The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press.
Times of Malta says Karmenu Vella is not facing tough political obstacles from MEPs during his ‘grilling’ next week.
The Malta Independent leads with recommendations by a think tank on changes to the Constitution.
In-Nazzjon says Air Malta is going through financial turbulence and the destination is uncertain.
l-orizzont reports on a new ‘fast track’ procurement system which should mean the beginning of the end of out of stock medicines.
The overseas press
France, Britain and other EU nations have initiated steps to thwart potential jihadist reprisals as US-led airstrikes continue on Islamic State fighters in parts of Syria and Iraq.
Fox News reports New York governor Andrew Cuomo has announced more police were being deployed in New York after Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi had said he had “credible” intelligence that Islamic State (IS) militants planned to attack subway systems in Paris and the United States. Cuomo said the public would see more police but their presence “should be comforting”.
Le Monde says France’s cabinet launched “preventive” measures at public sites and on transport services after the beheading of French hostage Herve Gourdel by IS-linked extremists in Algeria. France carried out another round of airstrikes on presumed IS targets in Iraq on Thursday – its second since last Friday. Almost simultaneously, US, Saudi and Emirati warplanes bombed oil installations in eastern Syria in a bid to cut off a significant source of funding for the IS group.
The Times announces British counter-terrorism police had arrested nine suspected members of a banned organisation, mostly in London, including one suspect identified by the British Press Association as the radical preacher Anjem Choudary. Meanwhile, British Prime Minister David Cameron consulted with his cabinet ahead of a parliamentary vote later today on whether British planes should join the US-led airstrikes against IS.
Gazete Oku reports Turkey is joining its NATO allies and fellow Sunni Muslim nations in a coalition to destroy the Islamic State militant group, moving from reluctance to refusal and finally acceptance. Details of any new, specific aid are still awaited.
CNN says the FBI director James Comey announced the bureau had identified the masked Islamic State member shown beheading three hostages – two Americans and a Briton – in propaganda videos. However, he declined to release his name or nationality. The man in the video has a London accent.
The Washington Times reports President Obama has paid a deeply personal tribute to his Attorney General Eric Holder as a man with whom he shares bonds of friendship and race said he would resign. Holder, the first Afro-American to hold the top law enforcement post, is seen as a champion of civil rights by supporters but reviled as an ideologue by Republicans.
Radio Proto announces that more than 300 people, apparent refugees fleeing from Syria, refused to leave a cruise ship that rescued them from a small boat stranded off Cyprus, insisting that they be taken to Italy instead. The 345 people, including 52 children, would be taken to a reception centre near Nicosia where they would be given shelter and medical attention until authorities determine their fate.
The Globe reports some two million people have been put under quarantine in Sierra Leone as the latest efforts to tackle the deadly Ebola virus. They have been ordered not to leave their districts in an attempt to stop the epidemic spreading. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said on Thursday the virus was killing over 200 people a day, two-thirds of whom are women.
Al Ayyam announces that the two main Palestinian factions – Hamas and Fatah – have reached an agreement to allow the Palestinian Authority to return to the Gaza Strip and run the government there for the first time in seven years. Hamas had violently wrested control of the strip in 2007.
France 24 says the French government has unveiled a raft of measures aimed at reducing the high rates of teenage smokers. More than 70,000 people die in France each year of tobacco-related illnesses. The new measures include a ban on smoking in children’s play areas in public parks and in cars carrying children under 12.
Ansa reports that armed with folding chairs, knapsacks, food supplies and sleeping bags, Italians queued up since early morning on Thursday at the Apple store nearest them, 24 hours before the new iPhone 6 hit the stands this morning. The new Apple smartphone rolled out in the United States and nine other countries on September 19, selling 10 million units. It launches in 20 countries today and will be available in 115 countries by the end of the year.
Barbra Streisand has made US chart history by becoming the first artist to score number one albums in each of the last six decades. The 72-year-old’s latest release, “Partners”, topped the Billboard rundown after selling 196,000 copies. “Partners” also makes Streisand the only female singer to clock up 10 number one albums in the US.
Chosun Iblo says the Qatari women’s basketball team withdrew from the Asian Games in protest against international rules that ban players from wearing Muslim headscarves in competition. The dispute over the Qatari players’ refusal to remove their hijabs, regarded by some as a rule that discriminates against Muslim women, has created a stir at the games and raised new questions about rules banning head coverings.