The following are the top stories in the national and international press today.
Times of Malta says around 150 migrants are feared dead after a boat capsized off Libya yesterday afternoon, highlighting the major risk of boat crossings in the Mediterranean despite scaled-up rescue attempts. In another story it says a retired high-ranking army officer was awarded a promotion backdated by 23 years, giving him the right to claim thousands in arrears.
In-Nazzjon says that a week after the publication of Judge Michael Mallia’s inquiy report, not only had the Prime Minister not taken action, he also ordered that steps should not be taken against the Zammit family.
L-Orizzont says PN deputy leader Beppe Fenech Adami insisted with the paper yesterday that he had no agreements with Mark Gaffarena and did not know him well.
The Malta Independent says Air Malta has hit back at reports saying that temporary cabin crew were going to be axed.
International news
People across Japan have observed a minute’s silence to mark the 70th anniversary of the US nuclear attack on Hiroshima. Fuji TV reports that in the city itself, a bell tolled at 8.15am local time (1.15am today) when on August 6, 1945, a US aircraft dropped the bomb that incinerated the city centre. It was the first atomic bomb attack in history and 70,000 were killed instantly while a similar number died later from radiation poisoning. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe made a new plea for global nuclear disarmament.
Avvenire says Pope Francis has said Catholics who remarry after divorce are not excommunicated from the Church and should not be treated as such. In his first general audience after taking a summer break from the weekly gatherings in July, the pontiff told about 7,000 people inside the Vatican’s Paul VI Hall, “They are always part of the Church.” The issue is at the centre of an extraordinarily public debate among cardinals from around the world who will gather this October at the Vatican for a synod on the family.
Al Ahram reports Arab League foreign ministers, meeting alongside Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas have agreed to call on the UN to protect the Palestinians from “terrorist crimes” by Israeli settlers. The announcement by 15 ministers meeting in Cairo comes after Friday’s death of an 18-month-old Palestinian boy who was burned alive in an arson attack blamed on Jewish extremists.
Some 200 people are still missing after a boat carrying more than 700 people capsized off the Libyan coast. So far around 400 people have been pulled to safety, but as darkness swallowed the scene of the crisis, most of those who remained missing were feared drowned. Irish Minister Simon Coveney, speaking on RTE’s Nine News, said that although the “LE Niamh” was first to the scene of the accident, the boat – carrying approximately 700 people but built to carry only 50 – sank in seconds.
EU governments have a duty to help the flood of migrants arriving in Europe and not cave in to “populist” demands to turn them back, European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker said in an interview with AFP. He said he was disappointed that EU ministers had failed to agree on how to distribute a total of 40,000 mostly Syrian and Eritrean migrants from overstretched Italy and Greece. They agreed to start relocating a little over 32,000 of the arrivals among the EU’s 28 members in October, falling around 8,000 short of the target agreed by EU leaders at a summit in June.
Fox News reports President Barack Obama assailed critics of his Iran nuclear deal as “selling a fantasy” to the American people, warning Congress that blocking the accord would damage the nation’s credibility and increase the likelihood of more war in the Middle East. Besides challenging opponents at home, Obama cast Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as an isolated international opponent of the historic accord, saying, “I do not doubt his sincerity, but I believe he is wrong.”
A piece of a wing found washed up on Reunion Island last week is from Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 that vanished last year. New Straits Times quotes Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak saying in Kuala Lumpur he hoped the news would end the “unspeakable” uncertainty of the passengers’ families.
Tea sales in Britain have dropped 22 per cent between 2010 and 2015, representing an overall decrease of 21 million kilos sold. The Daily Mail reports a study shows the trend is set to continue, with an estimated decline of another 7.3 million kilos sold by 2020. Consumers are increasingly turning to coffee and herbal infusions in place of tea, the report said.
Los Angeles Times says the Superior Court will convened on October 9 to hear testimony about suspected sexual assault, allegedly committed by Afro-American comedian Bill Cosby on Judith Huth, then 15 years old, in 1974 at the Playboy Mansion. Cosby, famous for the comedy series “The Robinsons” is accused of raping dozens of women over the years.
Wild sex on the beach can be dangerous: ottopagine.it reports a 23-year-old from Avellino, after a long night of passion, risked amputation of his penis. However, he is now out of danger, after surgery. The boy had an erection that lasted almost 48 hours and violent sex caused a fracture of a membrane of the penis, causing an abundant bleeding.