The following are the top stories in the national and international press today.

Times of Malta reports the CEO of MSV Live saying Maltese people were saving less, spending more and not planning for their pension, risking a retirement during which they would be unable “to live with dignity”. In another story, it says the Nationalist Party backed a police investigation to be ordered by the government into reports of structural weaknesses at Mater Dei Hospital’s accident and emergency department.

L-Orizzont says forensic expert Mario Mifsud is concerned about new drugs entering the country, mostly through the internet, and their use during parties without any knowledge of their effects.

The Malta Independent says 66 bomb threats have been made at the law courts in Malta and Gozo since 2009.

In-Nazzjon says Prime Minister’s chief of staff Keith Schembri some days ago picked up a Libyan person from the Malta International Airport apron possibly in breach of airport security.

International news

CNN reports leaders of the US House and Senate intelligence committees – a Republican and a Democrat – have prodded President Obama to take decisive action against what they say were “growing threats from Islamic State militants on US soil”. The lawmakers offered bipartisan pressure on the White House to turn back the hazard of Islamist fighters who have taken control of vast swaths of Syria and Iraq.

In the UK, the Daily Mirror says MI6 was searching for a British mother who the paper says has become a powerful recruiting tool for the Islamic State.

Deutsche Welle reports the German government has announced it will supply €70 million-worth of high-end military equipment to Kurdish forces fighting Islamic State militants in Iraq. Berlin will also send €50 million in humanitarian aid to the region.

Al-Hayat quotes the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reporting more than 40 children have been killed by government air strikes and shelling across Syria over the past 36 hours. The latest figures provided by the UN showed 191,000 deaths in 41 months.

Fox News reports key American senators have called for the US to send weapons to help Ukraine fight what they describe as “a Russian invasion”.  And London’s Daily Telegraph says British Prime Minister David Cameron and President Obama are to join forces at this week’s Nato summit to urge their allies to increase defence spending in the face of a growing threat to Ukraine from Russia.

Meanwhile, RIA Novosty says President Putin has called for talks to discuss statehood for eastern Ukraine to end the conflict in the area. Hours later, Kyiv Post reported Ukraine said a border guard vessel operating in the Azov Sea was attacked by land-based forces. Pro-Russian rebels have recently opened a new offensive along the seacoast.

Al Arabiya reports an Islamist-allied militia group in control of Libya’s capital now guards the US Embassy and its residential compound. But Reuters says they have not broken into the main compound where the United States evacuated all of its staff to Tunisia last month.

Meanwhile, AGI quoted Libya’s state-run National Oil Company announcing that Libya’s oil production had risen to 700,000 barrels per day. Production has steadily increased in recent weeks after the major oil ports in eastern Libya were reopened following a deal between the government and the rebels who had seized them.

Haaretz reports Israel has announced plans to expropriate 400 hectares of land in the occupied West Bank, in the Etzion settlement bloc near Bethlehem and Hebron. Israel’s military-run civil administration has declared it “state land”. Meanwhile, The Washington Post quotes the US State Department saying the announcement was “counterproductive” to peace efforts and urged the Israeli government to reverse the decision.

South China Morning Post says democratic groups in Hong Kong have vowed to fight a Chinese government decision that rules out open nominations for the next leadership election. The election, due in 2017, will be the first in which the Hong Kong chief executive is directly chosen by voters. On Sunday a group of pro-democracy supporters protested in a park in front of Hong Kong government headquarters.

France 24 reports at least four people – two children and two women –  died and six are missing after an explosion destroyed a four-storey building in the Parisian suburb of Rosny-sous-Bois on Sunday morning. The blast, most likely caused by a gas leak, also injured 11, of whom four are in serious condition.

According to Mashable and TMZ, nude photos purportedly showing many top stars, including Oscar-winner Jennifer Lawrence and pop star Rihanna, bounced around social media, in an apparent massive hacking leak. Among the celebrities whose pictures allegedly were stolen and posted online were Kate Upton and Kim Kardashian. Most of the actresses have confirmed the images were fake.

Asahi Shimbun reports nine adult Japanese porn actresses raised about five million yen (€35,500) at the weekend by having their breasts squeezed by fans at a “Boob Aid” a 24-hour “Stop! AIDS” charity campaign in Tokyo for AIDS prevention. Nearly 6,000 pairs of hands groped for a total of over 15 hours until yesterday evening, organisers said.

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