The following are the top stories in the national and international press today.
Times of Malta says Air Malta staff unions are insisting that the fleet reduction plan announced by the airline last week will not work. In another story, it says Libyans escaping turmoil in their country are entering Malta ‘legally’ through the formation of fake companies, which entitles them to a residency permit.
The Malta Independent says St James Hospital is in talks with a new foreign investor for the takeover of the hospital and is no longer in talks with a group of Palestinian and US investors.
MaltaToday says police union president Sandro Camilleri has demanded a meeting with Police Commissioner Michael Cassar to clarify a vague order to declare interests.
In-Nazzjon says more people are leaving the police force and being given a job with the government or its agencies.
L-Orizzont says Maltese national Daniel Sammut has made it to the Guinness Book of Records for the longest open saltwater Scuba dive (cold water).
International news
CNN-IBN quotes Indian authorities saying at least 30 passengers are known to have died after two trains travelling in opposite directions derailed in central India because of flooding on the train tracks due to heavy rains. Rescue efforts continue in the state of Madhya Pradesh as scores more are feared dead.
LBC Radio reports four separate police forces are investigating allegations of child sex abuse involving former British PM Sir Edward Heath, amid claims young boys from care homes went missing after going yachting with him. Journalist Don Hale said 30 years ago he was handed a dossier on an alleged Westminster paedophile ring, and shortly after his office was raided by police. Mr Hale said among the allegations against Sir Edward concerned the whereabouts of boys from care homes who went yachting with the politician.
Euronews says Germany is in the middle of a full-blown row between the government and judiciary after Heiko Maas, the country’s justice minister, has effectively sacked the chief prosecutor Harald Range. Earlier Range had accused Berlin of interfering in an investigation into alleged treason and state surveillance. Prosecutors are probing the website netzpolitik.org to determine whether the news outlet revealed state secrets in articles on alleged plans to increase government scrutiny of citizens. The case has created uproar with Germans taking to the streets to defend press freedom.
AFP reports the European Commission has offered to help France and Britain deal with the migrant crisis at the Channel Tunnel, as police on both sides braced for new attempts at the crossing. The EC said in a statement that it would send a first installment of financial assistance to France of €20 million, less than a day after some 600 fresh attempts were made to penetrate the tunnel.
Adnkronos quotes an International Organisation for Migration report that shows over 2,000 migrants have died so far this year in the Mediterranean trying to reach the coasts of European countries. IOM said that in the same period last year, there were 1,674 deaths, while in 2014 all the victims had been 3,279. Some 188,000 migrants were rescued in the Mediterranean this year and the organisation believes that threshold of 200,000 will be reached very soon.
Fox News has announced that Republican presidential candidates Donald Trump, Jeb Bush, Scott Walker, Mike Huckabee, Ben Carson, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Rand Paul, Chris Christie and John Kasich would all appear on the dais tomorrow for the premiere event. The debate in Cleveland marks the beginning of a new stage in the Republican nominating contest, where candidates will likely sharpen their first contrasts with one another and the field’s front-runner, Trump. Sever other major declared candidates appear together during a debate earlier tomorrow evening.
Ansa reports Italian Prime Premier Matteo Renzi saluted the opponents to his government’s ambitious programme after one of its flagship reforms, an overhaul of Italy’s civil service, won final approval in the Senate on Tuesday. The Bill passed with 145 yeas to 97 nays and no abstentions, although the opposition indirectly contributed to the victory. Renzi said on his Twitter account: “A hug to my ill-wisher friends”. Renzi calls ill-wishers (gufi or owls) those who want his government and its reformist agenda to fail, allegedly including some members of his own centre-left Democratic Party.
South China Morning Post says US Secretary of State John Kerry has called for countries negotiating a major Pacific Rim trade deal to overcome differences that have stalled its conclusion. Speaking in Singapore, Kerry said the so-called Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) would benefit the people of all nations involved and serve as a model for responsible global industry and commerce.
France 24 reports a Picasso worth at least €25 million was seized by French authorities on board of a yacht moored in Corsica, just before being sold to a Swiss buyer. Pablo Picasso’s “Head of a Young Woman” is considered to belong to Spain’s national heritage and therefore could not be exported.
BBC says the IAAF has dismissed as “sensationalist and confusing” allegations of mass doping that have rocked the world of athletics in the build-up to this month’s world championships in Beijing. In its first official reaction to the affair, world athletics’ governing body said it “strongly rejected” The Sunday Times allegations of hundreds of suspicious blood tests from athletes. It insisted it was taking every possible measure to combat doping.