The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press:
The Times and some of the other newspapers lead with the UN decision to allow air strikes on Libya. It also says that Maltese have fled Japan.
The Malta Independent says the Libyan UN representative believes Gaddafi is trying to get fuel from Malta.
In-Nazzjon says more easyJet aircraft are using the SR Technics facilities in Malta.
l-orizzont says the GWU wants an inquiry on Enemalta industrial relations.
The overseas press
Le Soir reports that the EU has welcomed the UN Security Council resolution on Libya which paves the way for international air strikes against Muammar Gaddafi's forces and authorises military action to protect civilians and a no-fly zone. Jerzy Buzek, the head of the European Parliament, said there was no time to waste to enforce it.
The New York Times quotes UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon aying that given the critical situation on the ground, he expected immediate action on the resolution's provisions. Diplomats indicated that air strikes from a coalition led by Britain, France and the United States could be imminent. However, the UN resolution rules out sending foreign ground troops.
Speaking to Al Jazeera, French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said there was not much time left for the international community to act. “It's a question of days or hours because the pressure against Benghazi, especially, is now very tough.”
Canadian broadcaster CTV says there are plans to send six CF-18 fighter jets to help enforce the no-fly zone over Libya. Quoting Canadian government sources, it added that they would fly alongside US, British and French aircraft, and those from other countries.
In an interview broadcast by the Portuguese public Radiotelevisao Portuguesa just before the Security Council voted on the resolution, Gaddafi dismissed its actions. "The UN Security Council has no mandate. We don't acknowledge their resolutions," he said. He pledged to respond harshly to UN-sponsored attacks. "If the world is crazy, we will be crazy too."
Al Libya TV says that speaking to reporters in Tripoli after the vote, Libyan Deputy Foreign Minister Khalid Kaim took a conciliatory tone, offering to negotiate a cease-fire with the rebels. He told a news conference his government had discussed the ceasefire with the UN envoy for Libya, Jordan's Abdul Ilah Khatib and indicated that Libya would react positively to the UN resolution. “We will prove this willingness while guaranteeing protection to civilians,” he said.
Earlier the official Libyan news agency Jana quoted a Defence Ministry spokesman warning that any military operation against Libya would expose all air and maritime traffic in the Mediterranean to danger. "Any civilian or military moving traffic will be the target of a Libyan counter-offensive."
Al Hayat says that in Benghazi, the main opposition stronghold, a large crowd watching the UN vote on an outdoor TV projection burst into celebration as green and red fireworks filled the air. The resolution came just a few hours after Gaddafi warned residents of Benghazi that his forces would show "no mercy" in an impending assault on the city. That force has advanced along the Mediterranean coast aiming to recapture the rebel-held eastern half of Libya.
Quoting US and Libyan officials, The Wall Street Journal reports that Egypt's military has begun shipping arms over the border to Libyan rebels, with US knowledge. The shipments – mostly small arms such as assault rifles and ammunition – appear to be the first confirmed case of an outside government arming the rebel fighters.
The Egyptian Gazette says aid agencies on Egypt's border with were bracing for a mass exodus if Gaddafi prevails. Andrea Oess, of Swiss Humanitarian Aid, said that if Benghazi was taken, they were expecting between 40,000 and 100,000 people. “And we are not ready.”
TV Asahi quotes Japan's top government spokesman saying Tokyo was willing to accept US help in dealing with the country's nuclear crisis, and was discussing the matter with Washington. Top government spokesman Yukio Edano says they were coordinating with the Americans as to what the US couls provide and what people really need.
Asahi Shimbun says Japan's nuclear safety agency reported that smoke was rising from a building housing a damaged nuclear reactor at a power plant crippled by last week's tsunami. A spokesman said the agency did not know the cause. Meanwhile, Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) said it hoped to re-activate the cooling system at Reactor 2 later today, Friday, after laying a new power line to restore power to the system/ It was trying to do the same for the other two reactors.
Nikkei reports the yen fell in early Friday trading after the Group of Seven major governments agreed to intervene in currency markets to support Japan's quake recovery. The G-7 did not say what it would do, but the yen had risen this week, possibly threatening Japan's exports. Shortly after the G-7 announcement, the yen fell from 79.45 to the dollar to 81.26 in Tokyo.
Gulf News reports several opposition leaders and activists have been arrested in Bahrain following a violent crackdown on anti-government protests in the Gulf kingdom. State television said "leaders of the civil strife" had been arrested for communicating with foreign countries and inciting murder and destruction of property.
The Associated Press reports 17 whimpering puppies – eight males and nine females – were born by Cesarean section at a veterinary clinic near Warsaw to a four-year-old Great Dane. Hania, looking tired, her puppies and another female Great Dane helping to nurse the litter, occupy most of the ground floor at Kubalska's house in a Warsaw suburb. The tiny pups nursed and slept by their mother on Thursday. A Rhodesian Ridgeback in Germany made headlines in September when it also gave birth to 17 puppies.