The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas pess
Times of Malta reports about a farmer’s fears over slurry and food safety. It also says a judiciary reform bill is under scrutiny by the government and the attorney general.
The Malta Independent says 1,066 are awaiting social assistance.
In-Nazzjon quotes PN officials saying the PL should stop taking advantage of public property.
l-orizzont focuses on the declaration of assets of Simon Busuttil when he was an MP.
The overseas press
African and European leaders are focusing on the Central African Republic (CAR) crisis at a summit in Brussels. Le Soir says leaders from 70 African and European nations are attending the summit, which is taking place as the European Union officially launches a military operation in the Central African Republic.
VOA News reports US Secretary of State John Kerry has criticised Russia for increasing natural gas prices for Ukraine, saying energy should not be used as a political weapon.
His comments come at the same time as Voice of Russia reports President Putin signed an executive order scrapping a 2010 agreement with Ukraine which ensured a discounted gas price in exchange for the right to station the Black Sea fleet in Crimea. Ukraine could now see a further increase in the cost of Russian gas.
ABC says the search continues over a vast expanse of the Indian Ocean for any debris from a Malaysia Airlines jetliner which has been missing for more than three weeks. Each day becomes more critical because the missing plane’s black box, which might contain the key to understanding what happened, has an expected battery life of about 30 days.
The United States says the Middle East peace process has been threatened by “unilateral actions” by the Israelis and Palestinians. Fox News quotes a White House spokesman describing as “disappointing” Israel’s plans to build new settlements and the Palestinian decision to sign several international conventions.
According to The Los Angeles Times, four people are reportedly dead after a gunman opened fire at Fort Hood military base in Texas. One of the dead is believed to be the shooter who reportedly died from a self-inflicted wound. Initial reports suggested 14 were wounded.
El Tiempo reports tens of thousands of Chileans who fled to high ground after a powerful off-shore earthquake triggered Pacific tsunami warnings have begun returning to their homes, as authorities survey the damage. The 8.2-magnitude quake, which killed at least six people, struck about 100 kilometers off the country's sparsely populated northwest coast, triggering tsunami warnings as far away as Japan. The warnings were cancelled several hours later.
La Sicilia says two Italian Navy vessels have rescued 730 migrants off two dangerously overcrowded boats coming from North Africa. Among them were 124 women and 29 minors. The Navy ship San Giorgio took the migrants to the Sicilian coast town of Porto Empedocle. Meanwhile, the Italian Parliament on Wednesday passed a major penal reform bill into law which decriminalises undocumented immigration. The vote was 332 in favour, 104 against and 22 abstentions.
Ansa reports Italian police have arrested 24 Veneto separatists suspected of crimes that include criminal association for terrorism and subversion of the democratic order. An Italian prosecutor said that the separatists were planning an ''insurrection'' to obtain independence for the region around Venice. Twenty-two were jailed and two placed under house arrest.
The Irish Examiner says a Kildare farm labourer has been jailed for 12 years for raping and sexually abusing his daughter for almost a decade. A local detective revealed that the man abused his daughter from when she was three years old. On one occasion when the girl was aged about 12 years, the man tied her to a tree with calving rope and raped her. The detective explained that this rope tightens when it is pulled. The victim confided in her mother about the abuse when her parents’ relationship ended.