The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press.
The Times of Malta says the Accountancy Board is to investigate a ‘negligent’ audit firm after a ruling by a court in the Price Club case.
The Malta Independent says that according to the developers’ association, the citizenship scheme will have no impact on first-time buyers.
In-Nazzjon says business was quiet over Christmas, according to retailers, who are hoping for a pick-up during the sales period.
l-orizzont says that under the previous government, an architect was paid €200,000 for a parking complex in Sliema which never materialised.
The overseas press
The East African Standard says leaders from across east Africa are expected to meet in Nairobi later today to discuss the fighting between government forces and rebels in South Sudan.
The United States has said it is alarmed by recent sectarian violence in the Central African Republic where clashes in the capital Bongui have left dozens dead. Fox News quotes US Secretary of State John Kerry urging the authorities to move quickly to hold elections. The Red Cross says it has recovered more than 40 bodies from the streets at Bongui.
RIA Novosti says representatives from Russia, the United States, Syria and the United Nations are to meet in Moscow later today to discuss how to safely remove chemical weapons from Syria. The international chemical watchdog has set a deadline of the end of this month for themost dangerous chemicals to be removed from Syria.
Hurriyet quotes opposition activists in Turkey saying they would stage more demonstrations today over a corruption scandal at the heart of the Turkish government. Three Cabinet ministers resigned on Wednesday after their sons were arrested as part of an inquiry into allegations of bribery and illicit money transfer. A public prosecutor has said he was prevented from carrying out a full investigation.
The first of 30 people arrested during a Greenpeace protest against Arctic oil drilling has been allowed to leave Russia. Russian-born Swede Dima Litvinov told Sky News that Russia's action against Greenpeace protesters was “a complete over-reaction”. However, he said he was going home with a feeling that his group “had won something”.
The Egyptian Gazette says the country’s military-backed government has stepped up pressure on the Muslim Brotherhood a day after declaring it a terrorist group, using the new classification to detain dozens of its supporters, while one person died in street clashes ignited by political tension.
Fuji TV reports Okinawan officials have approved the long-stalled relocation of a controversial US military base – a breakthrough that looks set to remove a decades-long source of friction between Tokyo and Washington. Local bureaucrats signed a document that gives the greenlight to a landfill, paving the way for the construction of a new base on the coast.
According to O Globo, at least 44 people have died and more than 60,000 have been left homeless following torrential rain in southeast Brazil over the past few weeks. In Espirito Santo state, Civil Defense officials reported a total of 27 fatalities, in what they described as the worst rains in 90 years. They said 61,379 people were forced to leave their homes.
Thai Post reports at least 29 people were killed and four badly injured when a bus plunged into a deep ravine in northeast Thailand. The police, who suspect the bus driver fell asleep, said they found 28 bodies in the ravine, about 30 metres deep. The bus, which was carrying 40 passengers, was completely destroyed in the accident.
Rockets struck near Baghdad airport yesterday in what an exiled Iran opposition group said was an attack on their camp that left three dead and around 50 wounded. AFP quotes Nasser Bandar, the head of Iraq's civil aviation authority, saying three rockets hit near a military site in the airport area.
El Tiempo reports the Columbian military says it has killed at least 10 members of the left-wing rebel group FARC in an operation in the southeast of the country. Defence Minister Juan Carlos Pinzón Bueno said the attack was a significant blow to the group.
A Chinese icebreaker is approaching a scientific mission ship trapped off Antarctica, as those onboard welcomed the easing of blizzard conditions. The Sydney Morning Herald says the Australian Maritime Safety Authority, which is coordinating the rescue of the Russian passenger ship MV Akademik Shokalskiy, said the boat had experienced very strong winds and limited visibility. The ship, with 74 people on board, has been trapped in ice since Tuesday. Three boats with icebreaking capability have diverted to try to help free it, with the Chinese vessel Snow Dragon expected to reach the area late on Friday.