed 67,000 immigrants were at present staying in Italian migrant reception facilities. Most are in Sicily, with almost 14,000 people.

The Washington Post says a Justice Department investigation has found sweeping patterns of racial bias within the Ferguson, Missouri, police department, with officers routinely discriminating against blacks by using excessive force, issuing petty citations and making baseless traffic stops. The report marks the culmination of a months-long investigation after one of its officers shot and killed an unarmed black man, 18-year-old Michael Brown, last summer.

USA Today reports Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has denounced President Barack Obama’s drive for a nuclear agreement with Iran, warning Washington was paving Tehran’s path to a bomb. After Netanyahu delivered his impassioned address to the US Congress, an exasperated Obama retorted that the Israeli leader had no plan of his own to contain the Iranian threat.  

Meanwhile, Euronews quotes Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif saying President Obama’s demand for Iran to freeze its sensitive nuclear activities for at least 10 years was “unacceptable”. Talks with US Secretary of State John Kerry continue in Switzerland in a bid to persuade Iran to restrain its nuclear programme in exchange for relief from sanctions that have crippled its economy.

As thousands of Russians attended the funeral of murdered Russian opposition politician Boris Nemtsov, Russian Investigative Committee spokesman Vladimir Markin told Rossiya-1 TV that a great amount of unverified information was hindering investigations. He said investigators were doing everything possible to solve the crime but insisted the assassination “was probably a provocation aimed at destabilising the political situation in the country”. A version linked to an Islamic-extremist trace was also considered.

Tribune de Genève reports North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Su-yong  has warned Pyongyang had the power to conduct a “pre-emptive strike” on the United States. Speaking before the UN Disarmament Conference, Ri said the US-South Korean joint military exercises that kicked off Monday were “unprecedentedly provocative in nature” and could spark a war. North Korea fired two short-range Scud missiles into the sea off its east coast on Monday,

The BBC says scientists in China have produced a herd of genetically-engineered cows that are better able to ward off bovine TB infection. The long-term goal of the research is to avoid the need to cull livestock by breeding disease resistant cattle. Bovine TB is a risk in many areas, including New Zealand, England and Wales, and parts of Africa and Asia.

Indian Express reports India’s western state of Maharashtra has introduced a ban on beef products, with possession incurring a jail term of up to five years. Several states have already banned the slaughter of cows, as the country’s Hindu majority consider the animals sacred.

Metro says British police have found severed body parts believed to belong to missing Bristol teenager Becky Watts. Two people – the girl’s stepbrother and his girlfriend – have been arrested on suspicion of kidnapping and murdering the 16-year-old, while five others are behind bars on suspicion of aiding and abetting them.

Researchers have finally answered one of the most compelling questions in the field of medicine: What is a normal size for a penis? The answer, according to anatomically precise measurements of 15,521 men from around the world reported in BJU International, is 9.16 centimetres in the resting state and 13.12 centimetres when erect. The London research team said the study was undertaken to help doctors reassure men who suffer considerable distress due to the size of their organ. It could also help manufacturers design better condoms with lower failure rates.

 

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