The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press.
Times of Malta and the other newspapers lead with the election in Greece. Times of Malta also reports how biological parents who abandon their children in care may lose their parental rights and the children can be adopted.
The Malta Independent says the PN is set to lose diehard Frank Zammit who will contest the local elections on the Labour list. Mr Zammit is a former assistant of John Dalli.
In-Nazzjon leads with an Opposition motion for a reduction in fuel prices. It also says it is not true that the former government did not publish the BWSC and Arriva contracts.
l-orizzont says Nationalist MP Toni Bezzina has denied wrongdoing. KullHadd yesterday claimed he had told workers to make false declarations.
The overseas press
Alpha TV reports celebrations continued until the early hours of this morning throughout Greece as supporters of anti-austerity party Syriza wildly cheered yesterday’s election victory, promising to alter the course of austerity in Europe. However, Syriza appeared to be short of an outright majority having obtained 36 per cent of the votes, compared to 28 per cent for New Democracy.
Euronews quotes analysts saying Syriza’s resounding election win leaves the European Union caught between finding a compromise with its leader Alexis Tsipras and making concessions that will be hard to swallow for countries like Germany. The first indications of the EU’s reaction will come later today, with a long-scheduled meeting of eurozone finance ministers.
The first European leader to have reacted after the victory of Syriza was, on Twitter, British Prime Minister David Cameron. The Times quotes him saying that with the victory of Alexis Tsipras, “grow the economic uncertainties in Europe. That’s why London has to respect our plan, ensure security at home”.
France’s Socialist President François Hollande, though, congratulated Syriza. Le Monde reports the French presidency expressed the “desire to pursue the close cooperation between our two countries in service of growth and the stability of the eurozone, in a spirit of progress, solidarity and responsibility.”
Jakarta Post says the second attempt to lift the fuselage of the crashed AirAsia jetliner failed this morning as the wreckage sank back to the ocean floor when a rope linking the lifting balloons broke. A strong current was the main obstacle. Seventy bodies have been recovered from the jetliner, but most of the remaining 92 victims are believed to be inside.
Blitz says thousands of supporters of the Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the West (PEGIDA) gathered in the German town of Dresden yesterday for an anti-Islam protest, waving German, Russian and Nordic Cross flags and shouting “We are the people”. Counter demonstrations were held in the same square where crowds chanted “Say it loud, say it clear, refugees are welcome here!”
El Pais reports thousands of protesters marched through Madrid to express their opposition to a proposed law that would set hefty fines for the very act of protesting. The mooted legislation covers offences such as demonstrating outside parliament buildings or strategic installations.
Corriere della Sera quotes foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini announcing EU Foreign Ministers meet in Brussels on Thursday to discuss renewed fighting in Ukraine as well as sanctions against pro-Russian rebels in Eastern Ukraine. She even threatened Russia with deterioration of bilateral relations.
The Daily Mirror reports a high-level security meeting is being held in London today to review procedures after hoax caller, claiming to be the director of eavesdropping agency GCHQ, was put through to the British Prime Minister. Downing Street said David Cameron ended the call when it became clear what was happening. No sensitive information was disclosed. All UK Government departments have been warned to be on alert for such calls.
Al Ahram says clashes between protesters and security forces left at least 18 people dead yesterday, the anniversary of Egypt’s 2011 revolt that toppled strongman Hosni Mubarak. Demonstrators, mostly Islamist backers of Morsi, clashed with police, leaving 12 protesters dead in Cairo and others in Alexandria.
Manila Times says more than 30 police commandos were killed in a clash with Muslim insurgents in the southern Philippines in the biggest single-day combat loss for Filipino forces in many years. Dozens of commandos had entered the village of Tukanalipao at dawn looking for a top terrorism suspect, but encountered members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. Other insurgents in the area later attacked the outnumbered police force.
Radio Nigeria says Islamist Boko Haram fighters have attacked the strategically important north-eastern city of Maiduguri, with dozens reported dead. Earlier on Sunday they captured the north-eastern town of Monguno. US Secretary of State John Kerry meanwhile has arrived in Nigeria to call for peaceful elections next month which need to set “a new standard”. The vote looks set to be the closest since the end of military rule 15 years ago.
Times of India says President Obama and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi have declared an era of “new trust” in the often fraught relationship between their two countries as the US leader opened a three-day visit to New Delhi. Obama and Modi cited progress toward putting in place a landmark civil nuclear agreement, as well as advances on climate change and defence ties.
The New York Times warns a large part of the United States east coast is bracing for a potentially historic blizzard that is expected to blanket the region with up to 60 centimetres of snow. The US national weather service has issued a blizzard warning for the New York City area from Monday afternoon until Tuesday (local time), and placed multiple states under storm watches.
You cannot call your children ‘Fraise’ (Strawberry) or ‘Nutella’ if you live in France. La Voix du Nord says the Court of Valenciennes, in northern France, judged the choice of names by two couples as “not in the best interests of the children”. It decided to name one girl Ella and the other Fraisine, a name used in 19th century France.
Football: RTC Tele Liege says Belgian football officials have condemned fans of Standard Liege after they unfurled a banner showing a masked man holding a blood-covered machete in his right hand and the severed head of former captain Steven Defour in the other. It was accompanied by the words “Red or Dead” (red is the colour of Standard). Defour was playing for arch-rivals Anderlecht in the game which his new side lost 2-0 and ended with him literally seeing red after he was sent off early in the second half.