Good morning,
The anniversary since journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia’s brutal murder features on the front pages of three of Malta’s newspapers. In international news we read about the submission of the Italian budget to the EU, the comments by Trump on Khashoggi’s murder, the famine in Yemen and the death of Microsoft’s co-founder Paul Allen.
Your morning briefing brings you the main news as reported in the headlines from Malta, Europe and the world.
The Latest
Italy’s coalition government has approved budget plans for next year that will lower the retirement age and allow for a partial amnesty on unpaid taxes. Speaking after a cabinet meeting on Monday evening Giuseppe Conte, Italy’s prime minister, said the government would send the draft of its budget to the European Commission as planned before the midnight deadline on Monday. FT
Australia will consider recognising Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and moving its embassy there from Tel Aviv, Prime Minister Scott Morrison says. BBC
The European Union on Monday unveiled a legal framework to allow sanctions against the use of chemical weapons.The new framework could see restrictions placed on Russia over the poisoning of former spy Sergei Skripal. Potential sanctions could involve travel bans and asset freezes. DW
The Russian Orthodox Church on Monday angrily broke all ties with the Holy Synod of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, the worldwide leadership of Orthodox Christianity, in response to a decision last week granting independence to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. POLITICO
Paul Allen, the co-founder of Microsoft, died on Monday from complications of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, his family said in a statement. The statement said that Allen, a “noted technologist, philanthropist, community builder, conservationist, musician and supporter of the arts,” passed away in Seattle, Washington, his family said through Allen’s company, Vulcan Inc. He was 65. CD/AP
Yemen’s Western- and Gulf-backed president sacked his prime minister on Monday, blaming him for the economic crisis in a country devastated by war, according to a statement carried by the loyalist SABA state news agency. Reuters
Trump has speculated that “rogue killers” may have been responsible for the presumed death of Jamal Khashoggi, as Turkish investigators finally gained access to the Saudi consulate, 13 days after the missing Washington Post columnist was last seen there. The Guardian
The adult-film actress Stormy Daniels’ libel suit against President Donald Trump was thrown out Monday by a federal judge, who also ordered Daniels to pay Trump’s legal fees in the case. POLITICO
The Newspaper Review
A year passed since the brutal murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia. Three newspapers have stories related to the slain journalist on their front pages.
We start with The Malta Independent which features its editorial on the front page today, marking the first anniversary since the death of ‘friend and colleague’ Daphne Caruana Galizia. The editorial, penned by Noel Grima, says Caruana Galizia sought high ideals and promoted good practice.
The Times reveals that Daphne Caruana Galizia is one of the four nominees for this year’s Anti-Corruption Award, which will be announced on October 22 in the International Anti-Corruption Conference in Copenhagen.
In-Nazzjon reports on an urgent motion presented to the Speaker of the House by PN Leader Adrian Delia on behalf of the Opposition calling for an new independent and autonomous investigation into the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia.
L-Orizzont covers the launch of the whitepaper on the rental sector with the government is mulling eliminating six-month contracts which, the newspaper says is a source of instability.
The Times, too, features the whitepaper quoting Parliamentary Secretary for Housing Roderick Galdes who said the goal of the reform is to bring more transparency in the residential renting sector. The paper says the document does not seek to fix initial prices.
The Malta Independent leads with the acceptance of the Venice Commission to advise Malta in its review of legal and institutional structures. The Venice Commission told the newspaper that a legal opinion is likely to be adopted in December.
L-Orizzont leads with a story about the signing of a sectoral agreement for members of the police. General Workers Union Secretary for Disciplined Forces, Security and Law Enforcement Officers hailed the agreement and said that the union demonstrated that it can negotiate successfully.
In other articles, L-Orizzont defends GWU Secretary Theo Vella against what is calls inaccuracies published in in-Nazzjon; it also reports on disagreements between Air Malta and pilots on the rosters.
