Thursday Morning Briefing

Good morning,

Our morning briefing brings you the latest and most important news which happened in the past news cycle, based on the review of major news outlets, agencies and also a Maltese newspaper frontpage review, so you can start your day informed.

Wishing you a good day.

The Latest

• U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he wanted a two-state solution to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the clearest expression yet of his administration’s support for such an outcome. Reuters

• Jeremy Corbyn closed the Labour conference on Wednesday with a plea to his party to end its bitter internal divisions and focus instead on a “radical” transformation of Britain’s “broken” economic system. Corbyn also tried to bridge the party’s yawning divide over Brexit, hinting that, if there were to be a second referendum, it could include the option to stay in the EU — an outcome favoured by the vast majority of his activists. Read more

• Jeremy Corbyn will tell the EU’s chief negotiator that a “no-deal” Brexit is not acceptable as he seeks to break the impasse in negotiations. The Labour leader is travelling to Brussels for meetings with Michel Barnier, alongside Sir Keir Starmer, the shadow Brexit secretary. Sky News

• Brussels is making plans to pass emergency rule changes to cope with a no-deal Brexit in as little as five days, a fast-track process that allows the EU to leave big decisions on contingency measures until a late stage.  The European Commission’s accelerated method for passing the legal acts, which was explained to member states on Wednesday, will permit the EU to prepare for a worst-case scenario without undermining negotiations with the UK on a withdrawal deal.  Financial Times

• US President Donald Trump accused China of seeking to meddle in the Nov. 6 U.S. congressional elections on Wednesday, saying Beijing did not want his Republican Party to do well because of his pugnacious stance on trade. Read more

• The Telegraph revealed that one of the trained assassins wanted for poisoning Sergei Skripal is a decorated colonel in Russian military intelligence given the country’s highest award by Vladimir Putin. Read more

• Theresa May has called out Russia’s lies over the Salisbury poisoning as she urged President Vladimir Putin to rejoin the international community in shunning chemical weapons. Sky News

• With high drama in the making, Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh emphatically fended off new accusations of sexual misconduct ahead of a charged public Senate hearing that could determine whether Republicans can salvage his nomination and enshrine a high court conservative majority. AP President Donald Trump on Wednesday said he could withdraw his support for Brett Kavanaugh depending on the testimony in a high-profile Thursday hearing into multiple accusations of sexual misconduct against the Supreme Court nominee. Reuters

• Theresa May has delivered a riposte to the Archbishop of Canterbury after he criticised the Government’s record in tackling poverty. The Prime Minister said working hard was “the best route out of poverty”, rather than state interventions. The Telegraph

• The Tripoli Security Directorate began Wednesday morning reopening blocked roads and streets, taking away sand barriers and other destructive debris from areas of clashes in Tripoli. In a statement, the directorate said this would help the city heal from the latest bloody clashes. Libya Observer

• After years of strained ties, Erdogan has said he wants to reset relations with Berlin during a pomp and circumstance-filled visit to Germany. But German and Turkish politicians aren’t convinced it will lead to a change. DW

The Review

• The Malta Business Weekly leads with a story about a survey published by the NSO, which shows that 27% of Maltese businesses employing at least 10 people undertook business innovation activities between 2014 and 2016. It also says that only 6% apply for at least one type of intellectual property right or licence.

• We also read that Malta’s blockchain ecosystem is indeed attracting many and varied life forms, with the latest addition being Australia’s largest independent trading platform by trading volume Open Markets.

• The Times reports that air quality monitors recorded no spike in pollution during last month’s landfill fire, raising concerns about the system’s accuracy. Government sources said a request for the air quality readings had been made by the Environment Ministry after waste from black and grey bags had caught fire at the Wasteserv plant in Magħtab.

• We also read that Justice Minister Owen Bonnici could not have served as legal counsel to the Prime Minister and his wife in his personal capacity as this would be in breach of code of ethics, Chamber of Advocates president George Hyzler.

• Back to school features in different ways on the Maltese papers.

• The Malta Independent carries a photo story showing Minister Bartolo participating at the St. Cahterine’s High School which opened its doors yesterday. It also reports that trouble between MCAST and MUT is brewing on an issue concerning how many hours students are entitled to lecturers. Quoting MUT President Marco Bonnici, the newspaper says that MCAST has reduced lecture hours for some courses, sometimes drastically, but expected lecturers to cover the same amount of content in the reduced hours. The MUT’s President is also reported on In-Nazzjon speaking about ‘lack of educators’ and teachers, saying that the government is looking into the situation late.

• The Malta Independent is also reporting that Planning Authority chairman Johann Buttigieg authorised the use of a private jet to transport board member to Malta from vacation, in time for the decision on the db Group project. In-Nazzjon reports that PN leader Adrian Delia is asking for an inquiry into the decision taken by the Planning Authority.

• L-Orizzont leads with a photo story showing Malta’s Prime Minister Joseph Muscat meeting US President Donald Trump. L-Orizzont reports that ‘The People of Change Foundation’ is saying that racism has increased and this isn’t just the result of an increase of foreigners in Malta. The headline reports that its a pity that people are excluded on the basis of their skin colour.

• The main story of L-Orizzont quotes the MFSA CEO Joseph Cuschieri’s reaction to the proposed act which should lead to the modernisation of the MFSA.

• In another story we read that the Commissioner for Right of People with Disability said that a disability shouldn’t mean the automatic denial of human rights. Oliver Scicluna was referring to a United Nations report published yesterday, which made a series of appeals to the Maltese government, including the removal of an act, where psychiatric treatment should always be consensual.

• The Times and In-Nazzjon reports a photo story regards the strong winds and seas which happened yesterday.