The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press:
The Sunday Times says the Nationalist Party is in a drive to attract ‘liberal’ candidates for the next general election. It also quotes Eddie Fenech Adami saying that divorce legislation should be postponed till after the general election.
The Malta Independent quotes Paul Borg Olivier as saying that the Nationalist Party is unified not split. In another story it says that the highest ever fine imposed for animal cruelty €700.
MaltaToday says reconciliation is the word at the PN General Council, which closed today. Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando and Jesmond Mugliett are expected to snub the council by not attending. It also says that the legal firm in which the President’s son is involved, has benefited from direct orders from Mepa.
It-Torca says there has been no forward-buying of fuel for next year, despite expected price increases. It also says the Archbishop convened a meeting for all priests after the referendum result.
Illum says Lawrence Gonzi will vote against divorce in Parliament.
KullHadd says Malta is helping Greece, Ireland and Portugal in a case of the blind leading the blind. It also says that Joseph Muscat was convincing on Xarabank and the PL would reduce electricity bills. It also recalls that Dom Mintoff became prime minister 40 years ago.
Il-Mument says Lawrence Gonzi will deliver an important address at the end of the PN general council. It also says that Dr Gonzi in an interview expressed optimism for the future.
The overseas press
The New York Times reveals that the Vatican has invited 200 Catholic bishops from around the world to a conference in Rome next February about how to prevent and respond to abuse of children by clergy members. Psychologists, theologians and child-abuse specialists are expected to participate in the symposium, providing expertise to bishops. An online learning center is also expected to help shape a consistent response by the Catholic Church among the more than 2,700 dioceses throughout the world. The Vatican’s sex crimes prosecutor, Mgr Charles Scicluna, said the church wants the world to know that it was serious about dealing with the problem.
Le Soir reports Eurozone finance ministers meet in Brussels later today when they are expected to agree to provide Greece with the next installment of a bailout loan approved last year. The IMF has said it is ready to release its share of installment if Greece meets its austerity promises. It would be the first meeting for Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos, appointed on Friday by Prime Minister Georges Papandreou in a Cabinet reshuffle in a bid to ease party criticism of his handling of the crisis.
Meanwhile, Kathimerini says about 5,000 protesters marched to the Greek parliament on Saturday, led by communist party leader Alex Papariga, who accused the government of colluding with its creditors to "skin the people alive." The march ended without incident. Papandreou's new government faces a vote of confidence on Tuesday. Greek labor unions are threatening to stage a 48-hour strike when parliament approves an austerity package of tax hikes, spending cuts and state asset sales.
The Observer reports that thousands of documents that reveal in detail orders from Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's senior generals to bombard and starve the people of Misrata have been gathered by war crimes investigators and are being kept at a secret location at the besieged Libyan port. The documents would form evidence in any future war crimes trial of the Libyan leader at the International Criminal Court. Investigators also claim they have a message from Gaddafi relayed to the troops ordering that Misrata be obliterated and the "blue sea turned red" with the blood of the inhabitants.
La Gazzetta del Sud announces that the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Antonio Guterres, is to visit the Italian island of Lampedusa, where more than 40,000 refugees, including many Libyans, have arrived to escape the violence in north Africa. His visit on Sunday is to see for himself the crowded conditions faced by the migrants. Actress Angelina Jolie is also visiting Lampedusa as a UN goodwill ambassador. In her role as a UN goodwill ambassador, Ms Jolie will also be present on Lampedusa, just as the UN celebrates World Refugee Day on Monday.
Al Jazeera reports that as Syrians prepared to bury at least 12 people fatally shot by security forces during Friday demonstrations, government troops stormed Bdama, a town near the Turkish border on Saturday, where they burned houses and arrested 70 people. Meanwhile, France and Germany have urged tougher EU sanctions against Syria, and the United States was considering war crimes charges against Damascus.
Afghan Post says President Hamid Karzai has acknowledged that the US and Afghan governments have held talks with Taliban emissaries in a bid to end the nation’s 10-year war, even as suicide attackers launched a bold assault in the heart of the county’s capital, killing nine people. The attack, which occurred close to Karzai’s office, showed the parties have a long way to go to reach a political settlement as the Obama administration weighs a major withdrawal of its forces. The White House neither confirmed or denied Mr Karzai’s statement.
Croatia Post says an annual gay pride parade in Zagreb passed largely without incident on Saturday. It came a week after violence marred a similar event in the country's second-largest city, Split. Some 1,000 people took part in the parade with hundreds of policemen in riot gear surrounding them. There were only a few problems and nine people were detained for making verbal insults.
Corriere della Sera says two convicted Italian criminals have testified that American citizen Amanda Knox and her former Italian boyfriend are innocent in the 2007 murder of a young British woman In Italy. Mario Alessi, serving a sentence for kidnapping and killing a child, told an appeals court on Saturday that a friend of co-defendant Rudy Herman Guede had killed Meredith Kercher to silence her after she resisted a sexual assault. Also on Saturday, Luciano Aviello, who is serving a prison sentence for his association with an organized crime group in Naples, testified that his own brother killed the 21-year old Briton during an attempted theft.