The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press.
The Times of Malta leads with yesterday’s tragedy off Lampedusa, with over 300 migrants now feared dead. It also reports that a duty manager has been suspended in the wake of the Gozo ferry recall incident.
The Malta Independent says there could be potentially disastrous effects if beams light up cockpits.
In-Nazzjon says the PN is not prepared to let the government gag it.
l-orizzont quotes Tony Zarb saying the PN has to prove it wants to work with the GWU.
The overseas press
According to Ansa, one of Italy's biggest migrant disasters of the last 20 years left at least 300 dead including dozens of women and children who left Africa for a better life in Italy only for their boat to sink off Lampedusa. According to Fortress Europe, an organisation that tallies migrant deaths, more than 6,200 asylum seekers have died in the Sicilian Channel in the last 10 years. In the first nine months of this year, 21,870 irregular immigrants arrived in Italy by sea this year, including 2,710 women and 4,050 children – 2,914 of them unaccompanied.
Expresso reports Portugal’s government has said it has passed the latest review by international officials of its progress in implementing the country’s eurozone bailout. The troika of institutions overseeing the bailout – the International Monetary Fund, the European Commission and the European Central Bank – should release another $5.6 billion in loan guarantees within weeks. However, it says that it had been unable to convince the experts to ease the target for next year’s budget deficit of 4.5 per cent of GDP and further deep cuts in public spending would be necessary.
Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi says that he is convinced the European Court of Human Rights would annul his definitive tax fraud conviction. Corriere della Sera reports he is making a last-ditch effort to save his Senate seat by urging the European court to dismiss his tax-fraud conviction which was upheld in August by Italy's highest court. An Italian Senate panel will today continue examining whether to remove the centre-right leader from the Upper House.
CNN says police have shot dead a woman who rammed a security barricade near the White House, leading to a car chase through the streets of Washington. They opened fire on her vehicle as the woman sped away heading to Capitol Hill. A one-year-old child was rescued from the car and taken to hospital. Police discount terrorism.
Fox News reports politicians in Washington continued their stand-off over the budget. The US Treasury Department and the head of the International Monetary Fund have warned that the American and global economies would be critically damaged unless they resolve the situation.
O Globo says prosecutors in Argentina have asked for a six-year prison term for the former president, Fernando de la Rua, who has been accused of bribing senators to vote in favour of a controversial labour Bill in 2000. Five former opposition senators and government officials are facing prison sentences of up to six years over the scandal.
L’Osservatore Romano says Pope Francis travels to Assisi today on a pilgrimage to pray at the shrine of St Francis – the 13th century saint and the patron saint of Italy. The pope choose the saint’s name earlier this year because he would like to see today’s Catholic Church follow the example of the medieval saint and become a Church of the poor.
According to Metro, Amnesty International has warned that militants in northern Nigeria are directly targeting schoolchildren and teachers – with thousands killed and thousands forced out of the schools in recent years. In a new report, Amnesty said the new attacks were becoming increasing brutal.
Gulf News reports four men in Saudi Arabia have been sentenced to more than 4,000 lashes and over 20 years in jail for breaking the country’s strict moral code. The four filmed themselves dancing naked on top of a car and posted the video on line.
L’Equipe says FIFA meets later today to decide whether to move the 2022 World Cup in Qatar to the winter. The re-scheduling has been suggested because of the extreme heat in the country during the summer but there are concerns about disruptions to domestic competitions.