The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press.
Times of Malta leads with the prime minister's promise that whoever was responsible for weak concrete at the hospital would have to assume responsibility.
The Malta Independent reports on animal cruelty cases this year, saying a horse suffered burns for not winning a race.
In-Nazzjon says a University law student has complained of sexual abuse by a lecturer.
l-orizzont says investors are planning a multi-million tourism investment in the North of Malta employing up to a thousand people. It does not say who the investors are, or what the investment will consist of.
The overseas press
The Washington Times reports President Obama has said he would explain to Americans and congressional leaders on Wednesday his plan to “start going on some offence” against Islamic State militants. He said he would offer a political, economic and military plan to tackle the militants, who he said could eventually become a threat to the US. However he made it clear he would not be committing troops on the ground.
According to The Wall Street Journal, a chief element of President Obama’s plans to combat Islamic State militants is to line up a coalition of Arab nations to help. Arab state officials, so far, are lukewarm about the idea. Leading states, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan, want a White House pledge to more pursue aggressively Islamist militias in other countries, in particular Libya, Egypt and Tunisia.
The Secretary General of the Arab League has urged the organisation’s members to confront the Islamic State on all possible levels. Al Jazeera says Nabil el-Araby’s comments were made after Arab League Foreign ministers agreed to cooperate with international, regional and national efforts to combat the militants.
The official Palestinian news agency WAFA quotes Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas threatening to break off a unity agreement with Hamas if the movement did not allow the government to operate properly in the Gaza Strip. Speaking in Cairo he accused Hamas of running a shadow government and said he wanted a single authority and a single system of rule.
Kyiv Post reports OSCE security observers in eastern Ukraine say yesterday’s exchange of mortar fire between government forces and pro-Russia rebels were violations of Friday’s ceasefire agreement. However, they are not serious enough to make the deal collapse.
France 24 says hundreds of extreme-right activists have demonstrated to “save” Calais from homeless migrants inundating the French port city in hopes of crossing the Channel to Britain. On the opposite end, a few dozen far-left activists sought to disrupt the protest but were quickly stopped by police, who were out in large numbers amid rising tensions in Calais, days after more than a hundred refugees tried to storm a ferry to the UK.
Le Parisien reports French Prime Minister Manuel Valls has warned that the far-right National Front party was “at the gates of power” and his Socialist government had to act and speak “differently” to counter this threat. Opinion polls suggest FN leader Marine Le Pen could beat incumbent François Hollande in the 2017 presidential election.
The Scotsman quotes First Minister Alex Salmond, of the separatist Scottish National Party, has accused the British Government of panicking after new polls showed a surge in support for Scottish independence. Salmond was reacting to British Chancellor George Osborne said Scotland would be given greater fiscal autonomy if voters decided to stay in the United Kingdom in next week’s referendum.
Metro says a new book has claimed to have uncovered the true identity of Jack the Ripper – with the help of DNA evidence. Russell Edwards, self-proclaimed “armchair detective” and author of the new book “Naming Jack the Ripper,” has identified London's notorious serial killer as 23-year-old Polish immigrant Aaron Kosminski.
Hollywood star Jennifer Aniston, now 45 years old, is reportedly three months pregnant with fiancé Justin Theroux's child thanks to in-vitro fertilisation, using eggs she had frozen when she was younger. The news was revealed by the American magazine OK!, which said the actress began treatment six months ago and quoted an insider, who explained that Aniston “doesn't want the news to come out until she knows for sure that the baby will be okay”.
Tennis: Serena Williams cruised to victory at the U.S. Open women’s final ‘, defeating Caroline Wozniacki in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3. Forbes says it’s Williams' sixth time winning the US Open and her 18th Grand Slam singles victory overall. She’s now tied with Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova for most career singles Grand Slam titles. Steffi Graf holds the Open Era record with 22. At 32, Williams is also the oldest woman to win the US Open.