The following are the top stories in the national and international press today.
Times of Malta says wanted fraudster Patrick Spiteri was released on bail against a security deposit of almost €90,000. He appeared before the Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London on Monday after having been arrested on Saturday by Surrey police. In another story, the newspaper says three former Leisure Clothing employees told a court they worked 14-hour days for entire weeks and only received €600 for eight months of hard work at the Bulebel plant.
The Malta Independent says the new Parliament building is expected to be functioning by the end of February.
L-Orizzont says the General Workers Union has condemned the behaviour of some of the middle management of the Malta Public Transport for their unacceptable behaviour with some of its members.
In-Nazzjon quotes Opposition leader Simon Busuttil warning of court action over discrimination if the Labour Party continued to hold on to state-owned properties it used as clubs, while the party funding law banned state funding of political parties.
International news
Euronews reports that after 10 years of hard work, the Rosetta mission made history as the lander Philae touched down on the surface of a comet more than 300 million miles away. Scientists hope that samples from the surface of the comet will help show how planets and life are created.
US House of Representatives Homeland Security Committee chairman Michael McCaul has warned European security shortcomings have created a “jihadi superhighway”. In an article for Time Magazine, the top US politician has said security gaps in Europe make it easier for countless battle-hardened Islamic extremists to return from Syria to Western countries. As many as 1,000 fighters monthly, including many westerners, were pouring into the conflict zone to join the Islamic State extremist group.
EurActiv reports the leftist GUE/NGL group has started gathering signatures from MEPs for a motion of censure against the commission led by Jean-Claude Juncker over his involvement in widespread tax evasion while he was Finance Minister of Luxembourg, revealed by the so-called Lux leaks. Juncker has denied he encouraged tax avoidance. It comes at an embarrassing time for Juncker: he’s about to set off for the G20 where world leaders will discuss how to fight tax avoidance and evasion.
Al Ahram quotes the Egyptian military saying one of its navy vessels came under “terrorist” attack in the Mediterranean, leaving five servicemen injured and eight others missing at sea. Four boats used by the assailants were destroyed and 32 of the suspected militants were arrested.
Fox News quotes Ukraine’s ambassador to the United Nations, Yuriy Sergeyev, saying that it is due to his country’s restraint that the conflict in the east between Ukrainian forces and pro-Russia separatists has not yet turned into an all-out war. Sergeyev spoke at an emergency UN Security Council meeting called after NATO and European monitors reported Russian tanks, troops and weapons crossing the border in the past few days.
Meanwhile, the Russian news agency Regnum claims Samantha Lewthwaite, 31, the English girl who converted to Islam and became a jihadist, has been killed in Ukraine where she fought against the rebels. Known as “white widow”, Lewthwite was the widow of one of the London 2005 bombers and at the time the most wanted woman in the world for having organised killings in Kenya.
Gazete Oku says anti-American protesters in Turkey have attacked three US sailors, forcing white bags over their heads and pelting them with missiles. Footage of the incident in Istanbul shows about 10 demonstrators chanting: “Yankee, go home!”. The group also threw red paint at the servicemen, who were not in uniform, before closing in to briefly pull the sacks over their heads.
TV Azteca reports some 500 Mexican masked students and members of the radical teachers’ union broke into the empty Guerrero state legislature and set fire to the library and the chamber where local lawmakers hold sessions. Moments earlier, protesters set fire to the education department's audit office in another part of the state capital Chilpancingo.
Lancet quotes the WHO confirming that the number of Ebola deaths has passed the 5,000 mark. Overall over 14,000 people are believed to have been infected with Ebola, the vast majority in the West African countries of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
Voice of Nigeria says Nigerian students have once again been the target of a terrorist attack likely organised by Boko Haram extremists. A female suicide bomber blew herself up in a school in Kontagora in the northwest of the country, killing 10 students and wounding many others.
The New York Times says two window cleaners who were stranded 69 storeys above street level when their cradle partially collapsed have been rescued by firefighters who had to cut panes of glass to rescue them. The washers were stuck for nearly two hours before their dramatic rescue, as New Yorkers looked on from the ground and people around the country watched on live TV.
Sky News reports several of the bidding nations for the 2018 and 2022 tournaments, including Qatar, England, Australia and Russia, are expected to be criticised by a FIFA investigation into the World Cup bidding race. However, it is understood investigators have not found evidence of wrongdoing that threatens Qatar staging the 2022 tournament. FIFA will publish a 42-page summary of a two-year investigation into the controversial bidding process on later today.