The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press:
The Times looks forward to a decision expected today by the European Court on a revision of the EU’s asylum rules, known as Dublin II. It also says that a ‘week of trials’ is expected for the euro.
The Malta Independent reports that the PL has launched a campaign to encourage young people to involve themselves in politics.
In-Nazzjon gives prominence to the ceremony yesterday where the roundels of a Libyan Mirage fighter were replaced by the new Independence colours.
l-orizzont says a strong smell of gas two years ago was the result of Enemalta removing chemicals kept in Mgarr.
The overseas press
A mass grave believed to contain up to 1,700 bodies has been found in Tripoli. Al Jazeera quotes the Libyan National Transitional Council saying the remains are thought to be those of inmates who were killed by security forces in 1996 in the Abu Salim prison. The massacre of the inmates helped trigger the anti-Gaddafi revolt last February, when families of Abu Salim victims in the eastern city of Benghazi called for protests against the arrest of their lawyer.
Al Arab says that on the warfront, hundreds of NTC fighters thrust into Sirte as Nato warplanes pounded the coastal city for a second straight day. However, they were forced to pull back after what was described as “a fierce and intense battle where both sides use heavy power". On Saturday nine were killed and up to 97 wounded, mostly as a result of snipers' fire. Besides Sirte, Bani Walid, where medics say at least 30 NTC troops were killed in the past 24 hours, remains the only other major urban area left under Gaddafi's control.
The French left have won a Senate majority for the first time since 1958 in a power shift just seven months before he stands for re-election. France 24 says early results from a series of victories by Socialists in local elections showed left-wing candidates took at least 23 seats from the ruling conservative party, securing them an absolute majority. The Socialist Party, along with the Communist and Green parties, claimed they had enough seats to take power in the upper house of the legislature. A group of some 72,000 elected local officials elect the Senate, rather than the general population.
Reports from the International Monetary Fund in Washington suggest the outline is taking shape for a large and ambitious eurozone rescue plan. The BBC says it is expected to involve a 50 per cent write-down on Greek government debt as well as an increase in the size of the EU bailout fund to two trillion euros. Earlier Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos said his country stay the course of its severe austerity plan to meet the term of any bailout package. He was speaking after having talks with IMF chief Christine Lagarde.
Sky News says a court in Britain has charged six men, from the city of Birmingham, with terrorism offences. They were accused of having prepared a bombing campaign. Three of them are alleged of having prepared suicide attacks. Police say two of the men received military training on Pakistan.
Deutsche Welle reports Pope Benedict celebrated mass with 100,000 of the faithful in Germany's Catholic heartland on the last day of his four-day official visit to his home country. The pontiff urged them to unite and remain faithful to Rome.
The Jerusalem Post says Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has again invited Palestinian Mahmoud Abbas to hold peace talks without preconditions, in an effort to achieve a peace deal. His comments came as Abbas received a hero's welcome on his arrival back from New York, where he applied for full state membership at the United Nations. Al Ayyam says he repeated there could be no negotiations without a compete halt to Israeli settlement construction or a return to the pre-1967 borders before Israel captured land the Palestinians claim for their state.
Gulf News reports King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia has announced that women would, for the first time, have the right to vote and run in local elections due in 2015. He said they would also have the right to be appointed to the consultative Shura Council.
The New York Times says two American hikers allowed home after spending more than two years in jail in Iran have expressed their anger at Iranian authorities. Arriving in New York, the two – Josh Fattal and Shane Bauer – said they had been held hostages simply because they were Americans.
According to USA Today, a North Carolina man survived a gruelling ordeal after crawling for four days across the Utah desert after breaking his leg when he fell 10 feet while on a solo hike. Amos Wayne Richards, 64, os now recovering at home. He said he was inspired by a Hollywood movie, the Oscar-nominated "127 Hours", about a man who cut off his own arm to save himself after being trapped by a boulder in the same canyon.