The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press.
Times of Malta quotes Joseph Muscat saying migrants in Detention Centres cannot be treated like animals and the detention policy is being revised. The newspaper also warns that a number of road projects are expected to create congestion.
The Malta Independent quotes the prime minister saying the Mallia dismissal raised the bar in Maltese politics.
In-Nazzjon says Finance Minister Edward Scicluna has stayed silent after reports on Friday that he did not file his company's accounts for several years.
l-orizzont says Malta is investing €60m of EU funds to support SMEs. It also reports that modernisation of fuel pumps has fallen back.
The overseas press
ABC reports a drama is developing in Sydney as at least one gunman has taken several people hostage at a cafe in the normally busy Martin Place in the city’s central business district.
Senior Palestine Liberation Organisation member Wassel Abu Yussef has told AFP the Palestinians are to present a draft resolution to the UN Security Council next Wednesday that would set a two-year deadline for Israel to end its occupation.
Meanwhile, Hamas staged a show of strength to mark its 27th anniversary, with a military parade through Gaza including a flyover by a drone. The Jerusalem Post said the Israeli air force scrambled warplanes to monitor the Hamas drone, which did not cross into Israel.
Panamericana TV announces negotiators have reached a watered-down deal at UN talks in Peru that sets the stage for a global climate pact in Paris next year. Developing countries had earlier rejected a draft deal they said would allow rich countries to shirk their responsibilities to fight global warming and pay for its impacts.
According to NHK TV, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has retained a two-thirds majority as results of the general election were announced. The LDP had won 290 seats, with Komeito taking 35. The main opposition party, the Democratic Party of Japan, won 73 seats, an increase of 11.
Il Tempo reports Nobel Peace Prize winners gathered in Rome have expressed concern about the growing threat of war, even nuclear, and “for a new and more dangerous Cold War”. The final communiqué of their summit mentioned the war in Ukraine and the conflicts in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and the Middle East as well as “the threat of fanaticism disguised as religiosity”.
Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair must provide a “full report” of what he knew of the torture and “extraordinary rendition” carried out by the CIA in the war on terrorism. The Telegraph says Defence Minister Michael Fallon has also called former Foreign Minister Jack Straw to come forward, saying the members of the Labour government at the time must be accountable for their actions.
Meanwhile, former US vice president Dick Cheney, in an interview with NBC, has said the report on CIA torture was “seriously flawed”. He said interrogations had worked as they provided the US government with the necessary information.
Panapress reports at least 129 people have died in Congo after a boat sank on a lake in a remote corner of the enormous country. However, the true toll of the disaster is not known – 129 bodies have been recovered and there are 232 known survivors as many boats in Congo carry far more people and cargo than are listed.
AP says the European Union and the United States have condemned a series of police raids in Turkey in which at least 24 journalists and executive were arrested. They were seen as targeting opponents of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Metro says the producers of James Bond films have acknowledged that an early version of the screenplay for the new movie “Sceptre” was among the material stolen in the massive cyberattack on Sony Pictures Entertainment. The producers said they are concerned that third parties who received the screenplay might seek to publish it – and warned the material was subject to copyright protection around the world.
Ansa reports that at a meeting with the parents of 80 newly baptized children, the Pope has warned against driving them away from church because they cry. “Babies cry, they make noise, the run here and there. But it troubles me when some asked the parent to go out.” He asked the parents to celebrate the date of their baby’s baptism, adding he was baptised on Christmas Day “just eight days after I was born”. The Pope celebrates his 78 birthday next Wednesday.
Huffington Post says 22-year old Miss South Africa, Rolene Strauss, was crowned in London as ‘Miss World 2014’. She was chosen from among 121 beauty queens. The winner is a 1.77-metre tall brunette and is a medical student with a passion for sports and music. She was the favourite of the British bookmakers.