The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press.
Times of Malta leads with a report which says Malta Airport had a working runway during the nation-wide blackout last month. Flights were however still diverted to Sicily by the control tower because of lighting problems on the main runway.
The Malta Independent gives prominence to the unveiling of Guido de Marco’s monument in Valletta. It also says that 'Il-Porporina,' holding a hunger strike in prison, is too weak to speak on the phone .
In-Nazzjon says there has been another wave of transfers in the police force. It also says the theft of a chalice from the prison chapel has been kept under wraps.
l-orizzont leads with the publication of a Mepa policy to oversee development outside development zones.
The overseas press
The parents of Reeva Steenkamp have said “justice was not served” after South African athlete Oscar Pistorius was acquitted of murdering their daughter. Pistorius, who has been found guilty of the lesser charge of culpable homicide, has been allowed bail ahead of sentencing on October 13.
Meanwhile, the International Paralympic Committee has revealed Pistorius would be allowed to compete at the 2016 Paralympic Games if he is not in jail. NBC Sports quotes IPC director Craig Spence saying the IPC would not block Pistorius if he had served his sentence and wanted to compete at Rio.
Stars & Stripes says retired US General John Allen, the former commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan who also led troops in western Iraq, has been named to lead the international effort against Islamic State extremists.
ABC News reports Australia has raised the terror threat level to “high” for the first time in a decade, on concerns about Australians returning from fighting in Iraq and Syria.
Ansa says hundreds of migrants landed in southern Italy yesterday, some on their own but as many as 442 people, including women and children from Libya and the Middle East, arrived on a rescue ship that plucked them from the Strait of Sicily. Authorities said 110 migrants swam and waded onto the beach of Sampieri early yesterday morning after they were left about 100 metres from the shore by a fast boat likely operated by migrant traffickers.
The Wall Street Journal reports the US government has imposed new sanctions on major Russian banks, defence and energy companies, aimed at punishing Russia for its “military intervention” in Ukraine. The Russians denounced the new sanctions as “another hostile step in line with the confrontational course” taken by the US.
The Financial Times quotes a former senior nationalist saying banks would face a “day of reckoning” if Scotland votes Yes. And retail bosses planned to publish a letter warning of price rises if Scots approved independence. First Minister Alex Salmond described recent interventions by business figures as “blatant intimidation from Westminster”.
Meanwhile, a new poll has suggested the referendum race is too close to call. The ICM poll for the Guardian put “No” on 51per cent and “Yes” on 49 per cent once the “hundreds of thousands” of undecided voters were excluded.
Fox Business reports HSBC would pay $550 million to resolve a US regulator’s claims that the British bank made false representations in selling mortgage bonds to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac before the financial crisis. The settlement came less than three weeks before a September 29 trial in New York, where HSBC has said it could have faced up to $1.6 billion in damages.
Dawn quotes Pakistan’s army announcing it has arrested 10 militants suspected of involvement in the 2012 attack on teenage activist Malala Yousafzai, who won world acclaim after she was shot in the head by the Taliban for advocating gender equality and education for women.
Huffington Post says the UN has announced the worst-ever Ebola outbreak has killed more than 2,400 people, as Cuba pledged the largest foreign medical team deployed so far in the west African health crisis.
Ulster News reports political and religious leaders have been reacting to the death of former Democratic Unionist Party leader and first minister Ian Paisley. British Prime Minister David Cameron said 88-year-old Paisley had been “one of the most forceful and instantly recognisable characters in British politics”.
Toronto Star announces Mayor Rob Ford has withdrawn from October’s mayoral election after being diagnosed with an abdominal tumour. His brother Doug has replaced him on the ballot.
USA Today says an American football player has been indicted in Texas for allegedly hitting his four-year-old child with a tree branch. The allegations come just days after another NFL star had his contract terminated for hitting his wife.
Golf: CBS Sports reports Rory McIlroy faced an unusual problem while playing the second round of the 2014 Tour Championship in Atlanta. He saw his tee shot on the 14th hole hit some trees before ending up in the pocket of a spectator’s shorts. The Open champion exchanged a joke with the golf fan before a referee arrived and instructed him to take a drop shot. McIlroy made par on the hole and is still playing out the round.