The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press.

Times of Malta and the Malta Independent say hunting rules may get stricter after Sunday’s incidents.

In-Nazzjon says there is a serious dispute between the Gozo Channel chairman and three internal auditors

l-orizzont says a particular type of bee poses a serious danger to children.

The overseas press

Foreign ministers from 13 countries, together with the UN and the EU have called for an immediate truce in Libya and backed moves to try to end a bitter power struggle between rival governments. The New York Times report the ministers said in a joint communiqué there was no military solution to the conflict and called on all parties to accept an immediate, comprehensive ceasefire.

USA Today reports the US military, along with Arab allies, launched the first airstrikes against Islamic State targets in Syria, as the war ordered by President Obama against the militant organization entered an urgent new phase.  

The European Union has boosted security at its Brussels headquarters even as authorities downplayed reports that jihadists arrested after returning from Syria were planning to target the building. L’Echo quotes Belgian judicial officials saying materials which could be used to make explosive devices were found in a raid in the Netherlands.

Le Monde quotes French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius confirming a French citizen, Herve Gourdel, has been kidnapped in Algeria by a militant group linked to Islamic State. Fabius said a video on the internet was genuine. The online video showed Gourdel flanked by armed men, calling on France not to strike IS militants in Iraq.

Al Ayyam says Iraqi MPs from north of Falluja have said Islamic State has killed some 300 Iraqi soldiers at Saqlawiya by a chlorine-gas attack.

The BBC reports the UN refugee agency has said Turkey urgently needs help to care for 130,000 Syrian refugees who have crossed the border in recent days.  The UNHCR said this was the largest influx in such a short period since the start of the Syrian conflict in 2011.

The Wall Street Journal says a court in the United States has found the Jordan-based Arab Bank liable for knowingly supporting terrorism by transferring funds to the Palestinian militant group. Hamas. A jury decided Arab Bank must compensate victims of a number of attacks carried out in Israel and the Palestinian territories. The Bank says it will appeal.

Le Soir says the European Commission is ready to discuss Gazprom’s South Stream gas pipeline project at a meeting between Russia, Ukraine and the European Union on gas supplies in Berlin on September 26, if Moscow raises the issue.

The Washington Post says more than 800 bullets, a machete, and two hatchets were found in the car belonging to the man who was found in the car on Friday climbed over the fence of the White House armed with a knife running towards the main entrance.

Metro says prosecutors in the southern Italian city of Trapani have asked a judge to send five managers and analysts from rating agency Standard & Poor's and the company itself to trial on allegations of deliberately misleading financial markets with reports on Italy. The reports were issued by the ratings agency between May 2011 and January 2012, at the height of the eurozone debt crisis when Italy looked to be in danger of a Greek-style financial meltdown. Standard and Poor's denied the allegations.

Corriere della Sera reports Florence prosecutors are probing Vatican Museums director Antonio Paolucci on suspicion of abuse of office in his previous post as superintendent of Florence museums,. Also under investigation are Cristina Acidini, who resigned Monday from her post as the current head of Florence museums, and two other people. Acidini said her decision to quit after a 38-year career as a culture official was due to planned reforms and had "nothing to do" with the probe.

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