The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press.
Times of Malta reports how the PN is called for an independent probe into the granting of visas and residence permits.
The Malta Independent quotes mayors saying it is too expensive to run CCTV systems to deter crime.
In-Nazzjon also reports on the PN call for a probe on residence permits. It also highlights the death of entrepreneur Albert Mizzi.
l-orizzont says the Mosta mayor is prepared to renounce responsibility for street maintenance if that is taken over by Transport Malta.
The overseas press
Fox News reports the UN General Assembly has overwhelmingly approved a Palestinian resolution that would allow Palestine to fly its flag at UN headquarters – a move that has infuriated Israel. The vote was 119 for, eight against and 45 abstentions. Malta voted yes.
USA Today quotes FBI director James Comey saying his bureau had not picked up any “specific or credible threats” linked to the 14th anniversary of the September 11 attacks on the United States. He said they were closely watching for threats from al-Qaeda or the Islamic State. The 9/11 attacks in 2001 killed nearly 3,000 people.
The Washington Times reports President Obama has ordered his team to admit at least 10,000 Syrian refugees next year. The US currently accepts around 70,000 refugees from conflicts and persecution each year, but had been slow to accept Syrians, who must undergo strict security checks to weed out extremists.
The refugee crisis facing Europe will be at the centre of talks between President Obama and Pope Francis at the White House on September 23. Avvenire says other issues include assistance for the poor, the environment and protection of religious minorities. Meanwhile, it was announced Pope Francis will visit Uganda, Kenya and the Central African Republic in November during his first trip to Africa.
Ceska Televise announces a number of eastern European foreign ministers are to meet their counterparts from Germany and Luxembourg later today to discuss the on-going refugee crisis. Foreign ministers from the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia are to attend the meeting in Prague.
Verdens Gang reports the family of 48-year-old Ole Johan Grimsgaard-Ofstad, the Norwegian the Islamic State is claiming to hold hostage, has called for his release saying it was unable to pay the ransom IS was asking, reported to be several million euros. The Norwegian government has said it was “out of the question for Norway to pay a ransom”.
Al-Qaeda has declared war on the Islamic State. ABC News says that in a new audio message, the leader of al-Qaeda, Ayman al-Zawahiri, accused ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi of “sedition”. Al-Zawahiri also refuted al-Baghdad’s claim that he is the leader of all Muslims and militant jihad as “caliph” of the Islamic State.
CNN reports President Obama has welcomed a Senate vote blocking a Republican-backed measure to derail the Iran nuclear agreement, saying it was a victory for diplomacy and US and international security. Senate opponents of the pact failed to get the 60 votes necessary to advance a resolution of disapproval. Obama will now be free to start scaling back US sanctions on Iran.
El Mundo says Spain’s foreign minister yesterday opened the door to talks on constitutional reform and greater fiscal powers for Catalonia. The proposal came on the eve of a massive rally of Catalan nationalists later today in Barcelona which will kick off campaigning for the September 27 poll.
Tagebatt reports the European Court of Justice has ruled that time spent travelling to and from first and last appointments by workers without a fixed office should be regarded as working time. Trade unions said the decision could bring significant benefits for care workers while some employment lawyers argued the decision could increase costs for some companies.
VOA News reports Serbia’s war crimes prosecutors have brought charges against eight suspects in the 1995 massacre in Srebrenica – Europe’s worst carnage since World War II, when some 8,000 Muslims were killed by Bosnian Serb troops. The men, all former members of the Bosnian Serb special police, were charged with taking part in the brutal killing of some 1,300 people at a warehouse in the village of Kravica. The victims were crammed into the warehouse and then killed with grenades and machine guns in a rampage that lasted all night. In the morning, Serb police asked the survivors to come out and then killed them too.
Saudi Arabia has banned for “cultural reasons” the sale in the country of the August edition of the Arab National Geographic, which has on its cover a photo of Pope Francis inside the Sistine Chapel. The article referred to by the cover photo speaks of the “quiet revolution” that Pope Francis is putting in place in the Church and praises him for his efforts.
The New York Times says Police Commissioner William Bratton has said he was concerned over the level of force used in the arrest of former US tennis star James Blake, who was mistakenly identified as a suspect in a fraud ring. Blake was surrounded by six plainclothes officers outside a hotel in Midtown Manhattan on Wednesday while waiting for a car to take him to the US Tennis Open. One of the officers slammed him to the ground before handcuffing him.