The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press:
The Times leads with how the PN yesterday cleared Richard Cachia Caruana. It also quotes the head of the Detention Service saying officers were not trained to kick.
The Malta Independent also reports how the PN executive unanimously cleared Cachia Caruana. Meanwhile, Labour leader Joseph Muscat said at a meeting with the Chamber of Commerce that a Labour government would give business the space to operate.
MaltaToday asks what happens after the PN Executive decision.
l-orizzont quotes Dr Gonzi saying that the PN would govern to the end.
In-Nazzjon reports that Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando told Gordon Pisani, the government’s communications chief, that he was feeling ill, after he learnt that Alfred Sant had a copy of his Mistra contract.
The overseas press
Mahmoud Jibril’s National Forces Alliance has swept aside its competitors in Libya’s first national elections in almost five decades, having received almost as many votes as all other 130 parties combined. The Libya Herald says the NFA took 39 of the 80 seats available to political parties in the country’s 200-seat National Congress – more than double the 17 seats won by its nearest rival, the Muslim Brotherhood’s Justice & Construction Party. The result represents a significant break with recent trends in post-Arab Spring North Africa, where Muslim Brotherhood-backed parties have taken power in Egypt and Tunisia.
Catholic priests in Victoria, Australia, could be ordered to report crimes revealed to them in private confessions. ABC reports the suggestion was part of a number of new radical proposals to be considered by a Victorian parliamentary inquiry into the handling of child abuse by religious groups. But Jesuit and human rights lawyer Fr Frank Brennan said priests could never reveal secrets of the confessional, and he would rather go to jail than violate the trust of those who go to confession. He said while priests in general should pass on abuse allegations, this did not apply to anything revealed during a confession.
A third of the world's adults are physically inactive, and the couch potato lifestyle kills about five million people every year. Experts writing in the medical journal The Lancet say three of every 10 individuals aged 15 years or older – about 1.5 billion people – do not reach present physical activity recommendations. The picture for adolescents is even more worrying, with four out of five 13 to 15-year-olds not moving enough.
A second study, also appearing in The Lancet, compares physical activity levels with population statistics on diseases like diabetes, heart problems and cancer. It resulted that lack of exercise claimed more than 5.3 million of the 57 million deaths worldwide in 2008. It said inactivity was a risk factor comparable to smoking or obesity. The Lancet series called for global efforts to promote physical exercise by improving pedestrian and cyclist safety on city roads, more physical education at school or promoting access to free public exercise spaces.
Police in Chile have arrested two former military officials on charges on torturing to death the father of the former president, Michelle Bachelet. El Universal says the charges come a month after n a forensic report suggested General Alberto Bachelet’s death in 1974 was the result of torture. Gen Bachelet was loyal to President Salvador Allende, who was deposed in a military coup in 1973.
The FBI is investigating the discovery of sewing needles in food on four flights bound for the United States. USA Today quotes Delta airline’s Chris Kelly saying six needles were found in sandwiches made by the airline's caterer in Amsterdam. A passenger who discovered a “one inch long, straight needle” in his food has been put on antiretroviral drugs used for the treatment of HIV.
Police in Italy have arrested the head of one of the world’s biggest buffalo mozzarella producers on suspicion of links to organised crime. Il Mattino says Giuseppe Mandara and his Mandara Group were accused of being controlled by the Casalesi clan of the Camorra mafia, based around the city of Naples. The Mandara Group is a major global exporter of buffalo mozzarella and is sold by large chains in Europe, Japan and the United States. Police also seized assets worth €100 million.
Fox News reports that the Boy Scouts of America, which is one of the largest youth organisations in the US, has reaffirmed its policy of excluding gay scouts and leaders, following a secret ballot two years ago. The group said a panel of 11 executives and volunteers had reached the decision unanimously and had the backing of the vast majority of parents.
Turkish fire-fighters have managed to extinguish a large fire that broke out in a 42-storey tower block in central Istanbul and sent thick smoke billowing over the city. Images on Turkish television Kanal D showed debris falling from the upper floors of the building, which is made up of residential apartments and offices, as fire crews fought the blaze. The fire started in the air conditioning units at the base of the tower.
California Chronicle says a three-month-old kitten is recovering in California after surviving a journey across the Pacific in a shipping container from China without food or water. The cat has been named Ni Hao, or Hello in Mandarin, after being found when the container was opened last week, following the two-week, 10,450-kilometre trip from Shanghai. It was not immediately clear how the kitten got into the container. Officials are now seeking a local cat-lover to adopt him.