The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press:
The Sunday Times reports that the police have launched a probe into Dreambox use in Malta. It also says that clerical abuse victims are prepared to take their case for compensation to the European court.
The Malta Independent says publication of an anti-human trafficking action plan is imminent.
MaltaToday says President George Abela is taking the lead for a Second Republic, having called for Constitutional reform during a call on the Broadcasting Authority on Thursday. It also says that the Archbishop had suggested compensation to clerical abuse victims but the Archbishop as worried that could cause a precedent.
Illum reports that SmartCity is being taken to court by contractors who have not been paid.
It-Torca says that sexually transmitted disease has become more resistant to treatment. It also says that Dementia patients are still not getting free medicine.
KullHadd features comments by the alleged victim of clerical abuse in Gozo who asks when they would get due justice. The newspaper also features comments by Joseph Muscat that Arms Ltd is wrongly interpreting rules on the eco-contribution.
Il-Mument says that according to former Libyan prime minister Baghdadi, Gaddafi always wanted Labour in government in Malta
The overseas press
Ta Nea reports Greek ministers were expected to discuss final proposals on planned civil service job cuts at a cabinet meeting later today after Greek officials and the international auditors from the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund were at odds over the legal implications of mass redundancies. Troika officials were concerned that the 30,000 laid off public sector workers could go to court and win their jobs back as the Greek constitution guarantees jobs for life to all state employees. The troika was also worried that only workers nearing their retirement age would go into reserve, turning the scheme into a retirement plan that would save little money. At today’s cabinet meeting, the government would also discuss the draft 2012 budget, which would be submitted to parliament tomorrow.
The military mission in Libya is largely complete and NATO's involvement could begin to wrap up as soon as this coming week, after allied leaders meet in Brussels. General Carter Ham, head of US Africa Command, told The Associated Press that American military leaders were expected to give NATO ministers their assessment of the situation during meetings late in the week.
Al Jazeera says Libya's interim government has called for a two-day truce in Sirte to allow civilians to leave Colonel Gaddafi's home city. But a team from the International Red Cross, which brought kits for war wounded and other supplies to a hospital in the besieged city, reported heavy fighting was continuing. The ICRC team said the people in the besieged city were in desperate need of medical aid and people were dying because of a lack of oxygen and fuel for the hospital’s generators. Rockets had landed on the hospital.
The Wall Street Journal reports some 500 people from the Occupy Wall Street protest movement have been arrested on New York City's Brooklyn Bridge. They were part of a larger group crossing the bridge from Manhattan, where they had been camped out near Wall Street for two weeks in protest against corporate greed. They say they were defending 99 per cent of the US population against the wealthiest one per cent.
Syrian troops backed by tanks retook control of most of the rebellious central town of al-Rastan on Saturday after five days of fierce fighting. An anonymous activist based in the Lebanese capital Beirut told news agency dpa that the city was almost destroyed due to the shelling from the army. He claimed some 15 army defectors were killed and more than 80 others were injured in the fighting on Saturday. Syria’s official news agency SANA says three security personnel were killed while trying to defuse a bomb near Damascus.
Al Ahram reports Egypt's ruling military council has decided to amend an article of an election law following demands from protesters. The law allows a third of seats to be filled by independent candidates rather than political parties. Political groups – who fear the law could allow supporters of Hosni Mubarak to return to power – had threatened to boycott polls unless it was altered. Parliamentary polls begin next month and take four months to complete.
According to the BBC, Britain and France have extended their travel warnings to much of Kenya’s northern region after the kidnapping of a severely-disable French woman yesterday. She was abducted near the beach resort on Kenya's northern resort island of Manda and taken to Somalia. The attack was the second in the region in three weeks.
No one killed as an ultralight plane crashes into a Ferris wheel in Taree on the NSW mid north coast. The Sydney Morning Herald says air safety investigators would examine why a Ferris wheel was installed next to an airstrip following yesterday's dramatic plane crash at a carnival on the mid north coast. Two children, aged 9 and 13, had to be rescued from the top of the Ferris wheel. The pilot of the light aircraft and his passenger were trapped for almost three hours inside the wreckage as it dangled 10 metres off the ground.
Britain has seen a sharp increase in the number of people unable to afford to feed themselves at the most basic level, thanks to the worsening economic climate and changes to the benefit system, according to a survey by a leading food charity. The Observer reports that in the past year FareShare, which redistributes waste food from major food manufacturers and supermarkets to social care charities, has seen a 20 pr cent rise in the number of people it is feeding – from 29,500 a year to 35,000.Many, blighted by rising unemployment and business failures, were coming from the sorts of stable family backgrounds once considered immune to the worst effects of recession.
CBS News says President Obama has sharply rebuked his Republican rivals, saying anyone who wants to be commander in chief must support the entire US military, including gay service members. He criticised Republican presidential candidates for staying silent when the crowd at a recent debate booed a gay soldier who asked a question of the contenders via videotape.
Ekstra Bladet reports Denmark has introduced what is believed to be the world's first fat tax – a surcharge on foods that are high in saturated fat. Butter, milk, cheese, pizza, meat, oil and processed food are now subject to the tax if they contain more than 2.3 per cent saturated fat. Danish officials hope the new tax would help limit the population's intake of fatty foods. But some scientists argue salt, sugar and refined carbohydrates were more detrimental to health and should be tackled instead.