The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press.
The Sunday Times of Malta reports that a priest has been accused of violent sexual abuse.
MaltaToday says Tonio Fenech’s €25 million compensation offer for National Bank shareholders came five days before the general election.
The Malta Independent says there was more than meets the eye in last week’s Libya meetings in Malta.
Il-Mument reports about human trafficking of Asians to Malta.
It-Torca says the gender identity bill will be presented on Wednesday.
KullHadd’s top story is about a sports ground for Birzebbuga.
Illum says policemen of the Rapid Intervention Unit have been warned that they cannot stop anywhere to eat or drink.
The overseas press
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has told London’s Sunday Times she would not support British Prime David Cameron’s attempt to cap immigration from the European Union as part of his planned renegotiation of Britain’s relationship with Europe. The paper reports that under plans being drawn up in Downing Street, new arrivals would get a national insurance number only for a limited period, to prevent them from coming to Britain to work and claim tax credits indefinitely.
In an exclusive, The Sunday Express says the Royal Navy has been put on red alert after Al Qaeda urged its followers to ram oil tankers using the Strait of Gibraltar with boats laden with explosives or by hijacking the ships and running them aground. An attack would raise oil prices, shipping rates and maritime insurance as well as military spending. British oil workers in the Middle East are also legitimate targets, according to the new Al Qaeda magazine, Resurgence.
O Globo says nearly 143 million people are expected to go to the polls in today’s presidential election run-off in Brazil between incumbent Dilma Rousseff of the Workers Party and Social Democratic Party rival Aecio Neves. Polls show that Rousseff has a lead of between four and six percentage points.
Kyiv Post says 36 million Ukrainians are preparing to go to the polls in snap elections – the first parliamentary vote since Moscow-backed leader Viktor Yanukovych was overthrown in February. Polls put incumbent President Petro Poroshenko’s bloc in the lead.
AFP reports US Secretary of State John Kerry has urged Moscow to fully implement last month’s ceasefire agreement on Ukraine. The peace deal reached last month between Kiev, Moscow and the pro-Russian separatists in east Ukraine includes monitoring and verification by the OSCE on both sides of the border.
Al Ahram quotes Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi saying a deadly assault on an army checkpoint in the Sinai Peninsula was a “foreign funded operation”. The coordinated assault killed 30 Egyptian troops on Friday near the border with the Gaza strip making it the deadliest single attack on the military in decades. At least eight jihadists were killed in retribution bombing raids against the strongholds of the terrorist groups in the south.
The Jerusalem Post reports Israeli police clashed with Palestinians across east Jerusalem ahead of a potentially explosive funeral that was delayed for a day and tight security conditions imposed. Relatives of the Palestinian driver who ploughed into a Jerusalem crowd on Wednesday, killing an Israeli baby, were told to be ready to bury him Sunday night. Only 20 mourners are allowed.
The Daily Star says the Islamic has launched a fresh attack against Kobani in an attempt to isolate the city in case of a counteroffensive by Peshmerga from Kurdistan. Throughout Saturday – from morning to dusk – the Islamist terrorists battered the Kurdish troops defending the Syrian city, located on the border with Turkey, with mortar shots and heavy machine guns.
Euronews announces Iran has executed a woman who had killed a a former Iranian intelligence officer she said tried to rape her. Reyhaneh Jabbari, 26, was hanged in Tehran on Saturday despite an international campaign calling for clemency. She had been in prison for seven years. Amnesty International said these claims, which could have clear her name, do not appear to have been properly investigated.
“Papa Francesco, I’m your daughter, Asia Bibi. I implore you to pray for me, for my safety and for my freedom”. AGI reports the Christian mother condemned to death for blasphemy in Pakistan has told Pope Francis she was still holding on firmly to her Christian faith and would defend it till the end.
Il Tempo says tens of thousands of people have marched in Rome to voice their opposition to Prime Minister Renzi’s plans to overhaul the labor market. The reforms aim to tackle unemployment and reboot Italy’s stagnating economy.
Think of it like the Eurovision Song Contest, but for trees. The Woodland Trust, guardians of the UK’s sylvan heritage, is launching a contest via The Times to find England’s Tree of the Year. Among the ten short-listed trees – chosen from over 200 nominations from across the country – are an oak thought to have sheltered Robin Hood and his Merry Men, a yew that is thought to be Europe’s widest tree, and an apple tree whose falling fruit gave Isaac Newton his eureka moment.