The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press. The local press is dominated by developments at a meeting of the PN Executive yesterday.
The Times says the PN has punished Debono, Pullicino Orlando and Mugliett. It also carries a story about how the power grid is feeling the heat, with a number of cables not keeping up with demand.
The Malta Independent reports how dissenting MPs have been banned from the PN election tickets. It also reports on the extension of the power station’s IPPC permit.
In-Nazzjon features the ban on the three MPs and the provisional PN election list. It also reports that the new Gasco plant will double Malta’s LPG storage capacity.
l-orizzont also leads with the ban on the three MPs. It also reports on the meeting yesterday between the GWU and the PL when a delegation from the latter handed in election proposals.
The overseas press
The Washington Post reports that the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Martin Dempsey, has met with his Russian counterpart, Nikolai Makarov, the country's first deputy defence minister, discussing missile defence and the Syria crisis, amid tensions between Washington and Moscow on the issue. The meeting between the officials and their delegations came as Russia rejected as "unacceptable" the text of a Western-backed UN Security Council resolution on Syria, announcing it would use its veto if the draft is brought to a vote. But, according to a statement from the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the talks at the Pentagon mainly focused on plans for a NATO-backed missile defence shield in Europe. Efforts to set up the ambitious project, essentially based on US technology, have angered Moscow which wants guarantees saying the system would not be aimed at or used against it at any time.
Syrian state-owned RTV has blamed a new massacre in the central Hama province, in which more than 200 people were killed, on "armed terrorist groups who want to incite the armed intervention of the UN”. The Hama Revolutionary Council had earlier said more than 220 people died in Traimseh from “bombardment by tanks and helicopters, artillery shelling and summary executions”.
Vanguard says more than 100 people who went to scoop up oil from an overturned tanker in Nigeria have been burned to death after the vehicle caught fire. About 50 people suffered severe burns. Hundreds of people crowded around as soldiers and emergency workers lifted bodies into ambulances and police trucks. The fuel tanker was a pile of smouldering ash, twisted metal and melting tyres.
Hague News reports the genocide trial of Ratko Mladic was broken off after the Bosnian Serb general complained he felt unwell and was taken to hospital for medical checks. Mladic, 70, has been indicted on 11 counts of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity for his role in the Balkans war. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges. If convicted he could face life in prison.
Le Monde says an avalanche swept over a group of European climbers in the French Alps on Thursday, killing nine people on the slopes of a peak dubbed the "Cursed Mountain". The nine people known to have died in the early Thursday avalanche on Mont Maudit ("Cursed Mountain" in French) were three Britons, three Germans, two Spaniards and a Swiss, said local police Colonel Bertrand Francois. Eleven other climbers were slightly injured and treated at a local hospital.
According to Japan Today, at least five people have been killed and five others were missing after 500 millimetres of rain fell in just eight hours in southern Japan. Some 50,000 residents were ordered to evacuate their houses for fear of landslides. The heavy rains have also caused blackouts and wreaked havoc on railway services and motor traffic.
Ariana TV reports that theTaliban has denied involvement in the recent public execution of a woman, captured in a horrific video that caused international outrage. Afghan authorities blamed the Taliban for killing the 22-year-old woman for adultery. But the Taliban said in a statement the woman was "killed by the decision of the local residents". President Hamid Karzai condemned the execution as un-Islamic and unforgivable. Security forces have launched a manhunt for those responsible
The Daily Mirror says Britain could be forced to deploy thousands of extra troops in London during the Olympics, after a last-minute security blunder dealt an embarrassing blow to the government just two weeks before the Games. The government was forced to answer questions in the House of Commons on the. About 23,700 security guards had been due to protect venues as part of Britain's biggest peacetime security operation, with 13,500 military personnel already earmarked to contribute. But on Wednesday, Britain put an extra 3,500 soldiers on standby after the world's biggest security firm G4S said it might not be able to supply the 10,400 security guards it had promised as part of a €360-million deal.
Italy has one of the worst records for tax evasion among OECD countries, according to the head of the country's Audit Court. Ansa says Luigi Giampaolino told a parliamentary commission hearing on Thursday that the current system was "greatly deficient". And as a result, Italy ranked behind countries such as Turkey and Mexico in an analysis of countries that have adopted VAT. According to the OECD, proceeds from financial fraud, tax fraud, and money laundering equal about 3.6 per cent of the world's gross domestic product.
O Globo quotes Brazilian police saying eight people have been shot dead in Sao Paulo during celebrations for a local football team. Men on motorbikes and in cars drove through the town of Osasco, opening fire in different locations on fans celebrating local team Palmeiras' victory in the Brazilian Cup final. Nine people were shot, eight of whom died. But police said in a statement the victims were not Palmeiras fans. The shootings occurred in districts known as drug markets.