The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press.

The Times says that yesterday's fatal shooting of a meat processing company owner appeared 'planned'. It also says that a defendant yesterday questioned a judge's integrity.

The Malta Independent reports how Joseph Muscat said that the fight at the Rabat PL club must not be blown out of proportion.

MaltaToday reports how Tonio Fenech confirmed that the Security Service requested a tax fraud investigation into a company owned by George Farrugia. 

In-Nazzjon reports how a man is in critical condition after a fight at Rabat Labour Party club. It also reports comments by the prime minister that the PN is the guarantee for a strong economy.

l-orizzont gives prominence to yesterday's murder in Hal Far, saying this was cold blooded murder. It also says that Finance Minister Tonio Fenech should have known of the tax inquiry involving a company where George Farrugia is involved.

The overseas press

L’Echo reports EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels have expanded sanctions against North Korea, a week after the reclusive communist country detonated a nuclear weapon in contravention of UN resolutions. They also renewed sanctions against Syria for three months, keeping in place an arms embargo that applies to both the regime of President Bashar Assad and the rebels. Meanwhile, a UN inquiry has called for alleged Syrian war criminals to face the International Criminal Court.

The Financial Times says Nestlé, the world's biggest food company, has removed beef pasta meals from shelves in Italy and Spain after tests revealed traces of horse DNA, France has partially lifted a production ban for meat processing firm Spanghero and Germany’s state and federal governments have agreed on a 10-point plan to prevent the false labelling of meat products. The escalating horsemeat scandal,, which began in Britain and Ireland, has also hit Austria, Bulgaria, Denmark, Finland, France, Sweden, Switzerland, and Norway.

The archpriest of St Peter's Basilica on Monday called the pope's decision to step down a model for those “who cling to power”. Speaking to Vatican Radio, Cardinal Angelo Comastri called Benedict’s decision “evangelical”, and said it should set an example for “people who cling to power, incapable of loosening their grip on the sceptre, and greedy to climb higher and higher”. Cardinal Comastri, 69, applauded Benedict for stepping aside as “Jesus is calling another to the helm of the Church”.

Bloomberg reports Oscar Pistorius, the South African gold-medal winning Paralympian, will today seek bail in a Pretoria court after being charged with the murder of his model girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp. Prosecutor Gerrie Nel, who in 2010 won the corruption conviction of former police chief Jackie Selebi, said he would argue Pistorius, 26, committed premeditated murder in the February 14 death of Steenkamp, 29, at his home in the city. The hearing was postponed from last week. The prosecution hasn’t decided yet whether to oppose bail.

El Pais says strikers at Spanish airline Iberia clashed with police at Madrid’s Barajas airport as they launched a five-day action against job cuts. The strike has resulted in hundreds of flight cancellations. Police used batons to keep the protesters back and at least one man was arrested. This week's action is the first of a series of three five-day strikes to protest at plans to cut 3,800 jobs.

The BBC reports a strike by its journalists has disrupted radio and TV news programmes, with the threat of further action unless a row over jobs is resolved. It said it was “disappointed” with the industrial action, adding that it would not alter the fact that it has to make “significant” savings.

The Irish Independent says thousands of frontline public servants have taken part in a rally in Dublin against pay cuts. Nurses, police, fire-fighters, ambulance drivers and prison officers, members of the 24/7 Alliance, said that they were being disproportionately hit by government cuts. Unions representing most of the workers are threatening industrial action.


Ria Novosti reports the body of a Russian politician has been found cemented in a barrel, and a former government official has been accused of ordering the killing over a €59 million debt. Mikhail Pakhomov, 37, went missing last week. Russian television stations aired footage provided by police that showed a fragment of a barrel, pieces of concrete and officers carrying what appeared to be Pakhomov’s body on a stretcher and loading it into a vehicle.

Tunis Radio says Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali has failed to convince his own leading Islamist Ennahda political party to support his proposal for a non-partisan government. However he said “another form of government” was still a possibility and he would meet President Marzouki today to establish a new plan that would emerge “in the coming days”.

According to Radio Liberty, exit polls from Armenia's election suggest that incumbent President Serge Sarkisian has won another five-year term. An exit poll by Gallup and the Baltic Survey showed pro-Russia Sarkisian garnred 58 percent of the votes cast. Sarkisian has promised stability for the troubled region where pipelines carry Caspian oil and gas to Europe.

Sky News reports friends and co-stars have paid tribute to Richard Briers, the “Good Life” actor, who was hailed "an absolute star in every sense of the word". The star, who died at the age of 79, had been battling a serious lung condition for a number of years. Briers recently blamed years of smoking for his emphysema.

Ansa reports a Ryanair flight from Pisa's Galileo Galilei airport to Cagliari was grounded on Monday after burning coffee triggered emergency systems. Smoke from overheated pods in a coffee machine released smoke into the passenger cabin, setting off sensors just a few minutes after the flight took off. The pilot reversed course and returned to the Pisa airport and waiting fire crews.

 

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