The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press.
Times of Malta reports how the Police Commissioner resigned yesterday and will be taking up an administrative role as security coordinator. It also reports how an exploratory oil well south of Malta has been abandoned.
l-orizzont laments the death of a man who lived all his life in a cave near Ghajn Tuffieha.
The Malta Independent leads with the prime minister's announcement of a groundbreaking memorandum of understanding to strengthen economic links with China.
In-Nazzjon says the Police Commissioner was removed yesterday.
The overseas press
The Malta IndependentAirport security is being increased at European airports after the United States called for heightened precautions amid reports two terror networks are working together on a bomb that could evade existing measures. The Irish Independent says the extra security measures have not been disclosed, and are not expected to cause “significant disruption” to passengers. It is believed the extra measures could include extra screening of footwear and electronics, and additional bomb-detection devices.
Il Tempo says Italian President Giorgio Napolitano has told a European Commission delegation that the goal of fostering growth in the EU, after years of austerity, was “now imperious”. Speaking at a ceremony marking the start of Rome’s duty presidency of the EU, Napolitano praised Premier Matteo Renzi’s “passionate” speech to the EU urging growth and reiterated a call for more help in handling a migrant emergency in the Mediterranean. EU Home Affairs Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom said Italy was “not alone” in its Mare Nostrum Mediterranean search-and-rescue operation which had saved thousands of lives.
The Jerusalem Post says Israel has deployed additional forces to its southern border with the Gaza Strip, vowing to halt a growing wave of rocket fire from the Palestinian territory. The military said more than 40 rockets or mortar shells were fired from Hamas-controlled Gaza on Thursday alone. There were no casualties or damage. Meanwhile, new clashes erupted in east Jerusalem in response to the death of an Arab boy who Palestinians say was killed by Israeli extremists. His funeral is expected to take place later today.
El Watan says Islam Slimani, a forward on the Algerian soccer team, has expressed the decision of the national team to donate to Gaza children the bonuses earned at the World Cup in Brazil. “They need the money more than us”, read his post on Facebook. The Algerian players were received as triumphant heroes upon their arrival in Algiers, after forcing Germany to play extra time during a second round match.
O Globo reports an overpass under construction collapsed in a World Cup host city, killing at least two people and trapping a commuter bus, two construction trucks and a car. Brazilian authorities said 22 people were reported injured. The incident took place on a main avenue in Belo Horizonte, the expansion of which is one of the infrastructure improvement projects planned for the World Cup, but like most urban transportation projects related to the tournament was not finished on time for the event.
Al Ahram says a bomb blast which killed nine people on a train in Alexandria and clashes between protesters and security forces rocked Egypt yesterday, as police quashed demonstrations marking the anniversary of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi’s ouster. One person was killed by gunshot during clashes in a Cairo district as pro-Morsi supporters fought with police, while a policeman was killed also by gunshot when his checkpoint was set on fire by protesters. Three other policemen suffered burn injuries when the checkpoint was torched.
Exorcists now have a legal weapon at their disposal after the Vatican formally recognised a group of 250 priests in 30 countries who liberate the faithful from demons. L’Osservatore Romano quotes Francesco Bamonte, the head of the association, saying the recognition was “a cause for joy for the whole Church,” because “exorcism is a form of charity that benefits those who suffer”
The Guardian reports British pharmaceutical company GlasxoSMithKlein or GSK is facing more allegations of corruption in its dealing with health workers in China. A series of leaked e-mails alleges that the company’s sales force in China systematically bribed doctors and hospital officials to but GSK products. The company said it had not found evidence to substantiate the claim.
A group of artists in Kazakhstan has come up with a novel way of highlighting potholes on the streets of the country’s former capital, Almaty. Tengrinews says the Guerrilla creative house has placed fake legs sticking out of 10 holes around the city, giving the impression someone has fallen in head-first. The aim is to alert pedestrians and also lets drivers see the hole from a distance, the artists told the site.
Times of India quotes figures by the National Crime Records Bureau which show that 93 women are raped every day in India, with a total of 33,707 in 2013. Figures indicate an increase in violence compared to 2012, when 24,923 women were raped. According to these statistics, the most dangerous city is New Delhi (1,441 cases), followed by Mumbai (391), Jaipur (192) and Pune (171).
Police in the Indian state of Bihar are reported to have married off two couples caught having trysts in a hotel under assumed names. The police told The Hindustan Times they went to the hotel in search of a runaway couple and instead found the two couples registered as married under false names. They said they “convinced the lovers that the only way to escape the stigma attached to being caught in such a manner was to get married”. The twin weddings took place at the Kupeshwarnath Annapurna Temple opposite the police station. The paper did not record the reaction of the couples or their families.