The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press.
Times of Malta quotes the German President who said the burden of migrants should be shared by EU member states.
The Malta Independent says the tourism minister has defended Air Malta as child fares are axed.
In-Nazzjon says policemen will no longer provide security for social security offices. Security has been passed on to a private company owned by a man close to the Labour Party.
l-orizzont quotes GWU secretary general Tony Zarb who said more work is needed to eliminate precarious work.
The overseas press
Ansa quotes Italian Interior Minister Angelino Alfano vowing anarchists would not be allowed to ruin Milan’s Expo 2015 trade fair opening later today. Police believe 1,000 or so anarchists –including Italians, French, Germans, Spaniards, Greeks, Swiss, and Britons – may be planning to target security forces, financial institutions and landmarks in Milan.
The Himalayan Times reports three more people have been pulled alive from rubble in Nepal – five days after the 7.8-magnitude earthquake that caused nearly 5,500 confirmed deaths and brought the Himalayan country to its knees. A 15-year-old boy was extracted from the ruins of a seven-storey building in the capital Kathmandu by a joint team of US and Nepali rescuers. Separately, two women had also been found alive. A baby was pulled out of the ruble alive on Wednesday as the country continued to be affected by aftershocks.
VOA News says more than 100 demonstrators, have been arrested during a protest march in solidarity with protesters in the riot-ravaged city of Baltimore. Dozens of arrests were also reported in Seattle, Detroit, Chicago and Indianapolis, as Americans called for justice for Freddie Gray, the 25-year-old black man who died in police custody with a snapped spine. His death on April 19, after a week in a coma, sparked violent protests and ugly scenes of looting and violence.
Al Watan says Saudi Arabia said its forces killed dozens of Iran-backed rebels from Yemen who launched their first major attack on the kingdom since Saudi-led air strikes began last month. Three Saudi soldiers also died in the battle after the rebels targeted their observation posts, the defence ministry said, as its army repelled the assault.
Meanwhile, International Business Times quotes UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon expressing “grave concern” about the impact on civilians of the continued fighting in Yemen. He said more than 1,200 people had been killed and 300,000 had fled their homes in the past six weeks. Ban urged all parties engaged in military operations to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure.
The Times reports Britain has told a UN panel of experts that it was aware of an “active Iranian nuclear procurement network” linked to two Iranian companies, raising new concerns as world powers yesterday began to work out the details of a possible comprehensive agreement with Iran over its nuclear programme. Britain’s warning was included in a confidential report by the panel. Both companies are under US sanctions and one is on the UN sanctions list.
Sputnik says an American prison, notorious for its poor treatment of inmates, faces new allegations of depravity as lab tests have revealed trace amounts of rate poison in the prison’s medals. A report has found that guards in the Rikers Island prison complex were involved in a record number of unnecessary use-of-force incidents in 2014. With 406 documented instances in September alone, the year’s total has reached 4,074.
If global warming continues unabated, raising the Earth’s temperature by 4.30C compared with its pre-industrial level, 16 per cent of the world species may soon become extinct. New research published in Nature suggests biodiversity loss is accelerating.
Meanwhile, Metro reports the Church of England, one of the world’s wealthiest religious institutions, is to sell off €6.5 million investments in coal and tar sands – among the most polluting fossil fuels – to help curb climate change. The announcement comes ahead of Pope Francis’ release of an encyclical setting out Roman Catholic doctrine on environmental issues, which is expected to make waves on the global warming debate.
Avvenire says Pope Francis has said Catholics need to enter politics “for the common good” in response to the “culture of illegality, corruption and conflict” but founding a Catholic party “is not the way” and “isn’t necessary”. This, as Pope Paul VI affirmed, “is the most noble and demanding form of charity”, he added.
An Italian man has apologised to Pope Francis after he rudely disconnected two phone calls from the leader of the Catholic Church. Franco Rabuffi told L’Osservatore Romano he thought he was the victim of a prank caller when the Pontiff called twice this week. When Pope Francis rang a third time, Mr Rabuffi finally took the call seriously. “I was speechless, but Francis came to my rescue, saying that what happened was funny.”