The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press.

Times of Malta reports that Mepa has given the green light for a new, six storey Emergency Department block at Mater Dei Hospital.

The Times of Malta, the Malta Independent and l-orizzont report how a priest facing abuse charges was stopped from administering sacraments. He had been previously warned by the Dominican Order.  

In-Nazzjon leads with yesterday’s press conference by the Nationalist Party, where questions were asked on Gasol’s financial ability to go ahead with the power station project.

The overseas press

RIA Novosti announces Moscow and Kiev have agreed to a deal that would guarantee Russian gas exports flow into Ukraine throughout the winter despite their intense rivalry over the fighting in eastern Ukraine. The price the Ukrainian government would pay would fall in line with global oil prices, which have tumbled in recent weeks. Ukraine has confirmed its readiness to pay off its debt of €1.132 billion to Russia immediately.

Metro says Amnesty International has denounced human right abuses and war crimes on civilians perpetrated by lawless militias and armed groups in western Libya. In a statement, the organization said the groups abducted large numbers of civilians and held them hostage for up to two months on account of their ethnic origin or political beliefs. The militias even went door to door seizing people from their homes.

Al Jazeera reports a UN official has warned that Israel’s plans for further settlements in East Jerusalem could ignite more violence and threaten the viability of the future Palestinian state. Speaking at a UN Security Council emergency session, UN political chief Jeffrey Feltman called on Israel “to rescind” its plan to build 1,000 new homes, which he said was in violation of the international law, and contrary to the two-state solution.

AFP says Israel has decided to reopen Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa mosque compound hours after ordering its closure and following Arab and US calls for Muslim worshippers to be allowed in. Tensions flared in Jerusalem after Israeli forces killed a Palestinian suspected of shooting a far-right rabbi who led a campaign for Jews to be allowed to pray at the Temple Mount compound, Jerusalem’s most sensitive site and holy to Islam and Judaism.

The Daily Telegraph reports the former Archbishop of York, Lord Hope of Thornes, has resigned from formal ministry in the Church of England after almost 50 years after being fiercely criticised by an official report into a clerical child abuse scandal. It follows the publication last week of a report into his handling of allegations against Robert Waddington, the former Dean of Manchester, who abused choirboys and school pupils in York, Manchester, London, Carlisle and Australia, over five decades.

The Washington Post says an American nurse who recently returned from treating Ebola patients has taken a bike ride despite a state order to stay at home in quarantine. Kaci Hickox and her boyfriend rode their bicycles away from their house in the north-eastern state of Maine as media watched on. Two police cars followed them as they rode away but didn’t try to stop them. Hickox insists she is perfectly healthy,

Al Ayyam reports Iraqi Peshmerga fighters prepare to cross into the Syrian town of Kobani later today – a journey that would take them from Turkey with the aim of helping fellow Kurds break a siege by Islamic State militants. Another group of Iraqi Kurds with further artillery weapons were also en route to the area. Meanwhile, Lebanon’s national news agency NNA announces 18 suspected members of the Islamic State jihadist group have been indicted on charges of aiming to set up an “emirate” in the north. They face the death penalty. Fifteen of the accused are on the run.

Apple CEO Tim Cook has written in Bloomberg that he is gay – and proud of it! The head of the tech giant said his sexuality had never been a secret at his company, but acknowledging his homosexuality as a public statement about equality was “more important” than his privacy.

France 24 reports a small town in southern France has banned people from wearing clown costumes in the street, especially on Halloween. The decision follows a series of incidents around France in which people dressed as scary clowns spooked children and in several cases assaulted people. In one incident, an adolescent assaulted a passer-by with an iron bar.

Billboard says the family of Marvin Gaye has won a round in a court battle over allegations that last year’s blockbuster hit song “Blurred Lines” ripped off the late Motown legend’s work. A US federal judge has denied a motion by singer Robin Thicke and songwriter Pharrell Williams who wanted a court to reject the plagiarism accusations made by Gaye’s children. The Gaye estate says that “Blurred Lines” copied elements of the singer’s 1976 track “Got to Give It Up.”

USA Today reports police in central Alabama say a man’s own dog helped officers bust him on a drug charge. The pooch, named Bo, followed his fleeing master, who was being pursued by officers. When the dog stopped and wagged his tail in tall grass, officers found and arrested Edwin Henderson. So much for the saying that a dog is a man’s best friend!

 

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.