The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press.
Times of Malta says the PN has promised to stay in the way of development in ODZs. It also says teaching Maths by Abacus is to be ditched.
The Malta Independent quotes Peter Paul Zammit that he resigned from the police force because of the poor performance of the corps. He said his resignation had nothing to do with with his actions over a former client of his who was involved in a disturbance at Zabbar police station but faced no charges.
In-Nazzjon quotes Simon Busuttil saying the environment is the PN's future.
l-orizzont says the government will use all means to fight a waiver exonerating Skanska from all issues relating to Mater Dei Hospital.
The overseas press
London’s The Times reports British counter terrorism police are focusing on the threat from a chemical weapons attack by jihadists that have returned to Britain after fighting for ISIS in Syria or Iraq. It says the government has been asked to regulate the sale of chlorine, easily accessible purify swimming pools, which can become a chemical weapon by default and can be lethal if inhaled when bombs are detonated in crowded places and indoors as subway stations.
Syrian state television has said at least 400 people, mostly women and children, have been killed by Islamic State fighters in Palmyra. Hundreds of bodies – believed to be those of government supporters – are said to be lying in the streets.
The Islamic State has justified the kidnapping and rape of slave girls and attacked the American first lady, Michelle Obama, calling her a “prostitute” whose price “may not exceed even one-third of a dinar”. The delirious provocation comes from a jihadist bride, through an article, entitled “Girls slaves or prostitutes” published on Dabiq, the English-language propaganda magazine of the Caliphate.
Reuters reports warplanes from Libya’s official government has attacked an oil tanker docked outside the city of Sirte, wounding three people and setting the ship on fire. It was the third confirmed strike by the internationally-recognised government on oil tankers – part of a conflict between competing administrations and parliaments allied to armed factions fighting for control of the country four years after the ousting of Muammar Gaddafi.
According to Antenna 3, voters in Spain have given support for several new political parties in local elections. While exit polls and early vote counts still put the governing conservative Popular Party (PP) on top in 11 of the 13 Spanish regions, newcomer parties including the anti-austerity Podemos (We Can) and market-friendly Ciudadanos (Citizens) earned seats in almost all the regional governments. Upsets were expected in the major cities of Madrid and Barcelona. With 80 percent of the votes counted the result looked to be the worst for the PP in more than 20 years.
Polskie Radio reports right-wing candidate Andrzej Duda has won Poland’s run-off Presidential election. Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski, 62, conceded defeat after an exit poll showed him trailing the previously little-known right-wing politician. The result, due to be confirmed later today, marks a significant blow to the ruling Civic Platform Party ahead of more important parliamentary elections this year.
Cash-strapped Greeks remain supportive of the leftist government’s tough negotiating style, according to a new poll published in the pro-government newspaper Avgi but hope for a deal with creditors that would keep the euro in their wallets. The poll shows 54 per cent backing the Syriza-led government’s handling of the negotiations despite the tension with Greece’s international lenders. A total 59 percent believe Athens must not give in to demands by its creditors, with 89 percent against pension cuts and 81 percent against mass lay-offs.
Meanwhile, speaking to Mega TV, Greek Interior Minister Nikos Voutsis has warned the country has no money to repay the IMF on time next week unless a deal is reached with its creditors. Athens already had a close shave in May, when it was only able to scrape together the $750 million due to the IMF then by raiding its emergency reserves.
RTE reports UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has praised the result Ireland’s referendum on same-sex marriage. Speaking after he accepted the Tipperary International Peace Award he said Ireland’s strong commitment to human rights was seen in the same-sex marriage referendum. At the same time, the once-dominant Catholic Church in Ireland is trying to come to terms with the overwhelming vote in favour of gay marriage. Dublin’s Archbishop Diarmuid Martin told reporters after mass at the city’s St Mary's Pro-Cathedral, “We have to see how is it that the Church's teaching on marriage and family is not being received even within its own flock”.
USA Today says the US Navy is preparing to send one if its premier diving teams to Georgia to help salvage a Confederate warship from the depths of the Savannah River. Before it ever fired a shot, the 1,200 ton ironclad CSS Georgia was scuttled by its own crew to prevent its capture by Gen. William T. Sherman when his Union army took Savannah in December 1864.
France 24 reports the 68th annual Cannes Film Festival came to a close last night with the top prize, the Palme d’Or, being awarded to “Dheepan”, directed by Jacques Audiard. The film follows a former soldier, a young woman and a little girl who pose as a family in order to escape the civil war in Sri Lanka.
A woman is in a critical condition after shooting herself in the head while posing for a selfie. The 21-year-old office worker was holding a gun to her temple while taking the photo but accidentally pulled the trigger, according to RIA Novosti. She was rushed to Sklifosovsky hospital in Moscow where she is receiving special treatment for the wound. Police are investigating how the woman got hold of the gun. Russian news agencies suggest a security guard in the building had left the pistol in the office before going off on holiday.