The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press:
The Times leads with the recovery of Luke, the child who was severely injured in a fall in Chadwick Lakes. It also reports further victories for Gaddafi’s troops.
The Malta Independent says the Japan tsunami death toll is likely to surpass 10,000. It also says that Malta could lose €3.4 million because of the suspension of EU education programmes. It has already lost €3m.
In-Nazzjon quotes the prime minister saying Malta is closely watching developments in North Africa. It also says contact has been made with all Maltese known to be in Japan.
l-orizzont quotes Labour leader Joseph Muscat saying that government plans to extend the life of Marsa power station was a humiliation.
The overseas press
Asahi Shimbun reports that Japanese government officials and soldiers along a stretch of the country’s northeastern coast have warned residents that the area could be hit by another tsunami later today and ordered them to higher grounds. The Japanese news agency Kyodo said 2,000 bodies were found earlier today on the two shores of Mayagi’s Ochida peninsula, the area hardest hot by the tsunami. More than 10,000 people were believed to have died.
Chugoku Shimbun says the warning came as an explosion rocked the nearby Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant, a blast felt as far as 50 kms away. TV footage showed a massive column of smoke belching from the plant's No. 3 reactor. Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said it was a low risk but the hydrogen explosion had lead to a uncontrolled leak of radiation and people nearby have been ordered to stay indoors as a precaution. Two other nuclear plants at Onagawa and Tokai have reported less serious problems.
The Daily Yomiuri earlier quoted Japanese Prime Minister Noto Kan saying the plant, which was damaged by Friday’s earthquake and tsunami remained in an alarming state. He called on the country to unite and rebuild as it struggles to cope with the devastation caused by the 8.9-earthquake and tsunami. He said Japan was facing its worst crisis since the World War II.
Japan Times says food, water and fuel were reported to be running short in some parts of the country. in one of the most affected regions, the northern coastal area of Myagi. Large swathes of Japan are without power and more than a million households have been without fresh water since Friday. On the brighter side, foreign aid has begun arriving. A US naval ship is being used to help send out supplies and an aircraft carrier is also on its way to help.
The Nikkei Sangyo Shimbum reports that the Bank of Japan has pumped a record ¥7 trillion yen ($85 billion, €61 billion) into the country’s financial system to try to provide stability following the earthquake and tsunami. The markets fell sharply when they reopened for the first time since the quake. The Nikkei share index fell by more than five per cent in the first 20 minutes of trading. Correspondents said that while this was expected it was still a significant fall.
There are conflicting reports about the fate of the oil town of Brega in eastern Libya. Al Jazeera says rebels forces claimed they had fought off troops loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and had re-entered the town. Earlier, AFP quoted an army source telling state television that pro-Gaddafi forces had cleared "armed gangs" from the town.
Meanwhile, Global Post says international pressure is growing for a no-fly zone to be imposed over Libya but the move, approved in a key resolution by the Arab League on Saturday in Cairo, still faced opposition in the UN Security Council from Russia and China. Libya responded to the Arab League resolution calling it "an unacceptable departure" from the body's charter, state television said on Sunday. The US hailed the Arab League decision as an “important step”.
Akhbar al-Khaleej reports that thousands of anti-government demonstrators cut off Bahrain's financial centre and drove back police trying to push them from the capital's central square. Demonstrators also clashed with security forces and government supporters on the campus of the main university in the Gulf country, the home of the US Navy's Fifth Fleet.
Saudi Gazette says more than 200 people were allowed to protest outside the Interior Ministry in Riyad to demand the release of detainees in the largest demonstration in the capital since the regional outbreak of pro-democracy unrest.
According to Yemeni Observer, police on rooftops fired live bullets and tear gas at protesters, injuring more than 100 people who were camping near Sanaa University. Wielding clubs and knives, police and government supporters also attacked protesters, who want the Yemeni president to step down.
The Beirut online news portal Nahamet says tens of thousands of Lebanese filled a central Beirut square to mark the 2005 protests that ended Syria's 30-year domination of the country. They also demanded that the militant group Hezbollah, seen as a proxy of Syria, give up its weapons.
Times of Oman reports that Oman's ruler has granted lawmaking powers to officials outside the royal family in the boldest reforms yet aimed at quelling protests for jobs and a greater public role in politics. The decree by Sultan Qaboos bin Said reflected the scramble to appease demonstrators and head off possible wider unrest in the strategically important nation, which shares control of the Gulf waterway that carries 40 percent of the world's oil tanker traffic.
Assabah says the authorities in Tunisia have ordered a curfew in Metlaoui, a central mining town, amid simmering unrest following a bout of deadly clashes between police and protesters.
The Washington Times announces the resignation of American State Department spokesman PJ Crowley after calling "stupid" the treatment of Bradley Manning, the man accused of leaking secret cables to Wikileaks. Private Manning is being held in solitary confinement at a maximum security US military jail. He has been on suicide watch at the Quantico marine base in Virginia, shackled at all times and forced to sleep naked.