The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press.
The Times quotes the prime minister saying the PN is the only choice for strong finances. It also reports that the prime minister has requested the police to investigate a case of reported graft in oil purchases.
The Malta Independent reports the two mass meetings on its front page.
In-Nazzjon carries the headline 'Strong finances mean a secure future', taken from yesterday's PN mass meeting.
l-orizzont carries a huge picture of yesterday's Labour mass meeting and says Lawrence Gonzi has explanations to give on commissions paid for oil purchases.
The overseas press
Germany's centre-left opposition has won a wafer-thin victory over Chancellor Angela Merkel's coalition in a major state election – dealing her a setback as she seeks a third term later this year. Deutsche Welle said preliminary official results gave the opposition Social Democrats (SPD) and their natural coalition partners, the Green Party a total of 69 seats in the Lower Saxony legislature, compared to 68 for Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats and their preferred coalition partners, the liberal Free Democrats. The CDU remain the largest single party, with 36.0 per cent support (down by 6.5 per cent on the 2008 election), the SPD garnered 32.6 per cent (up 2.3 per cent), the Greens gained 5.7 per cent to 13.7 per cent and the Free Democrats surprised many by taking 9.9 per cent, a 1.7 per cent improvement on their 2008 result.
Al Jazeera quotes an Algeria security source saying special forces clearing the gas plant deep in the Sahara that was the scene of a violent hostage crisis, have captured five captors alive. The news followed statements that the death toll from the siege at the Ain Amenas refinery climbed to at least 81 dozens more bodies were found –many so badly disfigured they could not immediately be identified. The militants, from six countries were armed to cause maximum destruction and mined the refinery, which the Algerian state oil company runs along with BP and Norway’s Statoil.
Le Monde says France's campaign in Mali escalated into a ground war yesterday when troops fought to prevent al-Qaeda and its allies from striking deep inside territory previously under government control. After six days of air raids, French special forces were fighting alongside the Malian army near the town of Diabaley, 220 miles north-east of the capital, Bamako. Meanwhile, French troops advanced towards Mali's Islamist-held north as Russia and Canada offered to help transport French and African soldiers to boost the Paris-led offensive.
According to Ethnos, a bomb has exploded at a shopping mall in Athens, slightly wounding two security guards. Police evacuated about 200 people from the mall after two warning phone calls were made to local media about 50 minutes before the blast. Shops are closed at the mall on Sundays, but cafes, restaurants and cinemas in the complex are open.
Jakarta Post says 20 people – including a baby girl and a small boy – were confirmed dead and 50,000 are homeless after days of severe flooding in the Indonesian capital. A weekend of relatively fine weather has helped the city recover in some parts, but there are still areas that are completely under water. On Saturday, the number of people relying on temporary shelters was 20,000, but that has now jumped to 50,000 homeless.
CNN reports Barack Obama has been sworn in for a second four-year term as prsient of the United States at a small, private ceremony at the White House. He will take the oath again on Monday at the Capitol during a public swearing-in. AFP says the president's 11-year-old daughter Sasha gave a rare glimpse into the president's personal life, after watching her father take the oath of office to begin his second term. “You didn't mess up,” Sasha Obama said, in remarks picked up by a television microphone, apparently referring to the president's first-term swearing in, when a verbal stumble while reciting the oath of office necessitated a do-over. Obama was also heard to say "thank you, sweetie," to his wife Michelle after she congratulated him on his nascent second term, and also got a verbal pack on the back from his elder daughter, Malia, 14.
Fox News says a 15-year-old boy remained in custody as detectives tried to piece together what led to the shooting of five people, including three young children, who were found dead in a New Mexico home. The teenager was arrested on murder and other charges in connection with the shootings. Meanwhile, accidental shootings at gun shows in North Carolina, Indiana and Ohio this weekend left five people injured.
The Israeli army has ordered Palestinian demonstrators to evacuate a protest encampment in the West Bank consisting of four tents and a building under construction. A military spokesman told AFP that three of the tents and the building near the Palestinian village of Beit Iksa were on land owned by the Jewish state, and the fourth tent was on the route of a planned separation barrier. Activists set up the encampment on Friday to protest against Israel's intention to confiscate at least 124 acres (50 hectares) of land near the village, located on the north-western outskirts of Jerusalem.
Indian Express says the trial of five men accused of the fatal gang-rape of a 23-year-old student on a moving New Delhi bus has opened in a special "fast-track" court established to deliver speedy justice. The five men face murder, rape, robbery, kidnapping and other charges, with prosecutors expected to demand the death penalty. A sixth suspect, who claims he is 17, will be heard by a separate juvenile court.
ABC says 50 women and children gathered outside the Channel Seven television studios in Sydney's Martin Place, protesting against comments made by TV host David Koch about breastfeeding. Last week, the Sunrise host stated on air that women should be “classy” and “discreet” when breastfeeding in public. The women say it is their legal right to breastfeed in public and demanded that Koch apologise for his comments.