The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press:
The Sunday Times reports that Swedish Match had claimed that John Dalli said that the ban on snus was absurd. It also reports that there has been no reaction to the government amnesty for information on Nicholas Azzopardi, who had claimed on his deathbed to having been beaten at police headquarters before he allegedly ‘fell’ from a window.
The Malta Independent on Sunday says John Dalli has called for publication of the OLAF report. It also says potential candidates are coy on their intentions for the PN deputy leadership election. It also says that Malta is last in EU gender gap rankings.
MaltaToday says its latest survey shows the PN has failed to narrow the gap from Labour The survey also shows Mario de Marco as the most popular minister, followed by Dolores Cristina and Joe Cassar.
It-Torca leads with the John Dalli comment that his case is still to start.
Il-Mument says a study shows most young people are happy with the government and optimistic for the future.
KullHadd quotes Joseph Muscat saying a Labour government would help those who create jobs. It also says that potential candidates have agreed to let Simon Busuttil be the sole candidate for the PN deputy leadership election.
Illum says John Dalli has criticised Rita Schembri who, he said, knew about the investigation about him and interviewed Silvio Zammit, before temporarily resigning from OLAF.
The overseas press:
Ukraine heads to parliamentary polls today for the first election since Yulia Tymoshenko lost to President Viktor Yanukovych in 2010. Kyiv News reports opinion polls suggest that Yanukovych's alliance with the Communist Party and a top centrist politician will retain its narrow lead while Tymoshenko's opposition bloc will grab second place by the slimmest of margins. But trailing in hot pursuit in third is the UDAR (Punch) party of boxing star-turned-politician Vitali Klitschko.
The papal knighthood given to Jimmy Savile "should not have been bestowed", a Vatican spokesman has told the BBC. Savile was made a Knight Commander of St Gregory the Great in 1990 by Pope John Paul II for his charity work. The Catholic Church in England and Wales confirmed it has written to the Holy See to ask if the honour can be posthumously removed.
Sky News quotes a statement released by Savile's nephew, Roger Foster, describing the family's "despair and sadness" over the revelations that Savile might have abused some 300 people. The statement added "our feelings are in turmoil as we await the next turn of events".
In another turn of events, the Sunday Mirror reports that a woman who had a 17-year relationship with Jimmy Savile has revealed she aborted the shamed TV star's baby. Former singer Donna Foot sais she conducted a secretive fling that spanned two decades with the paedophile after he wooed her outside BBC.
AFP quotes Syrian rebels announcing the failure of a ceasefire declared for the Eid al-Adha holiday, with at least 150 reportedly killed since the truce, agreed to by President Bashar al-Assad's regime and the rebel Free Syrian Army, came into effect on Thursday. But Friday saw the ceasefire shattered by fresh fighting, deadly car bombings and a new regime promise to hunt down "armed terrorists". Fighting raged again on Saturday and regime warplanes were reportedly seen flying over the embattled northern city of Aleppo and Damascuc.
A defiant Silvio Berlusconi has vowed to stay in politics to reform the very justice system that convicted him of tax fraud, and has threatened to bring down the government of Prime Minster Mario Monti who replaced him. Berlusoni told Canale 5 his party would decide soon whether to withdraw parliamentary support to the government – a move that could throw Italy into political chaos ahead of next April's national elections. He also complained against the Italian justice system.
El Pais says tens of thousands of people have taken part in protests in Spain against the latest austerity measures. At one stage the demonstrators marched on parliament but they were stopped by barricades and riot police.
Wall Street Journal reports people along the East Coast of the US are preparing for Hurricane Sandy, which has killed nearly 60 people across the Caribbean. States of emergency have been declared in Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Washington DC and a coastal county in North Carolina. Sandy, which currently has maximum sustained winds of 120km/h, is expected to make landfall along the eastern US coast late on Monday.
Meanwhile, the National Post quotes the Canadian Hurricane Centre forecasting Ontario might see the worst of Sandy when it hits early next week as the so-called Frankenstorm continues to grow.
New Straits Times reports human rights groups urged an end to sectarian violence in western Burma, with one releasing satellite photos of what it said was an entire section of a town apparently burnt to the ground by a mob. Burma's state television reports that more than 80 people died, 95 were injured and 2,818 houses were burned down in seven of Rakhine's townships.
Five European newspapers have published a manifesto in their Saturday editions to reform cycling in the wake of the Lance Armstrong affair, saying the sport was mired in a "terrible mess". Britain's The Times, L'Equipe in France, Italy's La Gazzetta dello Sport, and Belgian papers Het Nieuwsblad and Le Soir joined forces to promote an eight-point manifesto designed to fix both cycling's governance and its reputation. "Professional cycling needs fundamental reform," The Times said in its editorial. "Professional cycling is, in short, in a terrible mess.
Football: La Vanguardia reports Lionel Messi smashed through the 300-goal mark with a brace as Barcelona crushed Rayo Vallecano 5-0 in Madrid on Saturday to go three points clear at the top of La Liga. Messi's goals were the 300th and 301st of his career – a total made up of 270 for Barca and 31 for Argentina in only 419 matches. They also took him to 13 in the league this season and 73 in all competitions in 2012. That's just two behind Pele's 75 for Santos and Brazil in 1959, and only 12 shy of Gerd Mueller's all-time best calendar year record of 85 goals for Bayern Munich and West Germany in 1972.