The following are the top stories in the national and international press today.
Times of Malta says Transport Malta figures show that the number of bus passengers last year exceeded 40 million for the first time in 25 years. It also reports that two news cameramen were attacked yesterday while covering a huge fire that broke out in a scrapyard in Birżebbuġa.
The Malta Independent says young people are risking skin cancer with ‘sunburn art’, produced with a stencil or sun screen application.
L-Orizzont says that granite tiles laid in Savina Square in Victoria two months ago are being removed for feast street decorations.
In-Nazzjon quotes Opposition leader Simon Busuttil stressing the ever-growing need for honest politics.
International news
Reuters reports the United Nations 193-member states agreed early this morning on an agenda for the world’s sustainable development over the next 15 years that pledges to leave no-one behind and is now due to be formally adopted by world leaders at a summit in September. After two weeks of final negotiations and several all-night sessions, the sustainable development agenda of 17 goals and a declaration that covers implementation and review were agreed by consensus to replace eight Millennium Development Goals. There was a standing ovation and cheering by diplomats when the agenda was agreed.
Aiming to jolt the rest of the world to action, President Barack Obama moved ahead yesterday with even tougher greenhouse gas cuts on American power plants, setting up a certain confrontation in the courts with energy producers and Republican-led states. AP says in finalising the unprecedented pollution controls, Obama was installing the core of his ambitious and controversial plan to drastically reduce overall US emissions, as he works to secure a legacy on fighting global warming.
All eyes are on Greece’s embattled banks as the Athens stock exchange reopens after a five-week shutdown over the country’s debt crisis, with traders bracing for a volatile session. Ta Nea predicts bank shares are expected to be particularly affected as the country’s lenders are in a vulnerable position because of outflows of billions of euros from deposits over the past six months.
Haaretz says Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon has authorised the use of a controversial “administrative detention” procedure for suspects in a firebombing last Friday which killed 18-month-old Ali Saad Dawabsha and left his parents and four-year-old brother critically injured. Administrative detention has generally been reserved for Palestinian suspects. It allows for suspects to be held indefinitely without charge. The fire sparked clashes in East Jerusalem and the West Bank.
ABC reports a piece of metal debris found on the island of Reunion over the weekend is not from missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 but part of a ladder. The news came as a Boeing 777 wing part, believed to belong to the plane washed up last week, is in France where a formal identification process will happen on Wednesday. Investigators from France, the United States, Malaysia, China and Boeing will inspect the debris.
Al Ahram quotes US Secretary of State John Kerry saing the United States and Egypt are returning to a “stronger base” in bilateral ties. Speaking after talks with his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry yesterday, he said that was despite tensions and human rights concerns. Shoukry told reporters the dialogue contributed in reviewing bilateral relations, presenting new ideas that will define relations between the two countries in the future mostly in the fields of Military and Security cooperation,” said.
Sputnik reports Russia’s counter-terrorism forces have killed eight ISIS militants in north Caucasus. A statement said the group’s leader, Adam Tagilov, was among the dead. Thousands of Russian citizens are now believed to be fighting for jihadi-affiliated factions in Syria.
Svoboda Radio announces that the contact group on Ukraine will convene again in Minsk later today. Its members are due to address the issue of Shirokino’s demilitarization, to finalise an agreement on the withdrawal of weapons under 100 mm calibre, to discuss the political part of the peace process “road map” and humanitarian and economic problems.
Voice of Nigeria reports Nigerian troops have rescued 178 people from Boko Haram in attacks that destroyed several camps of the Islamic extremists in the northeast of the country. Among those freed are 101 children and 67 women.
The Guardian says tributes have been paid to Cilla Black, who moved from singing star in the vanguard of the 1960s Merseyside pop revolution to queen of Saturday night television and then subject of a much-praised TV biopic last year. British Prime Minister David Cameron, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and Sheridan Smith, who played Black in the three-part drama “Cilla”, were among friends, colleagues in the entertainment industry and politicians who expressed their sorrow at her death. Black, 72, died at her home in Estepona near Marbella in Spain. She is thought to have died from natural causes. She had arthritis and was deaf, saying last year that she was “falling apart”.
O Globo reports the International Olympic Committee has said it would order testing for disease-causing viruses in the sewage-polluted waters where athletes compete in next year’s Rio de Janeiro Games. The news follows a request by the World Health Organisation after an Associated Press investigation showed a serious health risk to Olympic athletes. Earlier, the IOC and local Olympic organisers in Rio said they would only test for bacteria in the water, as Brazil and virtually all nations only mandate such testing to determine the safety of recreational waters.