The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press:
The Times says the new CEO at Air Malta, Peter Davies, has a package of €500,000 a year including a salary of some €320,000 and a performance bonus of a further €150,000.
The Malta Independent says the EU stands ready to help a new Libya.
l-orizzont says a Birkirkarkara couple has been accused of kidnapping a nephew after an argument with their daughter.
In-Nazzjon highlights agreement reached in the EU which sees Malta reducing its contribution to a eurozone emergency fund.
The overseas press
Al Jazeera quotes Libyan rebels saying they had entered the government-controlled city of Ajdabiya from the east, in a bid to wrestle control of the strategic eastern city. They said many fighters belonging to forces loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi were held hostage after fierce fighting. The military operation against Gaddafi, on Friday included airstrikes by British and French jets.
Ethiopia Observer reports a Libyan delegation has met in Addis Ababa with five African heads of state to discuss a solution to the crisis. The African Union was in favour of a transition period that would lead to democratic elections. However, Libyan rebels, who were not at the Ethiopia meeting, said they would not negotiate with Gaddafi.
Libyan Jamahariya Broadcasting quotes Health Ministry official Khaled Omar saying a total of 114 Libyans have died and 445 had been wounded in the international airstrikes. He did not provide a breakdown of how many were soldiers or civilians.
But, New York Daily News says Army Gen. Carter Ham, commander of US and allied operations against Libya, said late Thursday that although he was not sure whether civilians died in airstrikes, "we have been very, very precise and discriminate in our targeting". British Foreign Secretary William Hague went further, saying there have been "no confirmed civilian casualties" from airstrikes.
The Washington Times reports President Obama would give a speech to the nation on Monday, offering his most expansive explanation of the US role in the Libyan war. The timing comes as some lawmakers of both major parties have complained that Obama has not sought their input about the U.S. role in the war or explained with enough clarity about the U.S. goals and exit strategy.
Al Arabiya says Syrian government security forces opened fire on protesters in cities across the country and were reported to have killed as many as 20 people in the village of Sanamein after protesters set fire to a statue of the late president, Hafez al-Assad. Reuters reported heavy gunfire in Daraa. Three people were also reported killed in Damascus. In a phone call with President Bashar al-Assad, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon called for "maximum restraint" by Syria.
Khaleej Times reports a man was killed and at least 50 been injured when Bahrain security forces fired tear gas and pellets at anti-government protesters today. The clashes came after a prominent Shiite cleric vowed that their demands for the Sunni monarchy to loosen its grip on power would not be silenced by “brutal force”.
Al Bawaba says Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh told tens of thousands of cheering supporters in the capital Sanaa that he was ready to step down but only if he could leave the country in "safe hands". Across town, an even larger number of people converged on a square in front of Sanaa University chanting slogans calling for his resignation Thousands also marched in anti-government protests in two areas of the southern port city of Aden. Security forces dispersed one of the protests with tear gas.
Al Arab Al Yawm reports Jordanian protesters demanding reforms clashed with government supporters in the centre of Amman on Friday, pelting each other with stones until security forces charged in and beat protesters. The clashes, in which 120 were injured, were the most violent in more than two months of protests. One man reported to have been killed while protesting was later identified as a government supporter who died of a heart attack.
Seattle Times says that in one of the largest settlements in the Catholic church's sweeping sex abuse scandal, the Jesuit order has agreed to pay $166.1 million to hundreds of native Americans and Alaska natives who were abused at the order's schools around the Pacific Northwest. The order, called the Oregon Province of the Society of Jesus, had been accused of using its schools in remote villages and on reservations as dumping grounds for problem priests.
Pravda reports Olga Ulyanova, a niece of Soviet founder Vladimir Lenin who wrote several books praising her uncle and family, has died in Moscow, aged 89. She was the daughter of Dmitry Ulyanov, Lenin's younger brother and one of the first members of the Bolshevik party. Lenin never had any children of his own, and Ulyanova was one of his last known living relatives.
El Universal says some 230,000 people have been displaced in Mexico because of drug violence. A new study by the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre revealed about half of them may have taken refuge in the United States. The report suggested that people who had to flee drug violence in Mexico have received little support.