The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press:
The Sunday Times leads with an article saying that police and army stop and search powers in Malta were set to come under scrutiny after the ECHR ruled that in the UK interfered with an individual's right to privacy. It reports the Pope’s address in which he apologised to those who suffered abuse. The newspaper reports that new petard regulations are expected.
The Independent on Sunday reports on the Parliamentary debate yesterday which approved the Mepa report and debated a motion on Anton Buttigieg Street, Zejtun.
Malta Today carries an interview with Labour leader Joseph Muscat and a debate between Inspire director Nathan Farrugia and UHM general secretary Gejtu Vella on the organisation’s instruction to workers not to join a union.
It-Torca says that the ideal of an open air theatre had been pushed aside six months ago. It reports an explosion in the price of minerals and says that turbine 8 at Marsa power station was in the UK for repairs.
Il-Mument also leads with the Parliamentary approval of the Mepa report. It says that the level of criminality in Malta was the lowest in the past 13 years and accuses Labour leader Joseph Muscat of wanting to dismantle the university to build another.
Kullhadd says that two people, including an ETC official, are being investigated for issuing work permits to foreigners. It says that the Fairmount ship conversion contract is to start being heard tomorrow. It also says that the next speaker is likely to be Helen d’Amato.
Illum reports that the gambling problem was growing and reports the UHM general secretary saying that Enemalta was insensitive and lacked a social conscience.
The overseas press:
Reykjavik’s online newspaper Visir reports that 500 people have been evacuated from their homes, as a volcano erupted in southern Iceland, shortly after midnight. No one was in immediate danger.
Haaretz says Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is leaving for Washington tonight, has agreed to ease the blockade on the Gaza Strip and to discuss the core issues in the Isreali-Palestinian dispute on condition of reaching final conclusions only in direct talks with the PA president.
Al Quds al-Arabi reports UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has began a two-day visit to the Palestinian territories and Israel aimed at restarting peace talks. Mr Ban said that the international community "strongly supports" Palestinian efforts to build a state and branded all Israeli settlement activity illegal.
Meanwhile, Al Jazeera quotes medics saying Israeli forces have killed a Palestinian teenager and seriously injured the cousin of the dead boy during violent clashes in the occupied West Bank city of Nablus. The Israeli military denied its soldiers fired live ammunition.
L’Osservatore Romano says that in his letter to the Irish Catholic Church, the Pope has apologised to sexual abuse victims, castigated Irish bishops for failing to apply the long-established norms of canon law for the crime of child abuse and detailed new structures designed to prevent any repeat.
The Irish Independent reports there has been a mixed response to the Pope’s apology. Some victims in Ireland welcomed the pontiff's apology while others said they were angry his message did not directly address cover-ups by senior clergy.
As French voters return to the polls for the final round of regional elections, Journal du Dimanche announces that a new poll suggests that 57 per cent of people would like to see a change of government after these regional polls.
Rome’s Il Tempo says hundreds of thousands supporters of Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi attended the premier's "party of love" election rally in Rome ahead of regional polls. Berlusconi used the occasion to launch a blistering attack on his political enemies after his party was blocked from the key Rome vote after failing to register on time.
The Moscow Times says that in a nationwide "Day of Anger", organised by a coalition of opposition groups in cities nationwide, Russians rallied against the government and rising unemployment, which now stand at above nine percent.
Al Quds al-Arabi reports partial results of the Iraqi parliamentary elections show former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi leading by 7,970 votes, based on a tally of 93 per cent of ballots. But incumbent Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s coalition is still winning in seven of Iraq’s 18 provinces, compared with five for Mr Allawi’s alliance.
The Observer says strike-hit British Airways has said the airline had got off to a “good start” as its plans to cope with a mass walkout of cabin crew staff swung into action. But the Unite union, in contrast, claimed a number of planes were starting to stack up at airports as a result of the strike.
The Washington Post reports that President Obama paid a visit to Capitol Hill yesterday to rally support on healthcare as Democrats in the House of Representatives tried to nail down the last votes to pass his sweeping overhaul. The climactic vote is scheduled for later today.
Clarin says Argentina has increased pressure on the British government over sovereignty of the Falkland Islands– by threatening to ban companies operating in the colony.
France 24 quotes the International Organisation of La Francophonie saying the number of French speakers in the world was rising thanks to increasing literacy in Africa.
Metro says two sexy photos of Carla Bruni taken when she was in her early twenties are to be sold at an auction. One of the pictures shows Bruni, then 25, smoking in white bikini bottoms and a T-shirt pullled up to rest just below her breasts. The other, taken by Helmut Newton in 1987, has Bruni leaning on a piano with her skirt riding high.