The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press.
The Times of Malta and The Malta Independent report how police officers are being investigated and face arraignment over evidence tampering in the case involving a shooting by minister Manuel Mallia’s driver.
In-Nazzjon says the case is evolving from a cover-up to a frame-up.
l-orizzont highlights comments by Economic Affairs Minister Chris Cardona about 60 investment projects under the current government.
The overseas press
According to Amnesty International, wealthy nations have only taken in a “pitiful” number of the millions of refugees uprooted by Syria’s war, placing the burden on the country’s ill-equipped neighbours. Reuters says the London-based rights group blasted as “shocking” the failure of rich nations to host more refugees. Some 3.8 million refugees from Syria are being hosted in five main countries within the region: Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Egypt. Only 1.7 per cent of this number have been offered sanctuary by the rest of the world.
Avvenire reports Pope Francis has called on countries not to abandon migrants at sea “at the mercy of human traffickers”. Addressing members of Focsiv, a group embracing NGOs and international cooperation movements, the Pope underlined that migrants and refugees have often left harsh conditions and hazards of all kinds in their countries of origin and everyone must collaborate to promote a harmonious coexistence among people of different cultures.
ABC says the Australian senate has narrowly approved changes to migration laws that include reintroducing controversial temporary visas for refugees. The Bill, approved by 34 votes to 32 after intense and sometimes emotional debate, would allow migrants to live and work in Australia for three to five years while they apply for migrant worker or student visas. If they’re refused they could be deported to the country of origin.
Fox News reports the US House of Representatives has voted to block President Obama’s immigration reform which would see nearly five million undocumented immigrants granted temporary legal status. The largely-symbolic Bill was introduced by Republicans to register their anger at the measures announced last month.
The International Labour Organisation says women in work in large parts of the world are better educated, more experienced and more productive than their male counterparts on average, but are still paid less. Tribune de Genève quotes the ILO saying men were paid more than women in all of the 38 countries examined. The biggest pay gap was in the United States, where women earn $64.20 on average for every $100 earned by a man.
RIA Novosty reports President Putin has accused the West of seeking to destroy his country to punish it for its growing strength. In his annual state of the union address to parliament, Putin expressed no regrets for annexing the Crimea peninsula and accused Western governments of “pure cynicism” over the Ukraine crisis.
Le Soir says the European Union has agreed a compromise on growing genetically modified (GM) crops. In a tweet, Italian Environment Minister and holder of the rotating presidency of the EU Environment Council Gian Luca Galletti said the agreement gives member states the option to ban them, even if EU authorities have approved them for cultivation.
USA Today reports an unarmed black man was shot and killed by a Phoenix police officer, who said he mistook the man’s pill bottle for a gun. The incident is the latest in a string of police killings involving unarmed black males across the country that have sparked nationwide protests and led to heightened scrutiny of law enforcement agencies. UN chief Ban Ki-moon has urged the United States to improve police accountability after a jury’s failure to press charges against two white police officers for the death of two black men in separate incidens.
Globovision says prosecutors have charged a prominent Venezuelan opposition leader with conspiracy to assassinate leftist President Nicolas Maduro. Maria Corina Machado, a vocal supporter of anti-government protests that rocked the country earlier this year, vehemently rejected the charge as she left the attorney general’s office after questioning.
The New York Times quotes outgoing US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel saying the Pentagon has made real progress in combating sexual abuse in the military but he action was needed to ensure victims were not subjected to retaliation after reporting the crime. New sexual assault data on Thursday showed more than 60 per cent of the women who said they filed sexual assault complaints said they faced retaliation.
Los Angeles Times says veteran comic Bill Cosby has counter-sued a woman who says he sexually abused her, accusing her of trying to extort up to $250,000 from him in exchange for dropping legal action. Cosby’s lawyer claimed Judy Huth, 55, tried to sell her story to the media a decade ago, undermining her legal case. Huth filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court on Tuesday, claiming sexual battery and infliction of emotional distress in the alleged assault at the Playboy Mansion four decades ago.