The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press:
The Times says redundancy schemes may finally get off the ground at Air Malta. It also reports how the French and Libyan ambassadors held regular ‘discreet’ meetings.
The Malta Independent says Gaddafi rebels have given a deadline to Saturday before attacking Sirte. It also reports that Air Malta expects to lose €30m.
Maltatoday quotes expert Edward Mallia saying that using diesel for the Delimara power station would not raise utility rates.
In-Nazzjon reports how the Libyan ambassador was in contact with Benghazi before the Gaddafi regime collapsed. It also says that a Maltese nun was close to the site where a UN compound was attacked in Nigeria.
l-orizzont links Eddie Fenech Adami to an honour received by Libya. It also says that the GWU has registered an industrial dispute with De La Rue security paper printers.
The overseas press
The New York Times reports that the UN sanctions committee has agreed to Britain's request to release $1.55 billion (€1.04 billion) of Libyan bank notes blocked in Britain as part of a freeze of assets held by the former government. The bank notes would now be delivered to Libya's central bank. In London, The Times quotes British Foreign Secretary William Hague saying the money would help address urgent humanitarian needs and pay salaries of key public sector workers.
A senior National Transitional Council official in Libya has told Al Jazeera that Saadi Gaddafi, the third son of the deposed leader, was willing to give himself up. Abdelhakim Belhaj, the NTC's military leader in Tripoli, said on Wednesday that Saadi called him and asked if he could surrender. In an exclusive interview, Belhaj said they knew for sure where some of the regime leaders were hiding, including unconfirmed reports of Gaddafi whereabouts. London’s Daily Mail reports he was thought to be heading south towards Sabha with his sons Saadi and Saif al-Islam.
France 24 says Nato believed that Gaddafi still had some command over troops in Libya, and had vowed to continue bombing forces loyal to the fugitive leader until they were no longer a threat to civilians. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, whose country is a member of Nato but refused to participate in the mission, said he wanted the end of the war to be declared tomorrow at an international conference on Libya in Paris. The alliance has shown no let-up against regime diehards and appears to have stepped up attacks in recent days around Sirte, one of the last strongholds of Gaddafi loyalists.
Meanwhile, Al Arabiya leads with the ultimatum give by Mustafa Abdel Jalil, chairman of the rebels' National Transitional Council, to forces loyal to Gaddafi, including those in the town of Sirte, that they have until Saturday to surrender or face a military assault. Fighters were organising their units to advance towards Sirte from both Ras Lanuf and Bin Jawad in the east and from Tripoli and Misrata to the west. if negotiations fail to peacefully transfer control of the town over to the new government.
Libya expects to rehabilitate many of its oil wells in days but crude exports will resume gradually. Börzen Zeitung quotes Ali Tarhouni, who handles oil and finance for the rebels telling a news conference that oil and gas exports would rise gradually. He had requested a full report from the state National Oil Company with its expected projections for the coming months.
Asharq Al-Awsat says seven people have been shot dead and several others wounded by security forces during anti-government protests in Syria at the start of the festival of Eid al-Fitr. Thousands took to the streets demanding the overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad after morning prayers marking the end of the Islamic month of Ramadan.
USA Today reports that soldiers have begun airlifting storm-relief supplies to Vermont towns which were still cut off after the trail of destruction left by Irene. More than 200 roads were blocked or washed away in Vermont, hampering rescue efforts to 13 towns. Irene killed 44 people in 13 US states, and caused billions of dollars' damage.
El Diario says Bolivia's Supreme Court has convicted five senior military officers in connection with the killings of 64 people during protests in 2003. Four former generals and an admiral were sentenced to between 10 and 15 years in prison. Two former ministers were jailed for three years each for complicity in what was described as a "genocide". The protesters in El Alto had demanded an end to the export of natural gas to the US using Chilean ports.
The Australian city of Melbourne has beaten Canada's Vancouver to the title of world's most liveable city for the first time in almost a decade. Vancouver has topped the Economist Intelligence Unit’s annual “Global Liveability Survey” since 2002, but this year fell to third behind Vienna. Harare, Port Moresby and Dhaka occupied the bottom of the table. EIU said scores in Europe had been pushed slightly down by the eurozone crisis, while the Arab Spring had affected ratings across the Middle East and North Africa.