The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press.
The Times of Malta says pickpocket gangs made 250 thefts on buses. It also reports how drugs were found in an IT firm’s van during a prison visit.
The Malta Independent says 400 Syrians were given protection in Malta since 2012.
In-Nazzjon reports on ‘excessive delays’ in health centres. It also reports on the long power cut in Gozo and parts of Malta on Thursday and yesterday.
l-Orizzont focuses on yesterday’s proceedings in the PAC hearings on oil procurement. It says contracts awarded to Oil Bunkering Ltd showed bad governance.
The overseas press
The United States has made clear that it would punish Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for the “brutal and flagrant” chemical weapons attack that it said killed 1,429 people in Damascus last week. Fox News quotes US Secretary of State John Kerry said the dead included 426 children. In a speech at the State Department on Friday, he described the attack as an “inconceivable horror”.
CNN reports President Barack Obama later said the use of chemical weapons threatened US national security interests and those of its allies – Israel, Turkey and Jordan. He said the United States was still in the planning process for a “limited, narrow” military response that would not involve “boots on the ground” or be open-ended. He set no timetable for action.
The Syrian Government has dismissed Kerry's statement as “full of lies” based on “fabricated evidence”, insisting the rebels carried out the deadly attack. State-run news agency Sana said Kerry was using “material based on old stories that the terrorists have been circulating for more than a week”.
After Britain's Parliament voted against participating in military action against the regime of President Assad, the United States found itself with France as its only major partner in an armed intervention. French President François Hollande pledged strong support for a US operation, telling Le Monde that “the chemical massacre of Damascus cannot and must not remain unpunished”.
Germany will not take part in any military strike against Syria, Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle told the Neue Osnabruecker Zeitung. He said that the country had not been asked to take part and had not discussed the issue.
AGI quotes Italy's Defence Minister Mario Mauro saying the British parliament's vote was a warning to everyone to remember how much prudence and attention must be paid at a time when an “explosion” of the Syrian war can set off not only the Middle East, but the whole world. Speaking in Avellino, Mauro said the British parliament's vote strengthened the reasons of those who understood and were trying to find a political solution.
Haaretz reports Israel has deployed its Iron Dome missile defence system in Tel Aviv. The interceptor missiles point north toward Syria following fears that Assad's forces may retaliate against Israel if the West launches a military strike. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel had moved the defence system to meet security needs.
Star Tribune reports Syrians stocked up on bread, canned food and candles on Friday, although there appeared to be no signs of panic or shortages. Residents complained, however, that prices had shot up because of the high demand. Some rebels were excitedly anticipating US-led strikes. But military intervention was unappealing to many in Damascus, even among opponents of the regime.
al arabiya says at least three people have been killed in Cairo in clashes between security forces and some 10,000 protesters and Muslim Brotherhood supporters who rallied against a military coup and a bloody security crackdown. Thousands gathered in other cities, with other smaller protests drawing hundreds, including many women and children.
Rumbles of changes in the Vatican were heard yesterday when Corriere della Sera said Pope Francis is set to replace the Holy See's powerful Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone by Archbishop Pietro Parolin, currently the Holy See's representative in Venezuela. The South American pope's official announcement will come today, the paper said. Bertone will remain president of the Commission of Cardinals until December when a progress report by the Council of Europe's committee on anti-money-laundering procedures will be issued for the Vatican Bank, formally called the Institute of Religious Works (IOR).
Swansea council got lost in translation when it was looking to halt heavy goods vehicles using a road in the Morriston area. All official road signs in Wales are bilingual, so Welsh-language magazine Golwg reports, the local authority e-mailed its in-house translation service for the Welsh version of: "No entry for heavy goods vehicles. Residential site only". The reply duly came back and officials set the wheels in motion to create the large sign in both languages. The notice went up and all seemed well – until Welsh speakers began pointing out an embarrassing error: the e-mail response to Swansea council said in Welsh: "I am not in the office at the moment. Send any work to be translated".
The New Yorker says Lines in Brooklyn on the New York City subway system had to be shut for over an hour on Thursday night as rescuers tried to find two escaped kittens. Subway workers started the search after a woman reported that her two kittens had escaped onto the tracks. They were joined by police in the rescue efforts and the kittens' owner even tried using food to try to coax them out. Eventually the animals were found and removed safely from the tracks.