The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press.
Times of Malta and the Malta Independent lead with yesterday's Labour general conference. Prime Minister Joseph Muscat laid emphasis on reforms benefiting persons with disability and told Europe that austerity has failed. Times of Malta also reports calls by NGOs for more assistance to low income people, including free childcare even for the unemployed.
In-Nazzjon says Home Minister Carmelo Abela deceived senior police officers by not keeping his word on resolving their issue over performance agreements
l-orizzont reports how a young Maltese man has been sleeping in a bus shelter in Pieta' for the past month.
The overseas press
The New York Times reports the UN Security Council has condemned the “heinous and cowardly” murder of Japanese journalist Kenji Goto. In a video released online, IS claimed it had killed the 47-year-old journalist – the second purported beheading of a Japanese hostage in a week – but made no mention of a Jordanian pilot it had also threatened to kill.
Meanwhile, Fuji TV says hundreds of people have gathered outside the Japanese prime minister's office in Tokyo to hold a silent vigil in honour Goto as his mother, Junko Ishido, appeared before the media and tearfully pledged to continue her son’s efforts towards making “the world a place without any wars, and to save children from war and poverty”.
Kathimerini reports Greece’s new government has offered to produce proposals within a month for a revised debt agreement with its sceptical international partners, insisting it would not take on any more loan tranches in the meantime. The proposal came after talks in Paris where French Finance Minister Michel Sapin offered his Greek counterpart Yanis Varoufakis backing for his efforts to renegotiate a deal possibly including some alleviation of its debt load but no outright cancellation. Varoufakis is also visiting London and Rome – and said that he would visit Berlin.
Australia’s ABC reports Peter Greste’s relieved family say their son is “very happy to be on his way home” after being released from jail and deported from Egypt, but will not rest until his Al Jazeera colleagues are free. Greste travelled to Cyprus after being set free overnight by order of Egypt’s president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, under a new law allowing foreign prisoners to be deported.
Kyiv Post says 13 Ukrainian soldiers and 10 civilians were killed in 24 hours in the east of the country. Hopes of a ceasefire in the region evaporated on Saturday when peace talks between Ukrainian and Russian authorities and rebel delegates collapsed.
Australia’s Courier-Mail says a hung parliament in Queensland was still a possibility with tight contests underway in three seats even as the Labour Party claimed it was confident of winning the 45 seats needed to govern without the need of a coalition. Labour achieved one of the biggest swings in Australian political history in Saturday’s state election. The final result in some seats may not be known for a week.
Le Parisien says former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Khan will be back in the dock today. This time, the 64-year-old former French finance minister is embroiled in a sordid cross-border prostitution ring, with tentacles stretching from a four-star hotel in the northern French city of Lille to the IMF offices in Washington DC. Along with 13 other co-defendants, he is set to appear before a Lille court on charges of aggravated procuring for the purposes of prostitution – or pimping – in what has come to be called “the Carlton Affair”.
France 24 reports the “Charlie Hebdo” satirical magazine has announced it was taking a break, but promised to be back in the newsstands in the next weeks. Following the fatal January 7attack, European police service Europol reported there was a potential threat of new terrorist attacks across the European Union, including the United Kingdom, Belgium, and the Netherlands.
Pope Francis has announced he plans a June visit to Sarajevo, the city that became a bloody symbol of the Balkans wars of the 1990s. Avvenire says he told pilgrims he would visit the Bosnian capital to pray for peace and inter-religious dialogue in the Muslim-majority city. The pontiff’s visit will come just weeks ahead of the 20th anniversary of the massacre of about 8,000 Muslim men and boys in the Bosnian town of Srebrenica by Serb forces, the worst atrocity in Europe since World War II.
Oriental Daily says thousands of pro-democracy demonstrators have marched through Hong Kong’s streets in the first major rally since mass protests last year. The demonstrators oppose the Chinese government’s decision that candidates in the 2017 election for Hong Kong chief executive will be vetted by a largely Beijing-controlled nominating committee.
Al Rakoba announces South Sudan President Salva Kiir and rebel leader Riek Machar have signed a new agreement to end more than 13 months of fighting in a civil war that has left tens of thousands dead. The two leaders have signed – and then broken – at least six previous ceasefire agreements since fighting began in December 2013.
O Globo reports a Brazilian beauty pageant took a bizarre turn when the runner-up snatched the crown off the winner of the Miss Amazonas contest, refusing to accept her loss. Sheislane Hayalla initially hugged her opponent as the winner’s name was announced. Seconds later, as a woman adjusted the crown onto Carol Toledo’s hair, Hayalla stepped forward to snatch the tiara violently from her head and throw it onto the stage before storming away while the crowd applauded. Later, she justified her reaction by claiming her rival had bought the title.