The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press:
The Times interviews Labour MP Adrian Vassallo who said he would prefer to live in Iran and fight to defend his religion than find porn in hotel rooms. Dr Vassallo was interviewed in the wake of a parliamentary question where he urged the police to investigate porn on pay TV systems in hotels. The newspaper also reports that Brussels has called on Malta to adhere to EU fishing rules.
The Malta Independent says Malta has denied that it ignored an SOS sent from a migrants' boat, as claimed by the UNHCR.
MaltaToday says the Mayor of Slema is silent over an investigation by the Department of Local Government on alleged financial irregularities.
In-Nazzjon says that the people have already spent €633 million in stocks and shares this year. It also says that Youth in Action projects can go ahead as planned for accepted applicants, while efforts continue to lift the EU suspension of funds on educational programmes.
l-orizzont reports that a young man and a young woman were lucky to escape serious injury in a crash on the mgarr-Mosta road. It also says that Education Minister Dolores Cristina went to Brussels for talks on EU funds in efforts to recover funds lost because of administrative shrotcomings.
The overseas press
On the eve of the UN Security Council vote on proposd new UN sanctions against Iran, The International Herald Tribune quotes US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton describing them as the toughest ever. She told reporters there was strong support for a fourth resolution penalising Iran for its refusal to prove its nuclear programme was peaceful and defying international demands to halt uranium enrichment.
Al Quds al-Arabi says the Libyan government has ordered the United Nations refugee agency to leave the country. No explanation was given. The agency, which has worked in Libya since 1991, has registered more than 9,000 refugees in the country, mostly would-be migrants who tried to enter Italy from the Middle East and North Africa. The Italian government expels them to Libya.
Trouw says Dutch voters go to the polls today in an election that cpuld see the right-wing liberal party in a position to lead a coalition government with leader Mark Rutte as the next prime minister. The People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) has maintained their lead in polls with their message of fiscal austerity resonating with voters worried about taxes and the economy.
In the UK, The Independent reports big cuts in the £170-billion-a-year social security budget would be sought by the British government as it launched a fundamental review of all public spending to reduce Britain's £156-billion deficit. The review was expected to consider the level and scope of benefits for the jobless, sick and disabled - including the option of freezing them temporarily.
Al Jazeera reports that 21 of the 22 participants in the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia, a bloc of 22 Eurasian states, have condemned Israel's deadly raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla. Israel, the 22nd participant, refused to sign the document. Delegates mostly discussed security issues, particularly Israel and Afghanistan.
The Financial Times says EU finance ministers have pledged to pursue plans for a levy on banks, in spite of disagreement over what to do with the proceeds and the decision by the world's richest nations to drop plans for a global tax. At a meeting in Luxembourg, the ministers also approved Estonia's adoption of the euro on January 1, 2011. Estonia will become the 17th country to switch to the shared currency.
According to Magyar Nemzet, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban was set to announce austerity measures to curb the budget deficit following comments by a politician from the ruling centre-right party comparing Hungary to debt-stricken Greece. Fears that Hungary was one step closer to sovereign default, last week led the euro fall to a four year low of $1.20. The Hungarian currency, the forint, fell to 5.6 per cent against the euro and on Friday the Hungarian stock market fell 4 per cent.
ABC says unions said 75 percent of Spain's 2.3 million public workers went on strike yesterday in protest at a planned five percent cut to their salaries. The measure is part of a sweeping austerity package meant to curb the country's swelling public deficit.
Gazeta Polska reports four Russian soldiers have been charged with stealing bank cards from the wreckage of the plane crash that killed Polish President Lech Kaczynski and wiped out much of their nation's military and civilian leadership. The soldiers used at least one of the cards to withdraw 60,345 rubles (about €2,000). They face up to five years in prison if convicted.
Global Trading says BP has announced it had managed to capture 11,000 barrels (462,000 gallons) of crude in 24 hours. It plans to increase the amount to 20,000 barrels per day - that is just under 60 per cent of what is spewing into the sea from the ruptured pipeline. Meanwhile, Nedwsday reports President Barack Obama will return to the Gulf Coast next week for a two-day update on the oil spill, reacting to Americans' rising frustration with the government's response to the disaster.
Il Tempo says growing scandals in the Roman Catholic Church were prompting a renewed debate on clerical celibacy. For the first time, a group of Italian women who have had relationships with priests wrote an open letter to Pope Benedict, saying that priests need to love and be loved.
Fakt reports that a Polish law that can force rapists and paedophiles to undergo chemical castration had come into effect. The legislation, passed by Polish MPs last September, applied to men who rape children or immediate family members. Prime Minister Donald Tusk proposed the measures after a series of high-profile paedophilia cases last year.