The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press.
The Sunday Times leads with an interview with the boy, now over 18, whose mother was imprisoned after he refused to go and see her estranged husband. The boy was just under 17 at the time. The newspaper also says there are conflicting opinions within the PN on the right date for the general election.
The Malta Independent on Sunday says there are hopes that frank talks in the 5+5 summit will continue.
MaltaToday says the prime minister will stand four square with Austin Gatt and Joe Cassar. It also says that Simon Busuttil has been disappointed with the PN campaign so far.
Illum quotes Tancred Tabone, president of the Chamber of Commerce, saying political uncertainty is not good for business.
It-Torca says a woman was asked to take part in research after she passed away. It also reports what it says is unlawful work at Naxxar Cemetery.
Kullhadd says the only way Lawrence Gonzi can hold on to power is if Austin Gatt leaves the Cabinet.
Il-Mument reports how EU Commission President Barrosso yesterday praised Malta as an example to the EU on the management of its finances.
The overseas press
A senior official of the European Central Bank has told Bild am Sonntag he saw no risk of inflation rising in the 17-member eurozone in spite of the current debt crisis. Joerg Asmussen said he did not see an increased risk of the euro depreciating, adding that ECB forecasts acted on the assumption that inflation would again fall below two percent next year. Since the introduction of the single currency in 2002 eurozone inflation had been hovering around two percent. Higher eurozone inflation in September of 2.7 per cent from 2.6 per cent in August was due to “rising energy prices”.
Novinite reports European Commission President José Manuel Barroso has called on the more prosperous EU member states to support the poorer regions. At the Friends of Cohesion summit in Bratislava, Barroso and 15 other senior EU met to strengthen their common position on the EU 2014-2020 Budget. The meeting aimed at reaching an effective position not to decrease the amount of funds for the cohesion policy aimed at eliminating regional disparities.
The New York Times says a US judge has ordered radical Islamist cleric Abu Hamza be kept in detention after a brief appearance in a New York court. Hamza was told of the 11 terrorism charges he faced following his extradition from Britain. The court appearance was a prelude to a formal arraignment next Tuesday where he would be charged over a kidnapping in 1998 in Yemen, the establishment of a terrorist training camp in Oregon, and for "facilitating violent jihad in Afghanistan". The brief hearing ended without him entering a plea.
France 24 reports a suspected terrorist was killed and 11 others 11 arrested in a series of police raids in cities across France on Saturday. The operation was part of a nationwide anti-terror operation by France's security forces directed at a suspected network of Muslim extremists believed to be behind an attack on a Jewish grocery store last month. Police have revealed that DNA found on a grenade thrown at the kosher shop had led them to the suspected jihadist cell.
Fox News quotes US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta saying the continued exchange of artillery fire between Syria and Turkey raised additional concerns that the conflict might escalate and spread to neighboring countries. His comments came on the heels of warnings from Turkey's prime minister that his country is not far from war with Syria. Dogan news agency said another mortar shell from Syria struck Turkish territory yesterday, prompting a fourth straight day of retaliatory artillery fire.
The Jerusalem Post reports that Iran and the Hezbollah were likely behind unidentified drone shot down by the Israeli air force after it crossed into southern Israel. The drone was first spotted above the Mediterranean, kept under surveillance and followed by Israeli air force jets before it was shot down above an unpopulated area near the border with the occupied West Bank. Defence minister Ehud Barak praised the interception as "sharp and effective".
Newsday says Pakistani cricket star turned politician Imran Khan has led supporters and Western activists on a much-publicised rally to Pakistan's tribal belt to protest against US drone strikes. Peace campaigners condemn the strikes as a violation of international law, Pakistanis as a violation of sovereignty that breeds extremism, and politicians, including Khan, as a sign of a government complicit in killing its own people.
Korea Times reports a North Korean soldier has defected across the country's heavily fortified border after shooting his two commanding officers on Saturday. He was led him to safety and was being held in protective custody. South Korean troops in the area are now on alert in case of North Korean retaliation.
Venezuelans go to the polls in what El Universal sees as President Hugo Chavez’s toughest test yet in today’s crucial presidential ballot after 13 years in power. Supporters of presidential candidate Henrique Capriles Radonski are hoping that Chavez’s days in power are numbered, bolstered by recent opinion polls which suggest the two candidates could be running neck-and-neck in the final week before the presidential poll. Until recently, Capriles, 40, and the coalition of some 30 opposition parties he represents, were lagging a distant second in opinion surveys.
The Mail on Sunday reports that former lifeguard Mark Bridger has been charged with the abduction and murder of April Jones – but the five-year-old Welsh schoolgirl remained missing despite an intensive, ongoing search. Bridger, 46, was also accused of perverting the course of justice and would appear before the Magistrates’ Court tomorrow.
As The People claims that shamed Gary Glitter faces a police investigation into claims he had sex with a 13-year-old in Sir Jimmy Savile's dressing room, a former Radio 1 DJ in the UK has described how she was routinely groped by another presenter as she was broadcasting. Liz Kershaw said that when she tried to complain she was asked if she was a lesbian. Her comments came as the BBC promised to co-operate fully with an inquiry by the Metropolitan Police into claims that the late presenter Jimmy Savile regularly abused young girls.
Ansa quotes Vatican spokesman Fr Federico Lombardi indicating that Pope Benedict was likely to pardon his former butler Paolo Gabriele who has been jailed for 18 months for stealing confidential papers from the Pope’s private apartment and leaking them to a. The court reduced the sentence by half, from three years to 18 months, because of a series of mitigating circumstances, including that Gabriele had no previous record, had acknowledged that he had betrayed the pope and was convinced, “albeit erroneously” that he was doing the right thing.
The Hindu reports that India's Supreme Court has ordered that schools nationwide must be provided with toilets and drinking water within six months. Research shows that wherever toilet facilities are inadequate, Indian parents are reluctant to send their children to school – especially if they were girls. The activist group, Right to Education Forum, says 40 per cent of schools in India did not have toilets. The court said having the basic facilities were part of a child's right to an education.