The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press.
Times of Malta quotes the foreign minister as saying that vigilance is needed as Islamists make gains in Libya.
The Malta Independent says France is in turmoil as the government is dissolved.
l-orizzont leads with more details on the discovery of an ancient Phoenician boat on the seabed.
In-Nazzjon says the government is not comfortable with the Judge Lino Farrugia Sacco case.
The overseas press
The United Nations has condemned “human rights violations” by the Islamic State forces in Iraq, including mass executions of prisoners that could amount to war crimes. Tribune de Genève quotes the High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pilla, saying up to 670 prisoners in Mosul were killed by the Islamic State on June 10.
ABC reports Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott has allocated $64 million to supporting community groups and security agencies to reduce the threat of home-grown terrorism. Speaking in Melbourne, Mr Abbott said there were at least 60 Australians fighting with the Islamic State in northern Iraq and eastern Syria and about 100 Australians working to support the movement.
Libya's political and military conflict heated up yesterday after the Islamist coalition which controls the capital, Tripoli, appointed a new prime minister and declared the newly-elected parliament null and void. Libya Herald says the prime minister already in office, Abdullah al-Thani, responded by calling the Islamist forces in Tripoli “tyrants” and insisting they could not govern the country by force.
Meanwhile, American officials say Egypt and the UAE were behind a series of air strikes on Islamist militants in the Libyan capital Tripoli during the past week. They told The New York Times that Washington was not consulted about the attacks which were reportedly launched from bases in Egypt.
France 24 says President François Hollande has ordered Prime Minister Manuel Valls to form a new government following an open feud within his cabinet over the country’s economic direction.
Kyiv Post leads with Ukrainian President Petro Poroschenko’s decision to dissolve parliament and call a snap election on October 26. In a TV address, he said a new parliament was necessary, in part, to remove members who were blocking reform.
Reuters quotes Palestinian health officials saying Israeli air strikes launched before dawn today killed two Palestinians and destroyed much of one of Gaza’s tallest apartment and office buildings, setting off huge explosions and wounding 20 people.
The leaders of the campaign for and against Scottish independence have held their final televised debate before a referendum next month. The BBC says Scotland’s pro-independent First Minister Alex Salmond insisted that more and more people wanted home rule. His opponent, Alistair Darling, said Salmond wanted to build an independent state no matter what it cost.
According to VOA News, hundreds of people have attended the funeral of Michael Brown, the unarmed Afro-American teenager shot dead by a Caucasian police officer in St Louis, Missouri. Speakers asked the congregation to remember him not with violence but with peace.
O Globo reports the Brazilian authorities have said rioting prisoners have agreed to end a riot that began on Sunday in a jail in the southern city of Cascavel. The rioters killed four of their fellow inmates – two of them beheaded. Under the deal, some 800 inmates would be transferred to other jails in Parana state.
The Associated Press says countless of hungry and restless ghosts are roaming Hong Kong, and the world, to visit their living descendants. In traditional Chinese belief, the seventh month of the lunar year is reserved for the Hungry Ghost festival, or Yu Lan, which began on August. 10. The ghosts are ravenous and envious after dying without descendants or because they were not venerated by relatives who are still alive.