The following are the top stories in the local and international press today
The Times reports about the problem of illegal boathouses and says it seemed that those in St Thomas Bay, Marsascala were there to stay for the time being as an action plan which started over a year ago still in process. In another story, the newspaper says that a prisoner who is receiving half his pension is claiming blatant breach of human rights.
The Malta Independent reports that the SMS service which had to be launched by Arriva this month has been postponed. It says that company’s IT platform was still being tested. In another story, the newspaper says that two Maltese athletes have tested positive for doping and eight were still waiting for the result.
In-Nazzjon says that the IVF bill launched last week would be giving a definition of the embryo. It also reports on the Home Ownership Scheme which was giving more people the opportunity to become home owners.
l-Orizzont reports a statement by the Malta Developers Association claiming that Matese developers were suffering discrimination. In another story, it says that the Health Commissioner being appointed within the office of the Ombudsman today already had a case to investigate.
The international press
Turkish officials have warned they might intervene in Syria, saying they would not allow Syrian Kurdish rebels to use Turkish territory as a base while the Syrian government battles rebel forces across the country. Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told Press TV his government would not allow the formation of terrorist structure near its border. The Turkish military has sent at least four convoys of vehicles carrying troops and missile batteries to the border with Syria amid growing concern about security on its southern frontier.
CNN reports Syrian rebel fighters fought to control a key road to the Turkish border and turned captured tanks against a government air base north of Syria's largest city. The tanks were seized from an army outpost outside Aleppo, the scene of heavy fighting for more than a week. Fighting continued inside Aleppo as UN observers reported the use of helicopters, tanks and artillery in the city. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon expressed concern at the continued use of heavy weapons by Syrian government forces. At least 85 people were killed across Syria on Monday, including 25 in Aleppo, where the Syrian army has been battling rebels for the third consecutive day.
The BBC quotes a British Foreign Office spokesman saying Syria’s most senior diplomat in London – charge d'affaires Khaled al-Ayoubi – has defected, making him the latest top official to resign in protest against his country’s crackdown against the opposition. Turkish officials also reported on Monday that a dozen Syrian police officers, including the deputy chief for the western city of Latakia, had left their posts and fled to Turkey.
All India Radio says northern India has largely returned to normal after the country's worst power outage in 10 years. Hundreds of millions of people were left without electricity and hundreds of trains, including New Delhi’s massive Metro, were forced to a halt and hospitals shifted to generator power after the country’s northern grid crashed because it could no longer keep up with the huge demand for power in the hot summer. The failure was the first time since 2001 that the northern grid had collapsed. India’s demand for electricity has soared since then as its economy has grown sharply.
Radio Uganda reports that President Yoweri Museveni has urged people to avoid physical contact, after the deadly Ebola virus claimed one life in the capital, Kampala. He said in a broadcast 14 people had died since the outbreak began in western Uganda three weeks ago.
USA Today says a woman who stole a baby from a New York City hospital in 1987 and raised the child as her own has been sentenced to 12 years in prison. Ann Pettway, 51, was arrested last year after the victim, Carlina White, discovered she had been kidnapped. Pettway pleaded guilty in February to kidnapping the three-week-old from hospital.
Colorado Globe says James Holmes has been charged with 24 counts of murder and 116 counts of attempted murder after an attack at a Colorado cinema. Twelve people were killed, and 58 people were wounded or injured in the attack. Holmes has also been charged with one count of possession of explosives after he booby-trapped his apartment. He was arrested shortly after the rampage during a midnight showing of the new Batman movie, 'The Dark Knight Rises'. Legal analysts expect his case to be dominated by arguments over his sanity.
John Leonard, a leading US coach and executive director of the World Swimming Coaches Association, on Monday came close to accusing a Chinese swimmer of cheating. He was reacting in comments to London’s The Guardian to the triumph by 16-year-old Ye Shiwen in the 400-metre individual medley last Saturday, when she not only smashed the world record but also swam the final leg faster than the men’s champion, Ryan Lochte. Leonard compared the performance with those produced by East German swimmers in the years before 1990, which were later revealed to have been hugely drug-induced.
The Financial Times says Ye stuck to the party line when questioned: “The Chinese team keep very firmly to the anti-doping policies.” But her main response came in the pool a few hours later when she followed up by breaking the Olympic record in a storming victory in the semi-final of the 200m medley. Last night China comfortably led the medals table with nine golds to five for the US, their nearest rivals. Four of the wins came in the pool.