The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press.
Times of Malta gives details about stocks worth thousands of euros claimed by Libyan companies set up by accountant Joe Sammut. The former Labour Party treasurer and election candidate is being investigated by the police over
allegations that he helped Libyan nationals obtain residency permits by creating fictitious companies.
l-orizzont says the PN is against a national development bank, despite having proposed one.
The Malta Independent reports how an 11-year-old girl drowned in an Austrian lake.
In-Nazzjon says the CEO of Mater Dei is abroad while the situation in the hospital deteriorates.
The overseas press
Britain’s ambassador to Libya has given the first hint that western air strikes may be unleashed against Islamic State bases around Sirte, saying bombing could be part of a “global plan” to stop the terror group. After horrific images of IS executions in Sirte as it tightened its grip on the city, ambassador Peter Millett told Radio France International that western bombing was now on the table to combat IS, saying “we need to put together an overall plan for dealing with it, which no doubt could involve air strikes”.
Thailand’s military leaders think a deadly bomb blast that ripped through central Bangkok was an attempt to “destroy the economy”. Deputy Premier and Defense Minister Prawit Wongsuwan told Reuters the perpetrators intended to destroy the economy and tourism, because the incident occurred in the heart of the tourism district.
Thai TV said at least 27 people, including four foreigners, were killed and more than a 120 were wounded after the bomb was detonated outside a popular religious shrine during the evening rush hour. The official police toll was 16 dead with over 80 hurt. Quoting police sources, The Nation reported a five-kg TNT bomb went off under a bench outside the Erawan shrine.
The New York Times reports the UN Security Council has backed a push for Syrian peace talks as the death toll in government air strikes on a rebel-held town outside Damascus neared 100, sparking global outrage. The unanimously-approved Security Council statement, the first of its kind in two years, was described as “historic” by Alexis Lamek, France’s Deputy Ambassador to the United Nations.
La Sicilia says more than 300 survivors of the latest Mediterranean migrants boat tragedy have arrived in Sicily aboard a Norwegian ship also carrying the bodies of 49 people who died from asphyxia after being overcome by fuel fumes in the hold.
Haaretz reports Israel has said it was not engaged in talks with Hamas following a flurry of media reports suggesting the two sides were discussing a long-term ceasefire. The office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement, “Israel is not holding any meetings with Hamas, neither directly, nor via other countries or intermediaries”.
The Mail & Guarduian says South African prosecutors have filed an appeal calling for Paralympian star Oscar Pistorius to be convicted of murder for killing his girlfriend, just days before he is due to be released from prison. Pistorius has spent less than a year behind bars since being convicted in a sensational trial on the lesser charge of culpable homicide, and is expected to leave jail on Friday for a form of house arrest.
Berliner Zeitung says German Chancellor Angela Merkel sees her CDU party as being led by more women and younger politicians. A document titled “My CDU in 2017”, to be approved at the CDU Congress in December, raises the desire for renewal of a political force in Germany, thanks to the Chancellor enjoying years of impregnable consensus, which swayed the polls, on a federal basis, between 40 and 42 per cent.
CNN reports the Obama administration has granted Royal Dutch Shell the final permit to drill for oil and gas in the Arctic for the first time since 2012. Environmentalists have vowed to fight the move.
Students at Canada’s Kwantlen Polytechnic University can now sign up for a class with high stakes: the school in British Columbia is offering a course called “Introduction to Professional Management of Marijuana for Medical Purposes”. The class will take place online over 14 weeks, CBC reports. Since the legality of marijuana is being fought out in the courts in Canada (currently it is only approved for medicinal use, and regulations vary by region), the course will focus on educating students about following the rules to grow a legitimate business. Only 25 growing facilities are currently federally licensed in the country.
ABC News announces the death of America’s oldest veteran Emma Didlake. She was 110 years old. President Obama said she had served the country “with distinguished honour, a true pioneer for generations of Americans who have sacrificed so much for the country”.