The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press:
The Times reports how Jason Azzopardi said yesterday that he cannot abandon his ministry to contest the election for deputy leader of the PN. The newspaper also asks if a Maltese-born sex offender who tried to abduct a young girl in Canada, has returned to Malta.
The Malta Independent says the Budget will not be presented before Tonio Borg is replaced. It also quotes Joseph Muscat saying the deficit and debt are spiralling out of control.
In-Nazzjon quotes the prime minister saying the PN would bring a change for the better.
l-orizzont says the exercise to reduce medicine prices is deceptive. It also gives prominence to the protest held yesterday by Cospicua residents over delays in the Dock 1 project.
The overseas press
President Obama has warned Americans to take Hurricane Sandy very seriously as the powerful storm approaches the east coast of the United States. The Washington Times quotes the White House saying the president was pulling out of an election campaign rally in Ohio and returning to Washington to monitor the situation. Hurricane Sandy claimed the lives of at least 57 people as it crossed the Caribbean last week.
Earlier, the mayor of New York Martin Bloomberg ordered the evacuation of 375,000 people from low-lying areas of the city. The New York Times reports that he told a news conference, "This is a serious and dangerous storm." Hurricane Sandy has been dubbed "Frankenstorm" by forecasters because of its unusual composition of parts from different weather patterns, and the date it's expected to make landfall on, just before Halloween.
Meanwhile, US emergency officials are worried about the impact the storm may have on northern states. AFP news agency quotes US Federal Emergency Management Agency head Craig Fugate the storm was forecast to hit the mid-Atlantic and other parts of the East Coast with “strong winds, coastal flooding, inland flooding, rain and snow". A state of emergency has been declared in Maryland, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Virginia, a coastal county in North Carolina, and Washington, DC, the US capital.
Kyiv Post reports Ukraine’s governing Party of Regions, led by President Viktor Yanukovych has claimed victory in parliamentary elections. Exit polls gave the party 28 per cent of the vote. Its main challenger, the Fatherland Party of jailed former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko is set to win just under 25 per cent. The polls suggested a strong showing for other parties. Yanukovych's party and its allies would be returned with a slimmer parliamentary majority. The final official result is expected on Monday.
According to Baltic Times, the centre-right coalition responsible for tough austerity cuts has been defeated in Lithuania, as the electorate opted for a change of pace in Sunday's second round of parliamentary elections. With nearly all results in from Sunday's poll, the Social Democrats will likely join with the Labour Party and the Paksas Party to form a centre-left coalition. The three parties won 79 of 141 seats in Lithuania's parliament. The defeated Homeland Union Party, won 32 seats.
European Central Bank President Mario Draghi told Der Spiegel magazine he would support proposals to give the EU the power to veto the budget of member countries. He said such a move would re-establish trust in the euro.
An elite French police unit has captured a woman, described as the head of the military wing of the outlawed Basque separatist organisation ETA, at a hotel in the town of Macon, near Lyon. Spanish newspaper, El Mundo reports Joseba Iturbide Ochoteco, said to be one of the three leading figures of the group, was arrested with Izaskun Lesaka. Their capture brings to 24 the number of suspected members of the group arrested this year in France, Spain and Britain as part of a joint operation. ETA is on European Union and United States terror alert lists.
Voice of Nigeria says President Goodluck Jonathan has condemned a suicide attack on a Roman Catholic church in the northern city of Kaduma which left at least eight people dead and many others injured. He vowed “to strengthen the fight against acts of terror”.
In Britain, the Mirror leads on the arrest of Gary Glitter in connection with the Jimmy Savile’s alleged child sex ring at the heart of the BBC. He was arrested in a dawn swoop at his home before being taken to a police station and quizzed over alleged sex offences. Other big name celebrities are set to be brought in for questioning over alleged paedophile offences in the coming weeks. The i newspaper says many celebrities were “running scared”.
Metro reports that a British farmer has claimed on his phone insurance after his iPhone got "stuck inside a cow". The man said the incident happened when he was helping the animal to give birth. His claim has topped a list of some of the most bizarre phone insurance claims reported to MobileInsurance.co.uk. The top 10 most bizarre claims were: lost inside a cow; baked into a cake; flushed down a lavatory; snatched by a seagull; blasted by fireworks; stolen by monkeys; dropped from a tree; thrown at a boyfriend; worn out by “intimate” use (that is used as a sex toy); and dropped overboard