Good morning
Your morning briefing brings you the latest news as reported by the main news outlets from Malta, Europe and the World.
The Latest
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday described what he said was a secret atomic warehouse in Tehran and accused Europe of appeasing Iran as he sought to rally support for U.S. sanctions against the Islamic Republic. Reuters
Prime Minister Joseph Muscat used his annual speech to the United nations to mostly highlight migration issues, saying that a unified approach could stop criminal gangs profiting from smuggling human beings. His speech also focused on how nations working in concert and using the latest technology, could better tackle the challenges facing the world. The Malta Independent / Times of Malta
In a joint op-ed published this morning, Maltese prime minister Joseph Muscat, ALDE chief Guy Verhofstadt and Christophe Castaner, the leader of Emmanuel Macron’s La République En Marche movement, have extended an open invitation to politicians to heed their call to fight resurgent nationalism ahead of the European election next year. MaltaToday Read more
Almost 200 Ryanair flights across Europe won’t take off as Ryanair staff in six European countries strike.
Italy’s ruling parties won a battle with the economy minister over the resources needed to finance their costly electoral promises — in a move that will likely annoy Brussels and spook the financial markets. Late Thursday, the anti-establishment 5Star Movement and the far-right League forced Giovanni Tria, a technocrat, to agree on a 2019 deficit at 2.4 percent of GDP, far higher than the 1.6 percent that the economy minister had wanted. Politico
Christine Blasey Ford and Brett Kavanaugh gave evidence in front of Senate Judiciary panel. Christine Blasey Ford has accused US Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, of sexually assaulting her when they were teenagers.Kavanaugh, who was nominated by President Donald Trump in July, denies the allegations, calling them “a smear campaign”.
The European Commission proposed additional support for UNRWA to allow the agency to keep providing access to education for 500,000 Palestine refugee children, primary health care for more than 3.5 million patients and assistance to over 250,000 vulnerable Palestine refugees.
Canada’s parliament revoked Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s honorary citizenship. It comes as the world’s top court conducts a preliminary probe into the mass exodus of the Rohingya people from Myanmar. DW
Boris Johnson has urged the prime minister to abandon her Chequers plan and “change the course of the negotiation” on Brexit, in a 4,000-word intervention aiming to recapture the narrative before the Conservative party conference. The Guardian
The number of women dying from breast cancer will begin rising for the first time in decades due to unhealthy living, a new report predicts. The Telegraph
Three Saudi men accused of terrorism were killed on Wednesday after they resisted arrest in the eastern region of Qatif, a Saudi security spokesman said on Thursday. Gulf News
A flotilla of small boats rescued all 47 passengers and crew from an Air Niugini flight that crashed into the sea short of the runway at an airport in the tiny South Pacific nation of Micronesia on Friday, the airport’s manager said. Reuters
Mickey Mouse to be replaced by military heroes in a Cairo school
A square in Brussels was renamed on Thursday after murdered British MP Jo Cox, who lived in the city when she worked at the European Parliament and for Oxfam.
Video Assistant Referees (VAR) will be used for the 2019/20 UEFA Champions League, as well as for a number of other UEFA competitions.
The Review
L-Orizzont leads with comments by Finance Minister Edward Scicluna, when he reacted to the IMF report on Malta, which commented positively about the transparency in public finances.
In-Nazzjon reports that Justice Minister Owen Bonnici is in breach of the Minister’s Code of Ethics, in view of what was revealed this week, that the AG passed a copy of the Egrant inquiry to him as a ‘defence lawyer’ of the Prime Minister.
Planning Authority executive chairman Johann Buttigieg has defended his decision to fly a board member down on a private jet for a vote on the City Centre project, insisting it was done “with good intentions”. The Times
Independent schools have increased their fees this year in an attempt to match the revised wages offered at State schools following an agreement between the government and the teachers union, it has emerged. Parents with children in independent schools, who spoke to this newspaper, confirmed that this year’s fees have been raised significantly, with the increase being higher than usual. The Times
It is not enough for Malta to take in refugees, it must do much more to help migrants, representatives of a delegation from the German Social Democrat Party said at a press conference held on board the Sea-Watch 3 search-and-rescue vessel. The Malta Independent / The Times
Labour MEP Miriam Dalli has dismissed a “non-paper” published by the European Commission recommending that the proposed CO2 reduction in cars should be 30 per cent less in 2030 than what is recorded in 2021, rather than the 45 per cent proposed by Dalli. The Malta Independent
L-Orizzont also reports the story about the case of a nursing aide, at Mount Carmel, who was kept and treated like a patient at the same hospital, for four days, after an alleged argument she had with one of her superiors. In another story the news paper reports elements of the speech delivered by the Prime Minister during the UN General Assembly.
In-Nazzjon reports that more garnishee orders are being levied at Karl Stagno Navarra, a former PN journalist, who works for Labour media.
