The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press.
Times of Malta says the new gas-powered power station will be finished by the deadline imposed by the government.
The Malta Independent says local councillors have been warned to refrain from using disrespectful language. The warning was made in a circular by the local government department.
In-Nazzjon reports there have been a large number of transfers of heads of primary schools.
l-orizzont reports there is strong interest in oil exploration from various international companies. Some have sent representatives to analyse past data.
The overseas press
Growth, competitiveness, work and a reward system for EU countries engaged in structural reforms would be some of the points in the programme of the next European Commission. AGI reports European Council President Herman Van Rompuy worked on the second draft of the document during the weekend and it could be ready by today.
RIA Novosti says President Putin has publicly expressed support for Ukraine’s declaration of a ceasefire in its battle against pro-Russian separatists and called on both sides to negotiate a compromise.
The Daily Telegraph reports investigators have discovered that the pilot of the missing Malaysia Airlines aircraft which disappeared in March with 239 people on board had plotted a flight path to a remote island far into the southern Indian Ocean where the search is now focused. The route, which was deleted before MH370 disappeared on March 8, was made on a home flight simulator machine used for practice by its captain, Zaharie Shah. Its discovery has intensified suspicion that he deliberately hijacked his own plane and diverted it from its approved flight path to Beijing.
The Sunni militia of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) met no resistance as they took over the city of Ar Rutba, 110 kilometres from Baghdad, and the Syrian frontier crossing of Qaim, where a large phosphates plant stands. According to an Anbar police source, quoted by the news outlet Nova, ISIS had taken over Ar Rutba and Qaim without firing a single shot. The ISIS militia immediately took control of the police and army headquarters in Ar Rutba.
The Associated Press says about 350,000 Pakistanis have left their homes in northern Waziristan, the northwestern region of Pakistan where the army has been in violent clashes with the Taliban and tribes over the past week. people are unable to leave the province.
Al Ahram reports on the day of the unexpected visit to Egypt by US Secretary of State John Kerry, Egypt’s President Abdel Fatteh al Sisi announced parliamentary elections by July 18. The head of US diplomacy urged President Sisi to ensure democracy in his country, with freedom of assembly, speech and press.
Haaretz says a 14 year-old Arab Israeli was killed in the Golan Heights by an anti-tank round fired from Syria. He was the first victim on Israeli soil since the Syrian civil war broke out in March 2011. The boy, from a village in Galilee, was travelling in a car with his father, a contractor who works for the Defence Ministry, and two more men, all of whom were wounded.
Ansa says a prayer vigil for three Israeli teenagers who were abducted last week in Israel will be held in Rome on this evening. The vigil will be preceded by a demonstration organised by the Roman Jewish community. There will be a video link to the Israeli school the three attended, where their family will be present.
South China Morning Post reports a referendum for local government voting reform has been extended after organisers reported difficulties with their online voting system. Beijing and Hong Kong officials have called the vote illegal. The unofficial reform referendum called by the democratic movement asks that citizens be free to choose the island’s Chief Executive, the former British colony’s head of government.
Montreal Gazette says a Canadian woman who parked her car on a highway to help a group of ducklings on the side of the road has been found guilty of causing the deaths of a motorcyclist and his passenger daughter who slammed into her car. Emma Czornobaj was convicted by a jury on two counts of criminal negligence causing death, a charge that carries a maximum life sentence, and two counts of dangerous driving causing death, which comes with a maximum of 14 years in jail. She was released until her pre-sentence hearing on August 8.
Algemeen Dagblad reports the suspension of captain Robin van Persie for today’s World Cup Group B decider against Chile means the Netherlands will play an international without a player whose surname begins with ‘Van’ for the first time in almost two decades. The last time it happened was in 1996 in a friendly against China, some 221 matches ago.