The following are the top stories in the national and international press today.
Times of Malta says Europe appealed to the United Nations Security Council yesterday to back its plans to stem the flow of migrants across the Mediterranean. In another story, it says an inquiry concluded former Police Commissioner Peter Paul Zammit decided arbitrarily and without explanation to drop police proceedings against a former client of his who caused a ruckus at the Żabbar police station in 2013.
The Malta Independent says the police have started investigations into a scam allegedly involving former EU Health Commissioner John Dalli.
L-Orizzont says that the Nationalist Party leader’s decision to appoint general secretary Chris Said shadow minister for Gozo increased divisions for the party on the sister island.
In-Nazzjon reports about more private works in Gozo financed by public funds.
International news
France 24 reports French President François Hollande has been received by former Cuban President Fidel Castro for a closed-door meeting. Earlier, Hollande called for an end to the US embargo during his landmark visit to the communist country. France, he said, is seeking to “be the first among European nations, and the first among Western nations, to be able to say to the Cubans that we will be at their side if they decide themselves to take needed steps towards opening up”.
According to Euronews, Greece has paid €750 million it owed to the IMF, as eurozone finance ministers met in Brussels to discuss the cash-strapped country’s future. The announcement came ahead of today’s final deadline to cough up the cash. Athens wants to unlock a final €7.2 billion share of a total of €240 billion in bailout aid. However, officials say there was still more work to do and that gaps remain between the two sides.
Libya Herald reports Turkey has condemned as “heinous” three attacks on a Turkish-owned vessel, during which the third officer, a Turkish national, was killed and several crew members injured. The government has protested to Libyan diplomats at both the embassy in Ankara and the consulate in Istanbul. The vessel was carrying plasterboard from Spain to Tobruk. Meanwhile, a spokesman for military forces loyal to Libya’s internationally-recognised government said the ship was bombed after it was warned not to break a ban on approaching the country’s eastern city of Derna.
Ansa reports the EU has assured the UN Security Council that “no refugee or migrant intercepted at sea would be sent back against their will”. Federica Mogherini addressed the council as the 28-member EU prepares to start making decisions next week on an operation to identify, capture and destroy boats before they are used by migrant smugglers. UN special representative for international migration Peter Sutherland warned some 20,000 people could die in the Mediterranean by autumn if urgent measures are not soon taken.
In another development, El Mundo quotes Italian President Sergio Mattarella saying that the EU was capable of absorbing migrants arriving on the shores of Europe. Visiting Spain, Mattarella said Europe can and must welcome immigrants who arrive in Italy and must help the countries where they come from in the future to avoid having to deal with waves far more relevant. He also urged the UN to find a solution to bring peace to Libya, which can become the basis for terrorist groups and thus constitute a threat to the entire continent.
Le Soir quotes diplomatic sources saying European Commission head Jean-Claude Junker might fix at 20,000 an initial EU-wide quota for refugees, despite resistance from Britain and other countries. Juncker is to unveil a new migration policy plan tomorrow that besides proposing a quota system for distributing asylum seekers among EU states would increase legal channels for migration to Europe. Many of the migrants are fleeing conflict or poverty in countries such as Syria, Eritrea, Nigeria and Somalia.
The New York Times reveals that the younger brother of Hilary Clinton, the Democratic candidate for the White House, has tried to get a contract worth $22 million for the reconstruction of houses in Haiti, while Bill Clinton was coordinating aid to the island devastated by an earthquake. Tony Rodham in recent years has distinguished himself mainly by attempts to exploit his sister: the paper reveals that being out of work and money in 2010, former President Bill Clinton got him a €72,000-a-year job with GreenTech Automotive Terry McAuliffe, now governor of Virginia.
Magyar Hirlap reports the leader of Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish region, Massud Barzani, has said his forces had “broken the spine” of the Islamic State (IS) group with the help of international allies. After talks with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban in Budapest, Barzani said that although “the danger is not over”, he was hopeful the days of the brutal militant organisation were numbered.
A new type of blood test is starting to transform cancer treatment, sparing some patients the surgical and needle biopsies long needed to guide their care. Medical Daily says the tests, called liquid biopsies, capture cancer cells or DNA that tumours shed into the blood, instead of taking tissue from the tumour itself. A lot is still unknown about the value of these tests, but many doctors think they are a big advance that could make personalised medicine possible for far more people.
The New Yorker said it was a night of records for the art world in New York. After a Pablo Picasso painting sold $179.4 million, a sculpture by Alberto Giacometti set a record for most expensive sculpture, at $141.3 million. Picasso’s “Women of Algiers (Version O)” and Giacometti’s life-size “Pointing Man” were among dozens of masterpieces from the 20th century Christie’s offered in a sale titled “Looking Forward to the Past”.
The Atlantic quotes the North American Association of State and Provincial Lotteries reporting Americans in the 43 states where lotteries are legal spent $70 billion on lotto games in 2014 – more than $230 for every man, woman, and child in those states or $300 for each adult. That’s more than Americans in all 50 states spent on sports tickets, books, video games, movie tickets, and recorded music sales.