The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press.
Times of Malta reports how naked selfie extortion landed a woman in court. It also reports how the artist who designed the Mintoff statue has blasted a decision by the Office of the Prime Minister to scrap it
The Malta Independent quotes the government saying lawyer Paul Lia will not be chief justice.
In-Nazzjon says the government's agreement with Jordanian investors will allow building up to eight storeys high in Zonqor.
l-orizzont reports that Fr Rene Camilleri has been criticised by young priests for comments he made about an 'antiquated' church.
The overseas press
Al Jazeera reports hundreds of people are feared dead after two boats carrying up to 500 refugees capsized off the Libyan city of Zuwara. The first boat, which signalled for help yesterday, had nearly 50 people on board, while the second had as many as 400 passengers.
People around the world are living longer, but many are also living sicker lives for longer, according to a study published in The Lancet journal of all major diseases and injuries in 188 countries. General health has improved worldwide, thanks to significant progress against infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS and malaria in the past decade and gains in fighting maternal and child illnesses. But healthy life expectancy has not increased as much, so people are living more years with illness and disability, according to the analysis.
Kathimerini says Greece will today have its first female prime minister as 65-year-old Vassiliki Thanou, the country’s top Supreme Court judge, will take the oath of office and will lead the country to elections expected on September 20. Meanwhile, yesterday was Alexis Tspiras last day in the office after he resigned as prime minister last week over a bailout rebellion.
President Obama has marked the tenth anniversary of hurricane Katrina, one of the Gulf regions’ most devastating storms, by praising the response to the disaster of the people of New Orleans. According to Time, he called New Orleans a beacon of resilience and strength, a city swiftly moving forward in the wake of an epic tragedy.
Al Ahram reports an Egyptian court has sentenced 12 members of the Islamic State group to death. They were found guilty of have joined the IS and planning attacks against police and soldiers.
Bogota Post says Columbian President Juan Manuel Santos has recalled his country’s ambassador to Venezuela a week after the Venezuelan president announced the closure of the border between the two countries. More than 1,000 Columbians have been expelled from Venezuela since then.
Ansa says the European Court of Human Rights has turned down an appeal by an Italian woman who wants to donate her frozen embryos to science, ruling that Italy’s 2004 law banning the destruction of human embryos does not violate her right to privacy or property. The court said “human embryos can’t be reduced to a piece of property, as defined in...the European Convention on Human Rights”.
Al Hayat reports a surge in the number of deaths in Saudi Arabia from Middle East respiratory syndrome: 17 people have died over the past week. Concern is being expressed as next month, Muslims from all over the world will converge there for the Haj pilgrimage.
LBC says a foster mother forced a girl to kneel in scalding water after the child soiled herself. Family court judge Sarah Singleton said the girl, who is now aged 12, was treated with “cold contempt” by her foster mother and the woman’s partner. The court heard the girl was also bitten by her foster parents’ three Rottweiler dogs and was left “deeply traumatised”. The child is now in the care of Lancashire council. She lived with the couple for about a decade.