The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press:
The Sunday Times reports that trade unions are divided over whether to hold a strike at Air Malta. The newspaper also carries comments by Eddie Fenech Adami about his wife, who passed away on Friday.
The Malta Independent on Sunday leads with the demonstration to be held by the unions about Air Malta. It also says that drivers are working for 54 hours per week with Arriva on six days at €4.51 an hour. Such conditions, the newspaper says, are the reason why many drivers have turned away.
MaltaToday says the government is warning that it will liquidate Air Malta if industrial action goes ahead.
It-Torca says Zammit Clapp Hospital is going back to the private sector. It also reports how a demonstration about Air Malta will be held on Friday.
Il-Mument says Maltese workers are the least taxed in Europe as social security is the lowest in the EU. It also carries a tribute to Mary Fenech Adami.
Illum quotes pilot Dominic Azzopardi saying that some of the €52 million given to Air Malta for restructuring have been used to pay off debts to Bank of Valletta.
KullHadd says the Prime Minister is not saying the truth that there are no plans to raise the retirement age. It also says that Manuel Delia, a Transport Ministry official, has disappeared after having promoted the bus service before its introduction.
The overseas press
Fox News quotes Nato saying its warplanes have hit a missile launching position south of the embattled Libyan rebel-held port city of Misrata. It says the missile site was being used to launch indiscriminate attacks on Libyan civilians. The British military said on Friday it scuttled an effort by Gaddafi's naval forces to conduct a raid near Misrata by firing on the troops' boats from a warship offshore.
Britain's best-selling Sunday newspapers, the News of the World, signs off with a simple front page message – "THANK YOU & GOODBYE" – leaving the media establishment in the UK reeling from the expanding phone-hacking scandal that brought down the muckraking newspaper after 168 years. Media tycoon Rupert Murdock closed the paper after it was revealed that staff had broken the law by intercepting phone messages and paying police officers for information. Journalists wrote the newspaper's own obituary, apologizing for letting its readers down but stopping short of acknowledging recent allegations that staff paid police for information.
Sudan Tribune says world leaders, including those of the US and Russia, have been sending their congratulations to South Sudan on the day it became the world's newest nation as tens of thousands watched an independence and flag-raising ceremony in the capital, Juba. Salva Kiir took the oath as the president of the new republic. A sea of people filled Freedom Square in Juba, next to the mausoleum of the late John Garang, the rebel leader who led the South Sudanese during the civil war. Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir also attended and called on the US to end sanctions against his country.
The UN refugee agency, Antonio Guterres, saying he wants international relief organisations to go to Somalia to tackle the devastating effects of drought. In a BBC interview, Guterres said the UN was negotiating to overcome security obstacles to secure access to regions controlled by militants.
Asia Observer says the Fukushima nuclear plant, which was devastated in an earthquake and tsunami earlier this year has been evacuated again following a new tsunami warning. A strong earthquake of magnitude of 7.1 has hit Japan's northeastern coast at 9:57 local time (0257 Malta time) but there were no immediate reports of damage.
Al Thawra reports that the Syrian government will today open a national dialogue meeting in response to months of protest against President Assad. The meeting in Damascus is expected to bring together the ruling Baath Party and some of those who oppose it.
Al Ahram says Egyptians have set up protest tent camps in city squares across the country, vowing they would not leave until Egypt's temporary military rulers purge the remnants of Hosni Mubarak's deposed regime. The demonstrators also demanded that those responsible for killing hundreds during the uprising that ousted Mubarak be brought to justice. Prime Minster Minister Essam Sharaf later promised to suspend all officers accused of killing protesters and to speed up court cases against them and against others accused of corruption.
El Universal reports that fighting among drug cartels has led to the deaths of more than 40 people whose bodies were found in three Mexican cities over a 24-hour span. According to a government official, at least 20 people were killed and five injured when gunmen opened fire in a bar late Friday in the northern city of Monterrey, where the Zeta gang is fighting its former ally, the Gulf Cartel.
Clarin reports that music fans across Latin America are mourning the death of Facundo Cabral, the Argentine folk singer, who has been shot dead in Guatemala. Cabral, 74, was heading from his hotel to the airport in Guatemala City when he was reportedly ambushed. Semana quotes Guatemala's leader saying early investigations suggested Cabral was not targeted but the attack was aimed at a music promoter travelling with him. He was one of Latin America's most famous performers, and his killing has prompted a wave of reaction.
Belfast’s Sunday Telegraph reports police in Northern Ireland have clashed with demonstrators when crowd from the protestant community attacked officers with petrol bombs. The police responded with water canons and plastic bullets.
The Scotsman says scientists based in Scotland have, for the first time, decoded the full DNA secrets of the potato, one of the world’s most important crops. Researchers say the breakthrough could help increase food production for a growing population.
The Mail reports that an autistic man in Britain has been threatened with eviction after a neighbour claimed his humming was too loud. Dean Harman, 40, has lived alone in his flat for 11 years. He is shy but gets on well with other residents in his block, but a new neighbour complained to the Greenwich Council that he hums too much in the morning before he leaves for his day-care centre. The council handed Dean a noise abatement order after recording him from the flat below and said he would be evicted if the "din" didn't stop. Medical tests revealed Dean doesn't realise he is humming. Disability charities slammed the order. His case will be heard at Bromley magistrate's court next week.