Times of Malta reports that the driver of the Paqpaqli Ghal Istrina crash, which left several people injured, is returning to the UK, pending the inquiry.
In-Nazzjon carries an interview with Dolores Chircop, the mother of the murdered lawyer.
L-Orrizont reports that Life Network Malta is insisting that the embryo law remains unchanged.
The Malta Independent says that landlords had admitted to faking lease agreements for Joe Sammut's Libya clients.
FOREIGN PRESS
Al Ayyam says Hamas have called on Palestinians to declare an intifada throughout the West Bank and to confront Israeli “forces of occupation,” be it through a popular uprising or individual action. Hamas’s leader in Gaza Ismail Haniyeh declared the current unrest in Jerusalem and the West Bank an intifada, as six Palestinians were shot dead protesting at the border fence. During a sermon for Friday prayers at a mosque in Gaza City, Haniyeh said it was “the only path that will lead to liberation”. Meanwhile, Israeli Defence Minister Moshe Ya’alon warned Palestinians they would face “a harsh response” from Israel if they escalate the situation.
Reuters reports the six Western powers – the United States, Germany, Britain, France, Italy and Spain – have thrown their support behind the UN’s carefully negotiated plan for a national unity government for Libya. The UN Security Council has warned sanctions could be imposed against those who hamper the peaceful transition in Libya.
The Financial Times writes British Prime Minister David Cameron has urged German Chancellor Angela Merkel to help keep Britain in the EU, amid concerns in senior Tory circles that many hedge fund chiefs would throw their financial muscle behind the “Brexit” campaign.
Scandinavia Now reports Iceland has repaid all of its obligations to the IMF ahead of schedule. The country had borrowed around €1.8 billion in 2008 and repaid the last €292 million yesterday, even if the final amount wasn’t due until next August. Back in March, Iceland withdrew its bid to join the European Union, saying its interests are best served outside the 28-nation bloc.
Bloomberg announces the group of 20 major economies have endorsed a package of measures to tackle corporate tax avoidance, backing proposals drawn up by the OECD. The practise of so-called Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) has allowed companies to move profits out of the countries where money is earned and into jurisdictions such as Luxembourg, Ireland or Bermuda that do not tax them.
Fox News reports two people have died after two separate university shootings in Texas and Arizona, just hours apart. One person was killed and three injured in the first shooting at Northern Arizona University early on Friday, which involved fraternity members. Later that morning a shooting at a student complex near Texas Southern University left one person dead. The attacks came as President Obama visited families of victims of a college shooting in Oregon, saying Americans must “come together” to find a way to stop devastating gun violence.
The Washington Post says Russia and the US are expected to hold military-to-military talks on Syria, where both countries have been carrying out airstrikes against Islamic State militants, this weekend. Meanwhile, Islamic State fighters have seized villages close to the northern city of Aleppo from rival insurgents, despite an intensifying Russian air-and-sea campaign that Moscow says has targeted the militant group.
AFP reports development banks have pledged an additional $15 billion a year by 2020 to fight climate change. Just two months before key UN climate talks in Paris, world leaders are scrambling to reach the target of $100 billion in funding to help vulnerable nations cope with the impact of climate change.
Metro says six members of a drug smuggling racket responsible for £166 million worth of cocaine being imported in to the UK have been jailed for more than 72 years. The men were arrested as part of Operation Bayban, a Metropolitan Police probe into a criminal network involved in the importation and onward supply of more than 500kg of class A drugs.
USA Today reports a defamation lawsuit brought against Bill Cosby by three women who say he sexually abused them decades ago can move forward, a federal judge in Massachusetts ruled Friday, delivering a legal blow to the comedian as he attempts to defend himself against accusations of sexual assault by dozens of women.