The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press.
The Times says the political parties ‘fired the first shots’ of the electoral campaign yesterday.
The Malta Independent features stories from the two electoral campaigns. Joseph Muscat is quoted calling for unity for change, while Dr Gonzi said: ‘I race to win.’
l-orizzont says hospital authorities are holding a departmental inquiry into the death of a 17-year-old in hospital. It also quotes Joseph Muscat calling on supporters to be protagonists not spectators. It also says that during his visit to Playmobil yesterday, the prime minister was told that power tariffs were among the highest.
In-Nazzjon quotes the prime minister saying the PN was offering a choice for a secure future.
The overseas press
Air pollution causes nearly half a million premature deaths in Europe each year, with high economic costs, hospital admissions, lost working days and damage to ecosystems. Les Echo reports the European Environment Bureau has called for EU air policies to be tightened up to protect health and the environment. A new Eurobarometer poll shows air pollution remains a key concern for EU citizens: 72 per cent believe authorities are not doing enough to promote good air quality while 87 per cent think that respiratory diseases – associated with air pollution – are a serious problem. Current EU air quality standards are significantly weaker than those recommended by the World Health Organisation.
The Washington Times says President Barack Obama has nominated Chuck Hagel as Defence Secretary and counter-terrorism adviser John Brennan as head of the CIA – opening a new front in his bitter fight with Republicans in Congress. Republicans accuse of opposing measures to stop Iran obtaining a nuclear capability and of offering less than rock-solid support for Israel. The appointment of Brennan to replace disgraced General David Petraeus as head of the CIA has also been criticised because of his involvement with the Bush administration’s backing for harsh interrogation techniques that many have described as torture. Brennan denies he supported their use.
Ansa reports that former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and Northern League leader Roberto Maroni have confirmed they had concluded an electoral pact in the run-up to next month’s general election. In order to bring his long-time political ally back on board, however, Berlusconi has had to agree he will not be the centre-right’s candidate for prime minister. The most recent opinion polls see the centre-left Democratic Party out in front with 40 per cent of votes, as opposed to 25 per cent for the centre-right and 12 per cent for the centre-ground “Civic List” of outgoing Prime Minister Mario Monti.
The Belfast Telegraph quotes police in Northern Ireland saying that pro-British loyalists were “clearly” responsible for ongoing and violent riots in Belfast, which have seen 70 people arrested. Around a thousand loyalist protesters picketed Belfast City Hall last night over its controversial decision to limit the flying of the flag on the roof. While the protest at City Hall passed off without incident, trouble flared again in the east of the city – the fifth night in succession – when the police were attacked by rioters throwing heavy masonry. Police fired baton rounds and deployed water cannon on rioters.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to erect a new barrier on the country’s border with Syria in a bid to prevent jihadists fighting against Bashar al-Assad’s regime from entering Israel. He told a cabinet meeting the frontier with Syria should be fortified with a structure similar to the ultra-modern barrier being completed along the border with Egypt in the Sinai peninsula, which includes cameras, radars and motion detectors.Israeli defence officials told the AFP news agency that 10 kilometres out of the planned 70-kilometre barrier had already been erected on the Golan Heights, which Israel captured from Syria during the Six Day War in 1967.
El Universal says the leaders of the Roman Catholic Church in Venezuela have issued a veiled warning about any attempts to circumvent constitution by delaying cancer-stricken Hugo Chavez's inauguration for a new term as president. Venezuela's episcopal conference said at stake was the good of the country and the defence of ethics and to alter the constitution to attain a political objective was “morally unacceptable”.
Times of India says five men accused of the rape and murder of a 23-year-old Indian physiotherapy student in New Delhi last month have appeared in a city court to hear charges against them amid chaotic scenes – following a row between reporters and a television crew – that forced the hearing to retreat behind closed doors. The accused could face the death penalty if convicted of raping the woman after she boarded their bus on December 16 along with a male friend. She was raped and brutalised and the two were thrown naked from the moving bus. Meanwhile, four policemen have been suspended and a fifth transferred in Delhi’s suburb of Noida for mishandling a similar case involving the rape and murder of a 21-year-old woman.
Gulf Daily News reports Bahrain’s highest court has rejected an appeal by 13 opposition activists who were convicted of involvement in the Arab Spring protests in 2011. Eight of 20 defendants were given life while the other 12 received sentences ranging from five to 15 years, with seven convicted in absentia. The activists have claimed they faced abuses while in custody. They were denied access to legal counsel and say they were coerced into confessing.
South Wales Echo reports a woman who beat her seven-year-old son to death for failing to learn parts of the Koran by heart and then burned his body to destroy the evidence has been jailed for life. Sara Ege, 33, collapsed as the sentence was delivered at Cardiff Crown Court and had to be helped, trembling and sobbing, from the dock. The judge accepted she had suffered prolonged bouts of depression but said that the boy was subjected to prolonged cruelty.