The following are the top stories in the national and international press today.
Martin Galea
All national newspapers today lead with the story of oil worker Martin Galea who was abducted by Libyan rebel militias last week and whose fate was still unknown despite diplomatic contacts between the Maltese government and representatives of his abductors.
The story was broken by Times of Malta yesterday afternoon. In a statement in Parliament in the evening, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said the government has known about the abduction since Sunday. He said he could not give assurance that Mr Galea was still alive although his latest information was that he was.
International news
Arutz Sheva reports a 12-hour pause in hostilities in Gaza has come into force after an agreement between the Israeli government and the Palestinian militant group Hamas. Israel has described it as a “humanitarian window”. A military spokeswoman said during the brief truce, troops would keep searching for tunnels used by militants and that the military will “respond if terrorists choose to exploit this time to attack Israel Defense Forces. Earlier, the Israeli cabinet rejected a seven-day ceasefire proposed by US Secretary of State John Kerry.
According to Al Ayyam, at least five Palestinians have been shot dead during clashes between Palestinian youths and Israeli forces in several parts of the West Bank during the “Day of Rage” protests against the Gaza offensive. According to the UN, Israeli air strikes killed a further 68 people in Gaza on Friday, bringing the total number of Palestinian dead to about 870.
Le Soir says the European Union has expanded its blacklist of Russian individuals and organizations which would be subject to asset freezes and travel bans in protest at Russia’s role in the Ukraine crisis. The EU says the list included of two top security and intelligence chiefs. Meanwhile, Russia has accused the United States of conducting a “smear campaign” over its alleged involvement in the conflict.
Meanwhile, Reuters reports that when Dutch Foreign Minister Frans Timmermans spoke to his European Union peers of his grief and anger over the downing of a Malaysia Airlines airliner over eastern Ukraine, it was a turning point in Europe's approach to Russia. Several ministers had tears in their eyes when Timmermans said he had known personally some of the 194 Dutch passengers among the 298 people who died on the plane, which Washington believes pro-Russian separatists shot down in error.
VOA News says President Obama has told the presidents of Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador that most unaccompanied children and teenagers crossing the border into the United States without a valid reason to stay, would be deported. More than 50,000 have been detained at the US border with Mexico since October.
Al Watan quotes French aviation experts saying poor weather was the most likely cause of the crash of the Air Algerie flight in Mali that killed all 118 people on board. Investigators at the scene of the crash concluded the McDonnell Douglas MD-83 aircraft broke apart when it smashed into the ground early on Thursday morning, suggesting it was unlikely to have been the victim of an attack.
A military court in Cameroon has handed down prison sentences of up to 20 years to 14 Boko Haram members, the country's state broadcaster Crtv reported. The defendants, who were arrested in March after the discovery of a weapons cache, admitted to being part of the Nigerian extremist group at a "public hearing" in the northern town of Maroua. They had been charged with the illegal possession of firearms and ammunition and of plotting an insurrection.
China has investigated more than 25,000 people for corruption in the first six months of 2014. The country’s official news agency Xinhua quotes country's top prosecutor saying nearly 85 percent of the cases involved bribes of more than 50,000 yuan (€6,000) or embezzlement of 100,000 yuan.
ABC says a 15th-century Bible that changed the way books were read and disseminated has gone on display in Melbourne. The Gutenberg Bible was the first book printed using mechanical moveable type. The edition on display in Melbourne is one of just nine remaining complete copies and is on show as part of Rare Book Week at the University of Melbourne. University librarian Philip Kent said the book changed the world.
Witchita Times says a ten-month baby died after being left in a hot car for two hours in the town of Wichita, Kansas. The child was in a car in the parking lot of the house where he lived with his two foster parents, two men, who have four other children in foster care. Since 1998 an average of 38 children a year have died in the United States of heatstroke in cars, most of them under the age of five. So far this year, the toll stands at 17, prompting a national campaign urging parents and caregivers never to leave kids alone in parked cars.