The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press.
Times of Malta reports that security in Paceville is being stepped up. It also reports that a new programme will train 7,000 idle youths.
l-orizzont says Magistrate Consuelo Scerri Herrera was interrogated after claims made in a letter, but no wrongdoing was found. The writer of the letter was accused of making false claims. The newspaper also follows up the situation at the prison kitchen after protests by inmates over quality.
The Malta Independent carries comments by a mother who says she wants justice after her son was allegedly abused at Mt Carmel Hospital.
In-Nazzjon reports that Annalise Mifsud won the Independence Song Festival with her song Kuragg. It also reports that Simon Busuttil has promised an open and honest government.
The overseas press
MI5 and anti-terrorism police are monitoring more than 3,000 home-grown Islamic extremists willing to carry out attacks in Britain, security sources have told The Times (of London). MI5 warned British men and women, many in their teens, are being radicalised to the point of violence within weeks.
Armed men are reported to have stormed the General National Congress (GNC) in Tripoli as it met to discuss acceptance of the amended Libya Dialogue Draft and to propose names for the posts of prime minister and deputy prime minister. Libya Herald reports heavy gunfire was heard across town and at least one member was seized.
RTL Televizija announces that Croatia has closed seven of its eight border crossings with Serbia as it struggles to cope with thousands of migrants bound for northern Europe. Roads leading to the border points have also been closed to traffic. The EU has called an emergency summit next week to discuss the situation.
Ansa quotes Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi saying the EU must formulate a comprehensive response to every aspect of the refugee and migrant crisis – the hotspots, the repatriations and the relocations – and Italy was ready to do its part. “Europe’s ID card says we were born to bring walls down not build them,” he said.
About 100 intellectuals and politicians from Central Europe have launched an impassioned appeal for their countries to show solidarity with refugees. The appeal, made available to The Associated Press, was signed by people from Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria, the Baltic states and Croatia.
Sicilia news 24 reports prosecutors have asked a Palermo court to sentence six alleged Eritrean migrant traffickers to a total of 80 years in prison in connection with a shipwreck in which 366 asylum seekers perished when their unseaworthy vessel caught fire and capsized off Lampedusa on October 3, 2013. The bodies of dozens of children were among those recovered in the aftermath of the tragedy, which caused worldwide condemnation and prompted Italy’s government to launch its Mare Nostrum migrant search-and-rescue mission.
An Iranian asylum seeker on Nauru has told the UN he was locked up in a urine-soaked cell for trying to see his sister, who tried to commit suicide after allegedly being raped on the island. The man has told the ABC TV and staff from the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights he was detained for more than 30 hours in a bare police cell that was wet with the urine of his guards. The woman has since been transferred to Brisbane in a serious condition while her brother and mother have remained on Nauru.
al bawaba says 85 people have been killed and more than 150 others seriously burnt after an oil truck exploded in South Sudan. The explosion took place when the tanker overturned and began leaking. According to authorities, local residents were trying to siphon off some petrol when somebody lit a cigarette, setting off the explosion.
The latest winners of the “Ig Nobel” awards have been revealed. The awards, parodying the Nobel Prizes, are given out each year for the most unusual or trivial achievements in scientific research. Of this year’s winners, no-one was more deserving than PhD student Michael Smith, from Cornell University in the US, who tested the painfulness of bee stings on 25 locations on his own body. Writing in the journal PeerJ, Smith said the three most painful places to be stung turned out to be the nostril, upper lip, and penis.
And according to a report from Discovery News, the eight trillion bits of plastic entering aquatic ecosystems daily are posing a serious threat to marine life. Some of the plastic pieces, found in soap and known as exfoliants, are smaller than a grain of sand, intended to help scrub away dry and dead skin. They slip right through most filtration systems, and ultimately are washed downstream into the oceans.
talksport.com announces Fifa has suspended its secretary general Jerome Valcke and ordered an investigation into alleged unethical conduct. Valcke, 54, was earlier the subject of allegations over a deal for black market sales of tickets to 2014 World Cup matches. The Frenchman, who has held his role since 2007, said he denied the “fabricated, outrageous” allegations.