The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press.
Times of Malta says a young teen is among the migrants at the Mater Dei Hospital morgue after Saturday night's drowning. 24 bodies were brought to Malta on Monday.
The Malta Independent says migrant deaths this year could top 30,000. It also says the former MUMN president could head the Nursing School.
MaltaToday reports that Italy and Malta are pushing for an EU operation targeting people smugglers.
l-orizzont focuses on the illegal economy of migration.
In-Nazzjon says the government has different yardsticks even in law enforcement in unlicensed animal parks. It also says five Gozitan soldiers have been vindictively transferred to Malta so their place can be taken by five keen Labourites.
The overseas press
Ansa quotes European Commission’s Natasha Bertaud saying the European Union was mulling a “military operation” targeting human traffickers in the Mediterranean in the wake of last weekend’s migrant-boat disaster which left an estimated 800 immigrants dead. The commission presented a 10-point plan on Monday which includes destroying smugglers’ boats on the Libyan coast. This is also part of a five-point Italian plan unveiled yesterday which includes the possible use of drones.
The Daily Express quotes Nato security chief Dr Jamie Shea warning the Islamic State was exploiting the Middle East refugee crisis to smuggle terrorist jihadists operatives into Europe. In a speech to the Counter-Terror Expo in London, Dr Shea said this was going to be “a very, very big question” for the refugee agencies to deal with, adding one needed to be on guard as refugee camps posed “enormous challenges” for Western intelligence and security agencies.
Meanwhile, The Daily Mail reports Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott has urged the EU to introduce tough measures to stop desperate migrants attempting to make the perilous sea voyage from North Africa to Europe. Abbott, whose conservative government introduced a military-led operation to turn back boats carrying asylum-seekers before they reach Australia, said it was the only way to stop deaths. Human rights advocates argue this violates Australia’s international obligations.
Focus says the European Commission has urged EU members to tackle the health challenges posed by the influx of asylum seekers in the Mediterranean, including sharing hospital resources. Commission official Ladislav Miko told reporters in Latvia’s capital Riga, suggested moving migrant patients to hospitals in countries less directly affected by the crisis along with the rapid deployment of emergency kits, logistical support and vaccines.
Italian investigators have said the shipwreck that killed at least 800 migrants off the Libyan coast was caused by the captain, Tunisian Mohammed Ali Malek, who by mistake rammed the boat into the cargo rescue ship and then migrants moving around the unbalanced vessel which capsized. Survivors told AGI the captain was “drunk and smoked hashish shortly before the boat hit the Portuguese rescue ship”. Save the Children says up to 100 children may have died in the weekend’s catastrophic shipwreck.
The Independent reports the British Home Office has been ordered to arrange for a deported migrant family to be returned to Britain from Nigeria – in a landmark ruling that threatens to undermine the government’s “deport first, appeal later” policy. The department faces contempt of court proceedings unless the woman and her five-year-old son are located and transported back to the UK at the Home Office’s expense by tomorrow. Asylum campaigners and children’s charities have welcomed the ruling.
Mauritania’s Le Quotidien says a senior Al Qaeda leader accused of planning terror attacks on Australia, the United States and Europe has been jailed for 20 years in Nouakchott. Younis al-Mauritani was arrested in south-western Pakistani city of Quetta in 2011 along with two other high-ranking jihadists in a joint operation by US and Pakistani spy agencies.
Fox News reports the White House has welcomed Saudi Arabia’s decision to halt air strikes in Yemen and urged talks to end a crisis that threatened to draw regional powers into direct conflict. The Saudi-led coalition had earlier declared it was ending four weeks of air strikes, saying the threat of Iran-backed rebels there had been removed and that operations are entering a political phase.
The Washington Post says the embattled head of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Michele Leonhart, has announced her retirement amid mounting pressure for her resignation from members of Congress who questioned her handling of misconduct allegations against agents. She had been widely criticised for her response to a scathing government watchdog report detailing allegations that agents attended sex parties with prostitutes in Columbia.
The Nature Communications journal reports physicists have fine-tuned an atomic clock to the point where it won’t lose or gain a second in 15 billion years. The “optical lattice” clock, which uses strontium atoms, is now three times more accurate than a year ago. Accurate timekeeping is crucial for satellite navigation systems, mobile telephones and digital TV.
The New York Times says a “perfect” 100-carat diamond, originally mined in South Africa, sold for $22.1 million in New York yesterday in three minutes of bidding. Sotheby’s had valued the jewel, which weighs 100.20 carats, at $19-25 million. It was discovered in the De Beers mines of South Africa then cut, polished and perfected for more than a year.
London’s Daily Star says the birth of a royal baby girl could pump £1billion into the British economy. The paper quotes experts saying a little princess would provide an initial £100-million souvenirs and tourism boost. And a daughter for Wills and Kate would set fashion trends, with fans buying British labels she wears. Kate’s favourite maternity clothing brand has seen sales double during her second pregnancy, from £5.2m in 2013 to £11.2m last year.
The first robotic penis is being developed by a scientific institute in Siena. AGI reports the Scuola Sant’Anna of Pisa told potential investors that it would be superior to replacements or penis implants – making the prosthesis work as closely as possible like the natural organ. The device is particularly innovative because it allows the user to control it by thought and nerve centres, ensuring sexual gratification through a sensorising system.