The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press.
Times of Malta says the Church is backing employers on the issue of new rules on the employment of persons with disability. It says it is not always possible for every entity to meet the threshold of 2% of persons with disability.
The Malta Independent reports how the prime minister's wife intervened to resolve a dispute between the AFM and a gunner.
In-Nazzjon reports how the Church through Caritas will host a Christmas lunch for those who are in need.
l-orizzont reports how a court dismissed a request to issue a warrant to stop new rules on the employment of people with disability. The newspaper also reports a family's problems because the husband is sick.
The local newspapers will not be issued tomorrow and on Saturday.
The overseas press
The European Union has warned Poland to avoid endangering the rule of law with controversial reforms. A European Commission letter, seen by AFP, to Poland’s foreign and justice ministers, urged the reforms not be “finally adopted or put into force” until all questions about their impact “have been fully and properly assessed”.
The Warsaw Times says Poland’s former president Lech Walesa has criticized the new right wing government, describing the reforms as undermining democracy and made the country a laughing stock. He called for a referendum to force the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party to hold an early election.
A couple was stopped in Montpellier and questioned by the authorities in relation to a possible terrorist attack that could have been made by the woman. Midi Libre says investigators feared the woman, a 23-year-old French convert to Islam, could use a fake baby bump filled with explosives to avoid security checkpoints and blow herself up. The woman admitted they planned to steal from market stalls.
Le Parisien reports French Prime Minister Manuel Valls announcing that as part of a constitutional reform, the French government is submitting a Bill aimed at revoking citizenship of all dual nationals, including those who were born in France and convicted on terrorism charges. Under French law, only naturalized citizens can be stripped of their French citizenship. Since 2012, six naturalized people with dual citizenship have been stripped of their French passport,
Time says US forecasters warned of a “particularly dangerous situation” as a storm system swept across the country, and officials said they feared Christmas yard decorations would become projectiles. A tornado touched down in northwest Mississippi, damaging or destroying at least 20 homes. A tree blew over onto a house in Arkansas, killing an 18-year-old woman and trapping a one-year-old child inside. Rescuers pulled the toddler safely from the home.
Deutsche Welle announces Pope Francis will receive the annual Charlemagne Prize for 2016 for promoting European unity. The prize committee said the leader of 1.2 billion Catholics has acted as a “voice of conscience” urging Europe to put people and values at the centre of its politics.
A moment of joy emerged from the devastating landslide in southern China, as Xinhua reported rescuers extracted a young migrant worker who survived 67 hours buried in the mass of mud and debris. More than 5,000 workers scouring the scene have been able to retrieve just four bodies; 76 people remain missing.
Greece has legalized civil unions between same sex couples. Ta’ Nea says the Bill was approved after an all-night session by 194 votes in favour and 55 against.
Haaretz reports a knife attack in Jerusalem’s Old City has left one Israeli dead, with a second apparently killed by a stray bullet. Police shot dead two assailants, aged 20 and 21, from a West Bank refugee camp.
German Integration Commissioner Aydan Özoguz has told German news agency DPA that Arabic subtitles should be added to President Joachim Gauck’s and Chancellor Angela
Merkel’s Christmas and New Year’s messages. She has suggested six language subtitles to help refugees.
Afghan Post says the military has rushed reinforcements to a southern district threatened for days with takeover by the Taliban. The country’s defence minister has appealed for stepped-up NATO assistance and military support.
Reuters reports suspected Boko Haram militants launched four attacks over 24 hours on villages in Niger, Chad and Cameroon, killing at least seven people. Regional governments have pledged to destroy the group using an 8,700-strong regional task force.
It is now possible to directly stream 13 original albums and four compilations of the Beatles on Spotify, Apple Music, Google Play, Amazon Prime Music and Tidal, among others The New York Times says songs by the Beatles had only been legally available on physical media like CDs or as commercial downloads.
La Voz de Almeria reports an unemployed Senegalese man who was rescued by the Spanish coastguard after making a risky journey from Morocco eight years ago on a packed wooden boat won $400,000 in Spain’s annual Christmas lottery. The man, identified only by his first name Ngame, was one of the holders of one of the 1,600 tickets with the winning number – 79140 – in the massive draw. The 35-year-old lives with his wife, who joined him on the crossing to Spain.