The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press.
The Times of Malta and l-orizzont lead with the details given yesterday on the energy tariff cuts and the announcement that prices will be fixed till 2020.
The Malta Independent leads with Alfred Sant’s welcome of the Budget.
In-Nazzjon says that Joseph Muscat has not replied on whether he will stop a blacklisted Chinese company from conducting a study on the possible Malta-Gozo bridge.
The overseas press
There has been an immediate reaction in Israel to the findings of a Swiss forensic team that concluded Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat was poisoned, after finding traces of polonium in samples of his remains. The Jerusalem Post reports Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor dismissed findings, describing them “more soap opera than science”.
Al Ayyam quotes US secretary of State John Kerry saying Israeli settlements in the occupied territories were “illegitimate” and not helpful to ongoing efforts for peace between Palestine and Israel. His comments came after he met Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Bethlehem.
Ansa reports former Italian Prime Minster Silvio Berlusconi defended himself for telling journalist Bruno Vespa in an interview his children told him they felt like the Jews must have in Hitler's Germany because of the alleged judicial persecution against him. He said he was quoted out of context and his actions in office to help the State of Israel, did not leave any doubt regarding my respect for the Jewish people”. Among the first to lambast the ex-premier were prominent members of Italy's Jewish community.
Al Ahram says Cairo judges have dismissed an appeal by the Muslim Brotherhood against a September ruling outlawing their movement. With most of the Islamist movement's leaders jailed after President Mohamed Morsi's ousting, observers said the Muslim Brotherhood's chances of winning another appeal were slim.
A terror group linked to Al Qaeda has taken responsibility for the murder of two French journalists in northern Mali, the Mauritanian website, Sahara Medias, has reported. The website's director, Abdallah Mohamedi, said the claim came in a letter sent by fighters loyal to regional commander Abdelkrim al-Targui.
Il Mattino quotes the archbishop of Naples, Crescenzio Sepe, saying polluters may not receive holy communion as they do not enjoy God's “grace”. “Those who pollute are not in the grace of God and can not take communion,”Sepe told journalists.
A 20 per cent tax on sugary soft drinks could cut the prevalence of obesity by 15 percent in the UK, according to a study published in the British Medical Journal. Researchers used a mathematical model to process data on how consumption of soft drinks affects the burning of energy and how this impacts upon the prevalence of obesity.
Huffington Post reports that Moscow, where drivers spend 174 hours a year stuck in traffic jams, tops the European list of the TomTom Traffic Index survey with 65 per cent urban traffic congestion. Istanbul is second with 57% congestion and 118 hours a year, and Warsaw is third at 44% and 110 hours a year. Palermo commuters spend 90 hours a year in traffic jams, the index revealed.
The freedom of hens and the happiness of pigs were the “most foolish bureaucratic whims” possible until EU officials undertook flushing cisterns and plastic bags, according to the author of an acrimonious commentary in Bulgaria’s Standart. Until a few days ago, EU member states were “pleased” with specific instructions on how much litres of water a flushing cistern is supposed to contain and what the exact size of plastic bags must be, right following the previous clear instructions on vacuum-cleaners. At the same time, no such directive exists when it comes to raising children, the Standart concludes.