The following are the top stories in the local and international press today.
The Times says that Attorney General Silvio Camilleri is expected to be sworn in as Chief Justice. In another story, it says that five of nine San Gwann councillors have asked the Local Councils Department to investigate the executive secretary
The Malta Independent says that the Sliema council is to take a vote of no confidence in mayor Nikki Dimech today. It says that the autumn hunting season has opened.
In l-Orizzont, a woman from Zejtun recounts the trauma she and her son went through when the shop where she was assistant was held-up. It reports on another government contract for Zaren Vassallo and Alex Tranter.
in-Nazzjon says that the liberalisation of the public transport has led to the growth of the tourism hop-on hop off sector. It says that prices of more medicines have been reduced. The newspaper says that the Maltese company 6pm has won an IT contract for the NHS in the UK.
The overseas press:
The Washington Times leads with President Barack Obama calling on the Israeli and Palestinian leaders “to walk the path of peace” when they begin a new round of direct talks later today. During a joint news conference at the White House, Mr Obama said they should remember the efforts of their predecessors to achieve reconciliation.
Fox News quotes Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying he had gone to Washington “to make peace and not arguments”. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said if the Israelis went back to the pre-1967 borders, an agreement was possible within a year. He warned, however, Israel must agree to a full freeze on settlement building.
In his first full TV interview since standing down as prime minister, Tony Blair has told the BBC that the war with Islamic extremists would be a “generation-long struggle”. Britain, he said, could soon be in the same position with Iran as it was with Iraq in 2003. He said there was not a single part of the Middle East that was not touched by exactly the same problem as in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Chile Post says the miners trapped underground in Chile have had their first hot meal in almost four weeks. Meatballs with rice were sent in small parcels 700 metres down to the miners. Meanwhile, experts from NASA have spent their first of three days simulating day-and-night conditions at the mine.
USA Today reports that the gunman who took three people hostage at the headquarters of Discovery Channel has died after being shot by police – four hours after he stormed into the building carrying explosives. All three hostages escaped unharmed. Reports say the gunman was known to police as someone with a grudge against the TV channel.
Börzen Zeitung says an inquiry by the International Monetary Fund suggests the financial markets had been to pessimistic about the possibility of countries like Greece and Portugal defaulting on their debts. A new IMF report said it was unlikely that any developed country would default on government debts. Even though the investments required are large, they had been done before.
Jeune Afrique reports malaria medication donated to African countries was being stolen and re-sold on the private market. It quotes a report saying American and British experts had bought samples of the medicine from pharmacies in 11 African citites and found around 20 should have gone to government clinics.
O Globo says the city of Dorados, in southern Brazil, has been left with a power vacuum after police arrested almost all its top officials – together with their wives – on suspicion of fraud. Prosecutors allege that the man at the top of the scheme, the mayor, took a 10-per-cent cut of all public contracts and used the money in his election campaigns. Lawyers said the situation was unprecedented.
Many of the British nationals carry the news about the resignation of William Hague's aide Christopher Myers as the Foreign Secretary fought off rumours of a gay affair with his young aide and revealed his wife Ffion had suffered several miscarriages. The Guardian says Mr Hague flatly denied rumours he had an affair with his 25-year-old aide and insisted their marriage was strong. The Daily Mail declares the Foreign Secretary's comments an "astonishing public defence of his marriage" after he admitted sharing a room with his adviser Chris Myers, who resigned yesterday.
The Los Angeles Times says the number of people living illegally in the United States has fallen in 20 years from more than 800,000 a year at the start of the decade to 300,000 over the last few years. A Hispanic centre comparison of census data found that illegal migration from Latin American countries, apart from Mexico, had dropped significantly. The total number of people living illegally in the US had fallen from a peak of 12 million in 2007 to 11.1 million last year.
Metro in London says an ambulance driver could lose his job and his licence after he was clocked at 112mph while delivering an organ for emergency surgery. A grey area in the law meant it was illegal for ambulances to speed if they were not carrying a patient. The president of the British Ambulance Association said the law was ‘nonsense’.