The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press.
The Sunday Times of Malta says an increase of work permits granted to foreigners has sparked prostitution fears.
It-Torca reports that 30 Mtarfa families face a ticking time bomb, with inferior concrete having been used to build their houses.
MaltaToday says a new race track could host MotoGP and Formula 1 testing. It also says Simon Busuttil had tried to get Joe Giglio into Parliament instead of Tony Abela.
Il-Mument interviews Marlene Farrugia and says Labour stole votes by presenting a fake movement.
The Malta Independent says Joseph Muscat wanted Marlene Farrugia as president before nominating Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca.
KullHadd quotes Foreign Minister George Vella saying Malta's profile has been raised with the EU Africa summit and CHOGM.
Illum says nothing was done following a report on Paceville in 2012.
The overseas press
Brussels remains on lockdown with the metro system, shopping centres and public buildings closed after the government raised the terror alert level to level four – “very serious”. RTL reports cafés and bars remained largely empty after the authorities advised them to close early following what was described as an “imminent and precise” terror threat.
Kanaal Z says the heightened terror threat is thought to have been sparked by fears that Salah Abdeslam is in hiding in the Brussels area. The 26-year-old Frenchman is believed to be one of the ringleaders of the Paris attacks in which 130 people died. He has reportedly been in touch with friends on Skype asking for help in getting back to Syria.
According to Chumhuriyet, Turkish police arrested three terror suspects, including a Belgian of Moroccan origin who is suspected of action as a scout for the cell that launched the Paris attacks. The Sunday Times reports British Prime Minister David Cameron is launching a final attempt to win backing for airstrikes in Syria with MPs expected to vote in the Commons within the next fortnight. David Cameron will visit Paris on Monday to meet with French president François Hollande.
Western leaders who met on the margins of last week’s Group of 20 summit in Turkey agreed to extend sanctions imposed on Russia for its intervention in Ukraine by six months until July of next year, a senior European diplomat told Reuters. The decision was taken despite mounting calls to cooperate more closely with President Putin in the fight against ISIS.
Adnkronos says Islamic Sate militants have identified two new possible targets: the Eiffel Tower and an Air France aircraft. One of the films on its website produces scenes of the collapse of the tower taken from Stephen Sommers’ 2009 movie “GI Joe - The Rise of Cobra”. A second video, titled ‘Blow up France’ shows a jihadist saying he would go to Raqqa to fight in the ranks of the ISIS.
Kicker reports football macthes in Europe were played under strict security measures. Fans attending yesterday’s El Clasico between Real Madrid and Barcelona (0-4) had to pass through metal detectors, negotiate three checkpoints and submit to being frisked before entering the historic Santiago Bernabeu Stadium. In Germany, domestic league games were played under heightened security. Extra precautions were taken around stadiums in Belgium, and the Netherlands. And in England, France’s “Le Marseillaise” was sung before every top-flight game as “an act of solidarity and remembrance”.
The Jerusalem Post says 13-year-old girl was among four people stabbed and wounded in the south of Israel. The stabbings happened outside a soccer stadium in the small town of Kiryat Gat, south of Tel Aviv. Police also raided and shut down a Palestinian radio station overnight, in the flashpoint West Bank city of Hebron.
Avvenire reports the Vatican has charged five people, including two journalists and a monsignor, over the leaking and publication of secret documents. In a statement, the Vatican said magistrates “notified the accused and their lawyers of the charges filed... for the unlawful disclosure of information and confidential documents”. If convicted, all five could be jailed for up to eight years.
Clarin says Argentinians head to the polls a holds later today to determine who will be president for the next four years. None of the two leading candidates – centre-left candidate Daniel Scioli and centre-right Buenos Aires mayor Mauricio Macri – gained enough votes in last month’s election to win the poll outright. Polls indicate Scioli as the favourite to win.
And Hong Kong citizens are also set to vote today in the first elections since pro-democracy protests erupted in 2014, with thousands demanding increased freedom to choose the city’s next leader in 2017. The South China Morning Post says at least 431 seats in 18 district councils are up for grabs in the district council elections, with more than 900 candidates vying for the spots.
The New York Times reports a 22-year-old pregnant woman was killed in a stabbing attack during which her baby is believed to have been cut from her womb alive by a 22-year-old childhood friend. The suspect was taken into custody at the scene, screaming that the infant was hers.
National Geographic reports an international team of archaeologists believe they had discovered an island in the Aegean Sea that was once the ancient city of Kane, site of an epic sea battle between the Athenians and the Spartans in 406 BC. The Arginusae islands, now called the Garip islands, lie only a few hundred yards off the coast of Turkey. Ancient historical sources refer to three Arginusae islands but the exact location of the third has long been unclear, disappearing from maps as far back as the 16th century.