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

Times of Malta says commuters were “held hostage” by an angry bus driver for nearly 45 minutes yesterday after a passenger threatened to report him for using his mobile phone while driving. In another story, the newspaper says the Church’s Response Team is looking into claims that sexual abuse was committed several times by a 54-year-old priest from Rabat, who is due to appear in court to face criminal charges over the allegations.

In-Nazzjon says Leisure Clothing’s managerial director Bin Han has been arrested following its investigation into an alleged human trafficking ring of Asians in Malta. The factory belongs to the Chinese government.

L-Orizzont says that two women who were migrant children in Australia want to be acknowledged by having their names on the Child Migrants Monument.

The Malta Independent says one of the victims of alleged sexual abuse by a priest from Rabat was offered a six-figure sum to remain silent by a member of the Dominican Order to which the priests belongs.

International news

NATO says it has detected “unusual” activity in European airspace in the past two days. Le Soir quotes a NATO military spokesman saying four groups of Russian war planes had been “conducting significant military manoeuvres” over the Baltic Sea, North Sea and the Black Sea. He said Norwegian, British, Portuguese, German and Turkish fighters were sent up to intercept and identify the Russian planes.

Libyan military spokesman Mohammed Hegazi has said pro-government soldiers have captured the centre of Benghazi and former General Khalifa Haftar “marched in parade in the heart of the city”. The news came as Libya Herald announced the Libyan Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), which had been ordered to Beida to be under the closer authority of the Libyan government, was reported be looking to reopen the airport in Benghazi within three to five weeks.

Le Courrier reports the UN refugee agency has urged Spain not to legalise the automatic return of people trying to cross into its enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla in North Africa. The UNHCR said stripping people of their right to request asylum could put Spain in breach of the 1951 Refugee Convention. So far this year, some 5,000 people entered the enclaves irregularly by land and sea.

Islamic State militants have executed more than 30 tribesmen in western Iraq, as government forces continue their offensive against the extremist militants across the country. Security sources told Xinhua the IS captured more than 40 Sunni tribesmen in the seized town of Heet, and executed them, accusing them of collaborating with the security forces against IS militants.

Reuters reports Israel’s far-right Rabbi, Yehuda Glick has been shot and wounded in Jerusalem, outside a conference promoting a Jewish campaign to allow prayer at an Old City compound holy to both Jews and Muslims. Tension has been on the rise since the end of the Gaza war in August with almost nightly clashes between Israeli security forces and Palestinian protesters.

Haaretz says Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been offended by the publication of a slur against him in the high-profile US magazine, The Atlantic. The slur was reportedly made by an unnamed US official, who described Mr Netanyahu as a “chickenshit prime minister”, “coward” and a man more interested in his own political survival than peace. Speaking to the Israeli parliament, an angry Netanyahu insisted he was “under attack simply for defending Israel”, adding that he “cherished” Israel’s relationship with the US.

Al Ahram reports Egypt has begun demolishing homes along its border with the Gaza Strip as part of a planned 500-metre buffer zone that is intended to prevent weapons smuggling. Egyptian media accuses Gaza’s Hamas administration of aiding militants in Sinai, a charge Hamas denies.

The Times leads with an article by David Cameron, in which the British Prime Minister says cutting taxes was a moral duty and vowed to save workers £3,800 (€4,800) a year if the Conservatives win the next election. The paper says Cameron wants to put the spotlight on tax promises after four weeks dominated by UKIP, immigration and Europe.

Lusaka Times says a white head of state has been appointed in Africa for the first time in decades, as Guy Scott became the interim president of Zambia after the death of Michael Sata. Vice-president Scott was named acting leader and will be in the job for at least 90 days.

The Financial Times reports Tesco faces an investigation by the Serious Fraud Office into a £263 million accounting black hole. Britain’s biggest supermarket group confirmed yesterday that the crime agency would examine its accounting practices after revelations that Tesco had overstated its half-year profit forecast by more than a quarter of a billion pounds.

La Prensa says Bolivia’s President Evo Morales kept his absolute majority in congress, winning 61.36 per cent of the vote against 24.23 per cent for his closest rival. The result means Morales, a socialist in power since 2006 and Bolivia’s first indigenous president, will extend his time in office until January 2020.

The New York Daily News reports a psychotic killer decapitated his college professor mom and dumped her corpse in the street before stepping in front of a Long Island Rail Road train to end a grisly murder-suicide. Police said Patricia Ward, 66, was savagely killed inside the family’s gore-spattered apartment by her chronically unemployed son Derek, 35, who had a psychiatric record dating back a decade. He was carrying a Smith & Wesson pistol and 100 valium pills when he died.

According to The Daily Star, Pope Francis has demanded “evil” Halloween be axed – because a growing number of children were being possessed during the spook festival. Instead, the Pope want the annual celebration of ghosts and ghouls be axed in favour of a prayer-filled “Holyween” to keep kids safe. Fr Aldo Buonaiuto, from the International Association of Exorcists, revealed calls to his helpline about possessions rocketed around October 31 each year. He’s petrified innocent children were increasingly becoming victims to sacrifices and evil rituals.

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