The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press.
Times of Malta leads with comments given to the newspaper by Labour MP Marlene Farrugia against virgin land being given up for a university in Marsascala. The newspaper also reports how an inquiry report about a hospital death has disappeared.
The Malta Independent gives prominence to a fist fight between drivers from different trade unions during the bus strike yesterday.
In-Nazzjon reports how the police yesterday arrested a Gozitan who was making fireworks in a container in a residential area.
l-orizzont says 5,000 more people face poverty and exclusion, according to official figures.
The overseas press
The Knesset has approved Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s new government by the slim majority of 61 to 59. i24news reports a number of Arab Knesset members were removed from the chamber after repeated catcalls disrupting the leader’s speech. Netanyahu opened his speech saying the current electoral system was ineffectual, and the new government will seek to amend it. Netanyahu’s new administration marks a shift to the right by giving increased prominence to Naftali Bennett’s far-right Jewish Home, which opposes a Palestinian state and strongly backs settlement activity.
Meanwhile, AFP reports President Barack Obama has said the United States still believes Israel’s long-term security is best served by reaching an agreement to live alongside a recognised Palestinian state. Speaking shortly after Netanyahu formed his new right-wing ruling coalition, Obama told a Camp David news conference, “I continue to believe a two-state solution is absolutely vital for not only peace between Israelis and Palestinians, but for the long-term security of Israel as a democratic and Jewish state.”
Zawya says 26 people were killed when ISIS attacked a village near Palmyra, eastern Syria. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported 10 of the victims had been beheaded for collaborating with the regime. The jihadists are threatening Palmyra, a Unesco World Heritage site in Syria, after destroying a number of archaeological sites in Iraq.
The Washington Post reports President Obama has pledged America’s “ironclad commitment” to anxious Persian Gulf nations to help protect their security, pointedly mentioning the potential use of military force and offering assurances that a potential nuclear agreement with Iran would not leave them more vulnerable. At the close of a rare summit at the presidential retreat at Camp David, Obama said the US would join the Gulf Cooperation Council nations “to deter and confront an external threat to any GCC state’s territorial integrity.” The US pledged to bolster its security cooperation with the Gulf on counterterrorism, maritime security, cybersecurity and ballistic missile defense.
The New York Times says UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has said he is alarmed by the refusal of South East Asian countries to accept Rohingya migrants. Thousands of the persecuted ethnic minority from Myanmar, together with Bangladeshi migrants are believed to be adrift in the Andaman Sea after being refused entry by Indonesia and Malaysia. The United States has also urged Southeast Asian nations to work together to save hundreds of migrants abandoned by people smugglers in rickety boats.
British police say they have arrested seven people after uncovering an IRA plan to carry a bomb attack to kill Prince Charles and his wife Camilla on a visit to Northern Ireland. The Daily Mirror reveals terrorists had planned to place a series of improvised explosive devices like those used in Iraq and Afghanistan by the roadside where the carcade of the heir to the throne would pass.
The Huffington Post says a group 195 leading scientists from 35 countries have asked the United Nations, the World Health Organisation and national governments all over the world to protect the public from cellphones. They contends that governing bodies were not doing enough to protect the public from the harms of electromagnetic fields (EMF) generated by wearable devices, cellphones and even wifi routers. In 2011, WHO had concluded that radio-frequency electromagnetic radiation, which is commonly emitted by cellphones, was “possibly carcinogenic to humans”.
Nature says scientists in the United States say they have identified the first warm-blooded fish. Research shows that the deep-sea opah fish is able to keep its entire body, including its heart and brains, about 5oC warmer than the surrounding water. Weighing up to 90 kg, the oval body shaped opah spends most of its time at depths of between 50 and 400 metres, hunting fish and squid.
Football: L’Equipe reports Dnipro will play holders Sevilla in the final of the Europa League after defeating Serie A side Napoli. The Ukrainians’ striker Yevhen Seleznyov headed the only goal of the night to end Rafael Benitez’s side's 10-game unbeaten run in the competition and seal a 2-1 aggregate win. Sevilla of La Liga completed the job against Fiorentina, winning 2-0 in Italy and 5-0 on aggregate with goals from Carlos Bacca and Daniel Carrico. The final is in Warsaw on 27 May.