The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press.
The Times says a Zebbug ‘Batman’ has been hailed a hero for stopping a string of hold-ups. It also reports that a student is planning to sue over the slippery road around the Kappara roundabout.
The Malta Independent reports complaints that school bags are too heavy for some children.
In-Nazzjon features comments by the prime minister that assistance would be given to those in need. It also says that operations were uninterrupted at Mater Dei despite an upsurge of inpatients.
l-orizzont criticises comments by the prime minister on Xarabank on Friday in the wake of the protest held by the PL.
The overseas press
Assabah reports that security forces fought a string of gun battles with suspected members of the presidential guard in Carthage, north of the capital Tunis. Prime Minister Mohammed Gannoushi said there would be zero tolerance for anybody who threatened the country’s security. As security remained tight with hundreds of troops and heavy armour in the streets of Tunis, there were important political developments with the prime minister saying a new interim government would be announced this morning.
Events in Tunisia have inspired demonstrations in other Arab countries. In Jordan, Amman Times reports an opposition leader told protesters they were suffering from the same way Tunisian had suffered. And Yemen Post says students marched in the capital Sa’ana calling for a revolution.
Kathemerini reports that rescuers were still searching for over 20 illegal Afghan immigrants who were travelling on a ship that sank in stormy seas off the coast of Corfu. The vessel was packed with more than 200 migrants, including women and children.
Melbourne’s The Age says Australia flood crisis spread to Victoria on Sunday leaving hundreds of people fleeing their homes. More than 3,500 residents in the north of the southern state sought refuge as rivers levels rose, with some predicting the worst flooding in 100 years. The disaster is also affecting New South Wales, where The Sydney Morning Herald reports 7,000 people are relying on airdrops to get food. The flooding, which began in Queensland three weeks ago, has claimed at least 19 lives. Dozens of people are still missing.
The government in Ireland has split over the leadership. The Irish Examiner quotes Foreign Affairs Minister Micheál Martin saying he would challenge Prime Minister Brian Cowen in a leadership vote of confidence. Mr Martin said he had tendered his resignation to Mr Cowen and would vote against him on Tuesday. The Prime Minister said he was confident of winning the vote to remain leader of his ruling Fianna Fail Party.
Le Parisien says Marine Le Pen beat out her father Jean-Marie Le Pen's longtime aide Bruno Gollnisch on Sunday to become the new leader of France's, the National Front. Mme Le Pen, 42, hopes to give a fresh face to a highly divisive party. Recent polls show 22 percent of French people agree with the party's ideas and 17 percent would vote for Le Pen if she runs for president in 2012.
A former Swiss private banker says he was planning to give account information on around 2,000 clients to the whistleblowing website WikiLeaks at a press conference in London later today. Rudolf Elmer told Switzerland's Der Sonntag he intended to hand over two CDs of data of some 2,000 people “hiding behind banking secrecy laws, possibly to evade taxes”.
Al Ahram says a court in southern Egypt has sentenced a Muslim to death man for his part in a drive-by shooting outside a church that left six Christians and a Muslim guard dead. The attack took place on January 6, 2010.
Al Raayam reports that, in his first public declaration since the week-long referendum on independence ended, South Sudanese leader Salva Kiir urged his people to "forgive" the north for a devastating 1983-2005 civil war, which left at least to million people dead and some four million displaced. The poll is widely expected to result in Africa's largest country being split in two.
The Asian Observer reports that 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have called on the European Union and the United States to lift economic sanctions after the release of Aung San Suu Kyi, an opposition leader held in Myanmar under house arrest for most of the last two decades. They said the sanctions were causing many difficulties in the important areas of trade, investment and modern technologies for the development of ethnic regions.
Metro says a British driver had three penalty points added to his licence and was fined £60 after he was caught by police speaking on his mobile phone, operating a hand-held computer and eating a sandwich – all while driving on a motorway. Magistrates heard John Mills, 43, was flagged down last July after he pulled out in front of a police patrol car forcing the driver to brake.
Express reports that German employers can now order women to wear bras to work, after a court ruling in North Rhine-Westphalia. The underwear should be flesh or white coloured only – as bright colours may ‘shine through’ The State Labour Court made the ruling during a case involving the dress and grooming habits of airport security personnel, but its decisions would apply to all workplaces in the German state. But the court also ruled that females can go bra-less if they are wearing an undershirt.