The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press.
The Sunday Times of Malta reports how the Prime Minister is telling critics of the new university site to show him alternatives. It also says that talks are being held with Turkish Airlines on possible partial privatisation of Air Malta.
The Malta Independent says requirements have been reduced for academic institutions to become universities. It says that according to the government, the changes were needed in the interests of pluralism.
Malta Today says the EU will tell Joseph Muscat to ban trapping, or face court action.
It-Torca says the new university would inject €70m a year in the south of Malta.
Il-Mument gives prominence to comments by Labour MP Marlene Farrugia that the government was bound by obligations to somebody. She was referring to the development of virgin land in Marsascala.
Illum says it was impossible for former minister Giovanna Debono not to know about the allegations against her husband.
KullHadd says Simon Busuttil is keeping his mouth closed about the Gozo works for votes claims.
The overseas press
Bild am Sonntag reports Germany’s foreign intelligence agency BND provided the United States with information as to the whereabouts of Osama bin Laden, before he was killed in May 2011 by US special forces in Pakistan. It said the BND told the CIA that bin Laden was hiding in Pakistan with the knowledge of Pakistani security authorities. The newspaper reported that the BND provided help before the operation that killed bin Laden, using its base in the Bavarian town of Bad Aibling to monitor telephone and email traffic in northern Pakistan.
Avvenire says Pope Francis will today canonise two Arabic-speaking nuns who lived in Palestine under 19th century Ottoman rule. The new saints – Mariam Bawardy, who worked for the poor, and Marie Alphonsine Ghattas, who opened schools for girls – are the first from the region to be canonized since the early days of Christianity after both had miracles attributed to them. Yesterday, the Pope praised Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, in Rome to attend a ceremony, as an “angel of peace” underscoring the Holy See’s warm relations with the Palestinians.
The BBC has been told Islamic State fighters have been smuggled into Europe by human trafficking gangs operating in the Mediterranean Sea. An adviser to Libya’s internationally-recognised government said the smugglers were hiding the militants on boats filled with migrants. Some traffickers in Libya see the Islamic State as allowing to continue their operations in exchange for 50 per cent of their income.
Al-Arabiya reports Islamic State fighters have pushed into the Syrian town of Palmyra, home to famed 2,000-year-old ruins. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the militants were clashing with government troops in the northern part of the town. A video circulated on social media shows a man raising a black IS flag on a building allegedly in northern Palmyra. The extremists have seized a gas field north east of Palmyra and nearby villages.
According to Fox News, US troops flew into eastern Syria and killed IS militant leader Abu Sayyaf, and captured his wife, in what Washington has called a “major blow” to the terrorist group. Pentagon chief Ashton Carter said Sayyaf was involved in the group’s military operations and also managed its illegal gas, oil and financial operations. His wife was also believed to be complicit in activities carried out by the “Islamic State” and had apparently played a role in enslaving a young Yazidi woman rescued in the US army operation.
Al Jazeera says Egypt has come under criticism from a number of countries and at least one major human rights organization for the death sentence handed to ousted Islamist president Mohammed Morsi and more than 100 other defendants. The court in Cairo sentenced Morsi to death over his role in a mass jailbreak during the 2011 uprising that ousted former president Hosni Mubarak.
Euronews reports Thailand appears to be ignoring a United Nations appeal to rescue those adrift in the Andaman Sea. A video has emerged purporting to show a navy vessel towing a boat full of migrants away from Thai waters. It is believed to have been picked up by Malaysian authorities when it entered local waters. The majority of those attempting the crossing are minority Rohingya Muslims. Hailing from Myanmar, but officially stateless, they’re one of the most persecuted groups on the planet.
AP says strong storms, including some tornadoes, have hit across the US midsection. Authorities in Oklahoma said there were reports of damage to homes and businesses and significant damage to power lines. Rain and winds were also moving across parts of Texas, Kansas, Nebraska and Minnesota, where there were some reports of tornadoes.
Iwacu reports 17 security officials, including five generals, accused over the attempted coup of Burundi president Pierre Nkurunziza, have appeared before a prosecutor who charged them with an attempt at destabilising public institutions.