The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press:
The Times carries comments by an Italian expert, who says that the IVF law provisions are not good clinical practice.
The Malta Independent reports that Middlesex university is planning a Malta campus. It also quotes the prime minister saying that education is the best resource of the country.
In-Nazzjon also leads with the PM’s comments, saying that under the PN, all children will succeed.
l-orizzont reports comments by Joseph Muscat how, after Mr Mintoff’s death, Malta now needs to look to the future.
The overseas press
Teheran Times reports that Iran's Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi has urged delegates at a Non-Aligned Movement summit to oppose sanctions imposed by the West on the Islamic Republic to punish it for its nuclear activities. He also urged them to take a stand against terrorism, especially of the state-sponsored type, accusing US, British, and Israeli intelligence services of being involved in the murders of four Iranian nuclear scientists since 2010.
The Guardian says leading water scientists have issued one of the sternest warnings yet about global food supplies, saying that the world's population may have to switch almost completely to a vegetarian diet over the next 40 years to avoid catastrophic shortages. Humans derive about 20 per cent of their protein from animal-based products now, but this may need to drop to just 5 per cent to feed the extra two billion people expected to be alive by 2050. Dire warnings of water scarcity limiting food production come as Oxfam and the UN prepare for a possible second global food crisis in five years. More than 18 million people are already facing serious food shortages across the Sahel.
The chief of the UN Population Fund has called for governments in Asia to give higher priority to women’s development programmes to reduce violence against women and help boost economic and social development. Babatunde Osotimehin told VOA News before this week's Asian Population conference in Bangkok, that countries should address increasing population concerns with "foresight and justice.
The European Union is demanding Gambia immediately halt the execution of death-row inmates, after reports it recently executed several prisoners. Gambia Despatch says EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton warned in a statement the European Union would "urgently" consider an appropriate response to the reported executions. Amnesty International on Friday reported that Gambia has executed nine death row inmates.
The Irish Independent reports German Chancellor Angela Merkel is said to be seeking agreement amongst EU members on a new treaty which would enshrine budget rules across the continent. It is understood one of the proposals concerns the role of the European Court of Justice, which could acquire the right to monitor the budgets of member states and punish those that run up a deficit. The proposals by are not being viewed favourably by many of the member states.
Libya Herald says Interior Minister Fawzi Abdelali has resigned in the face of criticism about the destruction of Sufi Muslim shrines in Tripoli and Zlitan in the west. Police in Tripoli were accused of doing nothing to stop ultra- conservative Salafi Islamists from attacking the shrines.
Miami Herald reports tropical storm Isaac is gaining strength as it passes just south of the southern tip of the US state of Florida, heading for the vulnerable US Gold Coast. Isaac spent part of Sunday lashing the Florida Keys just off the US mainland – with heavy rains and sustained winds of 95 kph. The National Hurricane Center said Isaac was now on track to slam into the Gulf Coast Tuesday or Wednesday as a category two or three hurricane. The storm has delayed the start of the US Republican national convention in Tampa, Florida, during which delegates are expected to officially nominate former governor Mitt Romney to face President Barack Obama in the November election. Safety concerns prompted the delay.
The strongest typhoon in years hit Japan’s southern islands, injuring four people and leaving tens of thousands without electricity. Global Post says Typhoon Bolaven passed over the main island of Okinawa on Sunday and was moving toward the Korean peninsula and parts of eastern China. Heavy rainfall exceeding 50 millimetres an hour, accompanied by thunder, would continue to hit the region.
Al-Arabiya reports Syrian Vice President Farouk al-Sharaa has appeared in public for the first time in weeks, ending speculation that he had defected from President Bashar al-Assad's embattled government. The 73-year-old Sunni Muslim met Sunday with a visiting senior Iranian official in Damascus. Sharaa was last seen in public at a state funeral for security officials who died in a July 18 bomb blast. Speaking to the Iranian delegation, President Bashar al-Assad has said the current crisis in his country was a plot against the whole region, of which Syria was the cornerstone. He promised to defeat the conspiracy “at any price”.
The BBC quotes President Rafael Correa of Ecuador saying Britain had given up its “threat” to enter the country’s embassy in London to arrest Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks. The British Foreign Office denied that it ever made such a threat but said it had sent the Ecuadorian embassy a letter to facilitate talks.
El Universal reports that fires continue to burn at Venezuela’s biggest oil refinery after a deadly explosion early on Saturday. The death of two more victims on Sunday brought the death toll to 41.
Moscow Times says the Russian punk band, Pussy Riot, said on it Twitter account, that two members of the band who are being sought by Russian police have fled the country. Three members of the group were jailed this month for staging an anti-Vladimir Putin protest in a Moscow cathedral.