The following are the top stories in the national and international press today.
Times of Malta says Saint Elias College, a secondary school run by the Carmelite Friars in Santa Venera, had to shut down for two days at the end of last month due to pesticide contamination that wafted through the entire neighbourhood. In another story it says the Church’s Response Team that investigates claims of sex abuse will be overhauled by the end of the month.
L-Orizzont says companies and businesses selling packed products will have to start paying eco-contribution after GreenMT, which recovered packaging on their behalf, failed to collect the minimum 70 per cent required for the exemption.
In-Nazzjon says the Malta Police Association is giving the government 15 days to revoke its controversial decision on performance bonuses for the highest positions in the police force before taking the necessary action.
The Malta Independent says one of the victims who was allegedly sexually abused by Dominican priest Charles Fenech saw a psychologist for about a year but was never asked to pay for the services rendered. She is claiming she was told the Dominican Province will deal with the costs.
Malta Today quotes Dragonara Gaming saying that the casino adjudication process was designed in a way to ensure that rival bidders Eden Leisure get the concession.
International news
The European Court of Justice has said EU-member states can deny certain payments to unemployed EU citizens who move to that country just to claim benefits. Deutsche Welle reports the court decreed Germany was right to deny an unemployed Romanian woman a particular allowance because she showed no sign of seeking work. The ruling only relates to non-contributory benefits, where the claimant does not make a contribution through the tax system.
Fox News quotes the White House confirming Barack Obama and Vladimir Putin met on three occasions during the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) summit in Beijing. The US and Russian presidents “talked about Iran, Syria and Ukraine”, sources said. They talked for a total of between 15 and 20 minutes.
ABC reports China has unveiled a sophisticated new stealth fighter jet, in a show of muscle during a visit by President Obama for an Asia-Pacific summit. China hopes the much-anticipated J-31 stealth aircraft, developed by the Aviation Industry Corp of China (Avic), the country’s top aircraft maker, will compete with US-made hardware in export markets.
Russia and Iran have signed an agreement to build two more nuclear power reactors in the Iranian port city of Nushehr, according to RIA Novosti. Four other nuclear power plants will be built in other areas in Iran.
The Jerusalem Post reports Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accused Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of inciting tensions after he accused Israel of “leading the region and the world to a destructive religious war”. Abbas had spoken in the city of Ramallah as tens of thousands marched in Palestinian cities in the West Bank on the tenth anniversary of the death of Yasser Arafat.
Berliner Zeitung says Germany has excluded all forms of dialogue and cooperation with Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad in spite of the fact that ISIS was a threat to both Syria and the West. German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s political adviser, Christoph Heusge, said, “Although ISIS violates human rights in a manner that is even worse than Assad, we should not consider Assad a possible interlocutor.”
Avvenire reports Pope Francis has created a new judicial body within the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to focus on the most serious crimes, including child sex abuse, and streamline Church procedures in such cases. The new body dealing with appeals by clergymen accused of the most serious crimes will be made up of seven cardinals or bishops chosen by the pope.
Times of India says at least 11 women have died and a further 30 are seriously ill following a mass sterilisation organised by the government in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh. With about 83 operations done in six hours to ensure a lower birth rate in the region, as established by a government programme giving each women about $10 to undergo surgery, the objective is to sterilise 180,000 women this year, of which 12,000 are in the district of Bilaspur, where the women died. Men are offered $18 to undergo sterilisation.
Chosun says the judgment of the five-month long Sewol trial has left many of the victims’ family members dissatisfied. Experts say the trial of Captain Lee Joon-seok and his crew closed only one chapter of the ferry disaster story. The 68-year old captain, who was in charge on the day the Sewol ferry capsized, was spared the death penalty. But, Lee Joon-seok was handed a 36-year prison term – essentially a life sentence.