The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press.
The Sunday Times of Malta reports how a knife attack grocer called for protection after the alleged aggressor returned to a bar next door the day after a police report. It also says Gozo Channel is paying twice as much for its fuel after a change of supplier.
The Malta Independent on Sunday reports that the government fears a drastic increase of migration owing to Mediterranean conflicts.
MaltaToday says that according to a survey, the Maltese admire Angela Markel most among foreign leaders. Most also approved the sale of a stake in Enemalta to China.
It-Torca focuses on a phased modernisation of the Pitkali vegetable market.
Il-Mument says it is revealing the government's plan for Enemalta workers. They are not being assured of their allowances or the section where they will work.
Illum says Joseph Muscat had not spoken in Maltese in an EU event after previously insisting on the use of Maltese among other languages in EU fora.
KullHadd says the government is planning a new incentive scheme for SMEs.
The overseas press
British nationals feature stories on their front pages regarding the Islamic State (IS) militants in northern Iraq. The Sunday Express leads with claims the FBI is to guard British airports amid fears the UK’s anti-terrorism efforts were “failing”. British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond has said the threat posed by IS will persist for a generation. The Sunday Times claims that the man known as ‘John’, understood to have beheaded US journalist James Foley, has been identified.
Fox News quotes the US Central Command saying US military jets have again fired at Islamic State militants in support of Iraqi security force operations in the vicinity of Mosul Dam. Since August 8, US Central Command has conducted a total of 94 airstrikes across Iraq, 61 of which have been in support of Iraqi forces near the Mosul Dam. The Observer says the US is considering air strikes aimed at eliminating individual leaders of Islamic State.
Three simultaneous bombs have exploded in Kirkuk in northern Iraq, killing at least 18 people. Rudawn says members of the Kurdish security forces, the Peshmerga, were among those killed. IS militants are suspected of having carried out the attack.
The UN has called for action to prevent what it says may be a possible massacre in the northern Iraqi town of Amerli, under siege by Islamic State (IS) for two months. The BBC quotes special representative Nickolay Mladenov saying he was “seriously alarmed” by reports regarding the conditions in which the town’s residents live: they have no electricity or drinking water, and are running out of food and medical supplies.
RIA Novosti reports the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has confirmed all 227 vehicles that entered Ukraine as part of a Russian aid convoy have returned home. All vehicles were empty. The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry had described the convoy crossing the Russian border as a violation of international norms.
Al Ayyam says 10 Palestinians were injured when Israeli missiles demolished a 12-storey apartment block in Gaza city. Haartez quotes an Israeli military official saying Hamas militants used the block as a command centre. Dozens of rockets have been fired into southern Israel from Gaza.
The New York Times quotes senior US government officials saying the Obama administration is considering disarming the police after a police officer fatally shot an unarmed teenager in Ferguson, Missouri, earlier this month. President Obama had ordered a review focusing on the use of military-grade body armour, mine-resistant trucks, silencers and automatic rifles.
Xinhua says eight people have been executed for “terrorism” in the north-western region of Xingjian. Among those executed were three men convicted of plotting a deadly assault in the heart of Beijing last year. The others were convicted of offenses including police attacks, bomb making, murder and arson.
O Globo says at least 10 people were injured in a gas explosion in the centre of Brazil’s largest city of Sao Paulo on Saturday, local Telesur channel reported. Three people are in critical condition.
Sky News reports Sir Cliff Richard has been interviewed by police in northern England in connection with a sex-crime allegation. The singer maintains the allegations against him were completely false.
According to Austria Times, a Chinese chef preparing a dish made from cobra flesh died when the snake's head he had severed 20 minutes earlier bit him on the hand. Victim Peng Fan had been preparing a special dish made from Indochinese spitting cobra, a rare delicacy. But when he went to throw the serpent’s severed head into the waste bin, it bit him, injecting him with its fast-acting venom.
Die Presse reports a woman accused of making a porn movie in a local church has been caught after an informant tipped off police that he recognised her by her breasts after an appeal for information. The picture shows the woman opening her top and caressing her breasts holding what appears to be a Bible and a rosary. According to detectives, the 24-year-old woman had made similar films on the internet under the name Babsi and it had been easy to see that she was also the young woman in the church.