The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press.
Times of Malta reports that a European arrest warrant has been issued at the request of the Malta police, who want to question a Scottish man in connection with attempted rape on a Maltese-registered cruise ship.
The Malta Independent says that according to Cafe Premier co-owner Neville Curmi, what the auditor said was very close to the truth.
In-Nazzjon and l-orizzont report how a Maltese worker was critically injured by a gunshot in Libya. He was brought to Malta by air ambulance. In-Nazzjon also gives prominence to a press conference by Beppe Fenech Adami on the Cafe Premier controversy. He said the prime minister had said 10 lies in a week.
The overseas press
Al Jazeera reports Islamic State militants have started bulldozing the ancient Assyrian city of Nimrud, in the jihadists’ latest attack on Iraq’s historical heritage. The destruction at Nimrud, founded in the 13th century BC and one of the jewels of the Assyrian era, comes a week after the jihadist group smashed priceless ancient artefacts at the Mosul museum.
According to Almasalah News, Iraqi lawmaker Qasim Al-Araji has told parliament that his group, the Badr Organisation, was in possession of documented proof that the US government was providing the Islamic State with weapons and military aid. According to Press TV, a study conducted by a London-based group has also found that Islamic State militants had been using “significant quantities” of arms marked “property of the US government”.
Boko Haram fundamentalists have massacred at least 68 people during a raid in a remote village in the northeastern state of Borno. The Paradigm newspaper quoted military sources saying the militiamen entered the village firing indiscriminately before breaking into homes. Several children are among the dead.
Al Quds says the Palestinian leadership has decided to suspend security co-operation with Israel. in response to what the it said were “ongoing Israeli violations and crimes against the people of Palestine”. The move comes after Israel withheld its payment of Palestinian tax revenues in retaliation for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s decision last December to join the International Criminal Court in The Hague, paving the way for war crimes prosecutions of Israeli officials.
Libya has sought permission from the United Nations to import 150 tanks, two dozen fighter jets, seven attack helicopters, tens of thousands of assault rifles and grenade launchers and millions of rounds of ammunition from Ukraine, Serbia and the Czech Republic. In the written request, a copy of which was obtained by Reuters, Libya said it needs the massive shipment of weapons and military equipment to take on Islamic State militants and other extremists and to control its borders.
Harrison Ford has been injured after the plane he was in crash landed onto a golf course in Los Angeles. TMZ reports that the 72-year-old actor was piloting what appeared to be a World War Two training aircraft when it crashed into Penmar golf course in Venice area. He suffered multiple gashes to his head and was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment.
The New York Times says a Delta Airlines plane from Atlanta has overshot the runway while landing at New York’s La Guardia airport during a snowstorm. The MD-80, which crashed into a barrier, had 125 passengers and five crew members on board, all of whom were safely disembarked. The new wave of bad weather has led to the cancellation of more than 4,000 flights. Hundreds of cars were stuck on the highways in more than half a metre of snow.
Clarin reports an independent investigation commissioned by the former wife of Albero Nisman concluded he was “a victim of homicide”. Sandra Arroyo Salgado said the analysis she commissioned, based on photos of the crime scene and of the autopsy, found details that run counter to what was revealed in the official autopsy. Nisman was found dead a day before he was expected to elaborate on his accusation that Argentina’s President, Christina Fernandez de Kirchner, was behind a cover up deal with Iran to hide their officials’ alleged role in the 1994 bombing of a Jewish community centre. Fernandez de Kirchner has denied the allegations.
Under the heading “Watergate at new BND headquarters”, Berlin Tagesspiegel says Germany’s foreign intelligence agency is grappling with millions of euros in damage after five faucets were stolen from the toilets in a number of floors of its new headquarters in Berlin. The flooding has caused damage to drop ceilings, the electrical wiring and the security systems.
Moscow Times reports a Russian policeman has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for spying for the United States. The Moscow City Court found the agent, Roman Ushakov, guilty of treason for giving classified information to the Americans. Prosecutors in court showed messages he send to the CIA containing sensitive information about the activities of the Russian Interior Ministry. They also presented a container with cash and a letter from the CIA.
Het Parool says a man’s last dying wish to see the paintings of Rembrandt has been fulfilled. The Dutch multiple sclerosis sufferer, 78, was transported on a special bed with two other terminally ill men to the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam for a private visit, organised by the Ambulance Wish Foundation. The organisation was founded by a former ambulance driver, Kees Veldboer, and has helped nearly 6,000 people to realise their wishes before dying.
Residents of Hamburg’s St Pauli’s nightclub district are getting their own back on late-night revellers who urinate on public buildings – with a new high-tech paint that sends the spray bouncing right back at them. Julia Staron, the organiser of a local interest group told Reuters they applied the special water-repellent paint, also used in shipbuilding, on two most frequented buildings to deter “Wildpinkler”, as Germans call them.