The following are the top stories in the national and international press today.
Times of Malta says Malta has slipped one place in the World Economic Forum’s competitiveness index for 2015-2016. In another story, it says Internet users in Malta aged over 65 are the third most active social network participants in the EU.
The Malta Independent says that according to Caritas more elderly persons who never gambled before were now becoming addicted.
MaltaToday says the amalgamation of identity registries under Identity Malta saw departmental heads leaving and being replaced by persons of trust.
L-Orizzont says Malta Public Transport was discriminating with workers who went on strike last Friday in the way it was granting overtime.
In-Nazzjon leads with the Nationalist Party's proposals for the Budget.
International news
Italy is ready to take a leadership role in stabilising Libya if efforts to form a national unity government succeed. Ansa reports that speaking to the General Assembly Prime Minister Matteo Renzi launched an appeal for all parties in Libya “to have the courage to face the reality” and arrive at an agreement as Isis was “a dangerous enemy at our door”.
Meanwhile, delegates to the UN-brokered Libya dialogue talks will meet in New York tomorrow and on Friday, Libya Herald has been told. Last week UN Special Envoy Bernardino Leon announced the delegates would initial the definitive draft agreement during the UN General Assembly.
Paris prosecutors have launched a preliminary war crimes inquiry against the regime of Syrian President Assad. Sources told AFP the investigation was drawing on evidence provided by a former Syrian army photographer who fled the country in 2013, bringing with him some 55,000 graphic photographs of scenes from the brutal conflict.
AP reports President Obama yesterday pledged all possible tools – military, intelligence and economic – to defeat the Islamic State group. However, he acknowledged the extremist group had taken root in Syria and Iraq, was resilient and continued to expand.
The Washington Post says the US government has announced sanctions against 25 people and five groups connected to the Islamic State, disclosing intelligence that depicts a sprawling international organisation with tentacles across Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Many of them reside outside the theatres of war in Iraq and Syria.
Meanwhile, according to LBC, one of four UK jihadists who has joined Islamic State has mocked the UN sanctions they have been hit with, tweeting that she’s “laughing out loud”. The four, who travelled to Syria to fight, face a global asset freeze and travel ban.
El Pais announces Volkswagen has suspended the sale of all Seat, Volkswagen, Audi, Skoda and Volkswagen commercial vehicles. It says commercial vehicles and cars from its Spanish unit Seat were among the 11 million fitted with a diesel engine that can cheat on emissions tests.
Switzerland, Singapore and the United States have come out on top of the World Economic Forum’s annual Global Competitiveness Report, an index ranking 140 companies according to productivity and prosperity indicators. CNBC says the report’s release today marked Switzerland’s seventh year on the top of the index.
La Republica reports Peru has declared a state of emergency after clashes between police and protesters left three dead and 15 injured. The clashes were prompted by Peruvians protesting a new Chinese copper mining project.
The October 6 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology quotes a new report which found soft drinks and other sugar-sweetened beverages can seriously damage cardiovascular health. The report concluded that consuming one or two servings a day of sugar-sweetened beverages has been linked to a 35 per cent greater risk of myocardial infarction or fatal cardiovascular disease, a 16 per cent increased risk of stroke, and as much as a 26 per cent increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
ABC News reports Paul Walker’s daughter Meadow is suing Porsche alleging negligence, wrongful death and other claims following the 2013 death of her father. But Porsche said it was “reckless driving” not negligence that caused the “Fast & Furious” actor’s death.
According to CBS, the mother of a newborn baby girl found dead outside of a building after apparently being dropped out of a seventh-floor window in the Bronx has been charged in the child’s death. Its umbilical cord was still attached.
A mother of five wept as she was jailed for three-and-a-half years for stabbing to death a convicted paedophile in England. The Guardian says Sarah Sands, 32, carried out the killing within weeks of hearing that her 77-year-old neighbour, Michael Pleasted, had been released on bail ahead of his trial for molesting three young boys. She was cleared of murder but convicted of manslaughter by reason of loss of control.
The BBC announces doctors have been granted approval to carry out the UK’s first 10 womb transplants – as part of a clinical trial. Around one in 5,000 women are born without a womb, while others lose their womb to cancer. If the trial is successful, the first UK baby born from a womb transplant could arrive in late 2017 or 2018.
Billboard has named Lady Gaga its “Woman of the Year”, saying she was chosen for her unparalleled contributions to entertainment, pointing out her six Grammy awards and countless other milestones within the music industry as major determining factors. The pop icon will be honoured during Billboard’s annual Women in Music event next December.