The following are the top stories in the national and international press today.
The Sunday Times of Malta says recently declassified documents reveal the Thatcher government was sceptical of Eddie Fenech Adami’s “bleak” picture of 1980s Malta, describing his views as “wild statements”. In another story, it says new figures show pickpocketing in the main tourist hotspots more than doubled between April and June when compared with the same period last year.
MaltaToday says 14 per cent of 160 doctors get who took part in a survey said they received requests for euthanasia.
Illum says there is no strategic partner interested in Air Malta.
The Malta Independent on Sunday says former Labour Party treasurer Joe Sammut’s arraignment is to open a can of worms for the party and Bank of Valletta.
It-Torca says former Land Minister Jason Azzopardi had requested his private secretary to facilitate the process for Mark Gaffarena who was planning to buy a house in Sliema from third parties.
Kullhadd says the waiting time for the elderly to be admitted in homes has been reduced through government initiatives.
Il-Mument speaks to the president of the Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses who says that the situation at Mater Dei is alarming and the new halls being built are not the solution to people in corridors.
International news
The Libya Observer reports Libya’s internationally-recognised government has asked fellow Arab states to conduct air strikes against the Islamic State – now formally known as Daesh – in the coastal city of Sirte. In the past few days, Daesh has crushed a revolt by a Salafist Muslim group and armed residents trying to break its grip on the city. Dozens of people have been killed.
Meanwhile, Tripoli Post says the United Nations Support Mission in Libya has stressed it was “high time” that Libyans agree a unity government to address the country’s challenges and “join together to confront the scourge” of the Daesh, also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or ISIL. In a statement, the UN Mission deplored the attacks in the coastal city of Sirte, including reports of indiscriminate shelling of residential neighbourhoods and the killing of captives the terrorist group has controlled since May.
Sputnik reports that despite Nato’s insistent demands, seven member states –, the UK, Germany, Italy, Canada, Hungary and Bulgaria – will cut their defence expenditure. At the same time, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland and Romania have increased their military budgets. Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg remarked that the defence expenses of the member states have decreased by 1.5 per cent.
Chinese leaders have urged authorities to learn from the “extremely profound” lessons paid for with blood as death toll from massive warehouse explosions in Tianjin rose to 104, Xinhua reports. In a written instruction, President Xi Jinping said that the Tianjin blasts and a string of serious accidents recently exposed severe problems in the work safety sector, and authorities must always keep “safe development” and “people’s interest first” in mind to avoid such accidents.
Al Ayyam says a Palestinian has been shot dead after stabbing an Israeli paramilitary police officer patrolling a road in the occupied West Bank. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas condemned the shooting near the city of Nablus as a “grave escalation”. The incident came hours after the Israeli army said another Palestinian was shot and wounded after stabbing a soldier at a checkpoint on a highway in the West Bank. In both cases, the Israeli personnel sustained minor injuries.
LBC reports six people have been arrested after a far-right group and two anti-fascist movements gathered in Liverpool city centre. National Action cancelled its “White Man March” following two earlier counter-protests by the Anti-Fascist Network and Unite Against Fascism. Police said there was disruption to traffic and some “minor disorder” in the Lime Street area, with one man treated for facial injuries.
A man employed by France’s national rail operator SNCF has revealed he is suing the company after being paid to stay at home and do nothing for the last 12 years. Charles Simon told BFM TV he was being paid €5,000 a month and a bonus of €600 for the holidays to remain idle even though he continues to be employed by SNCF. He said SNCF took him off his day job in 2003 after he blew the whistle on a suspected €20-million fraud case.
Athletics’ governing body suppressed a study which showed as many as a third of the world’s top athletes admitted violating anti-doping rules, according to the Sunday Times. The University of Tubingen in Germany is reported to have said the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) blocked publication. Hundreds of athletes apparently told researchers in 2011 they had cheated. The IAAF said discussions were ongoing about the report’s publication.