The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press:
The Sunday Times says Labour has torpedoed a judicial reform bid, particularly a salary increase. It also says that players have been quizzed over a betting scam.
The Malta Independent on Sunday says that MPs and politicians are the least trusted by young people, according to a study. It also says the World Risk Report lists Malta as the world’s second safety country, after Qatar.
MaltaToday reports that Labour retains a 12 point lead over the PN, while more voters are making up their mind.
Il-Mument focuses on Notte Bianca and says this is a tranquil country and the people are happy. It also says that the number of students in post-secondary education has risen by 1,000 this year.
Illum interviews a young female inmate who claims discrimination in the treatment of prisoners at the forensic unit of Mt Carmel Hospital.
It-Torca says the government wants a 20% cut in Mater Dei Hospital spending. It also focuses on the cost of living.
KullHadd reports Franco Debono will vote with the Opposition against the privatisation of car parks.
The overseas press
President Thein Sein of Burma has told the BBC that he would accept opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi as a future elected president if that was what the Burmese people wanted. He said the transition from dictatorship to democracy in Burma was the will of the people. For two decades, the president was a member of the repressive military junta which kept Suu Kyi under house arrest and was subject to American and European travel bans. But in the past few days he addressed the United Nations and held a meeting with US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton. Now, in an interview with the BBC's “Hardtalk” programme, he spoke of reform being “irreversible” and working together Suu Kyi.
Libyan Herald reports that hundreds of Libyans have surrender their weapons at collection points in Tripoli and Benghazi, following an appeal that was promoted on TV by the military. The weapons – assault rifles and ammunition, rocket launchers, heat-seeking missiles and a tank – were left over from last year’s revolt against Muammar Gaddafi. The new government wants to take arms off the streets and reign in the militia groups that emerged from the civil war. The army said it was surprised by the positive turnout which had gained momentum in the wake of the attack in Benghazi that killed the US ambassador and three other Americans.
A Vatican tribunal has thrown out some evidence gathered in the investigation of the Pope's butler, who is accused of stealing papers and passing them off to a journalist. L’Avvenire reports the court also decided during the first hearing of the case to separate the trial of the butler, Paolo Gabriele, and that of his co-defendant, Vatican computer expert Claudio Sciarpelletti. Gabriele faces up to four years in prison if he is convicted of aggravated theft. He has already confessed, saying he leaked the documents to shed light on what he called the "evil and corruption" in the church, and asked to be pardoned by the Pope. Judge Giuseppe Dalla Torre set the next hearing for Tuesday, when Gabriele will be questioned.
al bawaba says a large fire in the Syrian city of Aleppo has destroyed many of the medieval souks there as fierce fighting rages between rebels and government troops. Unesco, which recognises Aleppo's Old City as a world heritage site, described the damage as a tragedy.
Gulf Daily News reports that riot police in Bahrain have fired at Shite protesters after the funeral of a youth killed during street battles with security forces on Friday. Thousands of mourners chanted anti-government slogans and a small breakaway group hurled stones at the police.
There has been a new wave of protests against austerity measures with large rallies in Portugal, Spain and Poland. El Pais says that in Madrid, demonstrators approached parliament for the third time this week to vent their anger against tax hikes, government spending cuts and a 25 per cent unemployment rate that is the highest among the 17 nations that use the euro currency.
In Lisbon, Espresso reports tens of thousands of protesters decried the budget cuts Portugal has agreed to in return for a €78 billion rescue package the country received in 2011. Tax hikes and spending cuts have contributed to a record unemployment rate of over 15 per cent. Meanwhile, the global economic institutions including the EU, the IMF and the European Central Bank are keeping an eye on Portugal's implementation of spending cuts and reforms required by the conditions of the bailout. The international creditors have agreed to relax Portugal's deficit targets for 2012 and 2013, rewarding the Portuguese for pushing through reforms.
According to Gazeta Polska, thousands of people have taken to streets of Warsaw to protest against a new law that raises the retirement age gradually from 60 for women and 65 for men to 67 for all Poles. Addressing the crowds, the chairman of the Law and Justice Party Jaroslaw Kaczynski said Poles were being exploited by “those who manipulate the people and who have no respect for the law”. Democracy, he said, had become fictional.
Ansa quotes the president of Italy's Confindustria, Giorgio Squinzi, saying higher taxes were choking Italian enterprises. In an address to a Lega Nord meeting, Squinzi said that as a result the industrial employers' association was willing to trade incentives for lower taxes. He also called Irap, Italian regional tax on productive activities, as an "evil tax which hits those who succeed in what they do". He reiterated he did not agree with the proposals the Lega put forward as to the so-called territorial contracts, saying he still believed in the national labour contract.
Football: Moscow Times says the 11 host cities for the 2018 World Cup in Russia have been announced. The 64 matches in the tournament will be staged at 12 different stadiums with Moscow being the only city with two venues selected – those of Luzhniki, which hosted the 2008 Champions League final, and Spartak. FIFA President Sepp Blatter said at the venue announcement that Russia's preparations were ahead of schedule.