The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press:
The Sunday Times says an increase in maternity leave is expected to be announced in the Budget tomorrow. It also says the elderly face a crisis in state care homes because of a shortage of facilities.
The Malta Independent on Sunday says the key word in tomorrow's Budget will be responsibility.
MaltaToday says former Sliema mayor Nikki Dimech has revealed bribery of soccer players.
It-Torca focuses on the cost of living ahead of the Budget. It also says that Franco Debono will vote for the government in the Budget.
Il-Mument says Malta has the best rate of job vacancies in Europe.
KullHadd reports that Enemalta fuel purchases cost higher than the EU average.
Illum says the PN has asked Joe Saliba, the former general secretary, has been asked to lend a hand for the coming elections.
The overseas press
The world media gives prominence to the resignation of Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who has stepped down, as promised, after members of the lower house voted 380-26 with two abstentions to approve a stringent austerity package that has now been signed into law.
Il Tempo reports that Berlusconi, who has dominated the Italian political scene for 17 years as jeered and hackled as he was driven to the presidential palace to hand in his resignation. Crowds celebrated outside the palace, shouting "buffoon" as he entered. Police struggled to control a large, hostile crowd which booed and jeered as his convoy swept by, and after his resignation he left by a side exit to avoid the protesters. He said he felt "embittered" after hearing the insults.
Corriere della Sera says President Giorgio Napolitano is expected to start consultations on forming on new government would later today. He is expected to formally ask former EU commissioner Mario Monti form a government of technocrats. Monti, a well respected economist, has support in many quarters and is regarding as the sort of man that the money markets would like to see take charge at this time of crisis.
Sole 24 Ore says the austerity package foresees €59.8 billion euros in savings from a mixture of spending cuts and tax rises, with the aim of balancing the budget by 2014. Measures include: an increase in VAT, from 20 to 21 per cent; a freeze on public-sector salaries until 2014; the retirement age for women in the private sector will gradually rise, from 60 in 2014 until it reaches 65 in 2026, the same age as for men; the strengthening of measures to fight tax evasion; and a special tax on the energy sector.
Al Thawra reports that the Syrian authorities have condemned its suspension by the Arab League calling the decision “illegal” and saying it only served the interests of the west. The International Herald Tribune says the United States and the European Union showed the suspension showed the increasing isolation of the Syrian authorities and the Arab League’s frustration at President Assad’s intransigency for implementing a peace deal designed to end the use of violence against anti-government protesters.
Al Jazeera says President Mahamadou Issoufou of Niger has said he would grant asylum for humanitarian reasons to Saadi Gaddafi, a son of the former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. Saadi, a businessman and former professional football player, entered neighbouring Niger after escaping across the border from Libya when National Transitional Council (NTC) forces captured the capital Tripoli in August. Asylum for Saadi is likely to further strain already troubled relations between Niger and Libya's interim rulers, who overthrew Gaddafi after an eight month uprising.
Bloomberg reports that Pacific Rim leaders gathered for an annual summit in Hawaii, have pledged to work together to keep world growth on track, as President Barack Obama announced the broad outlines of a plan he said could serve as a model for a trans-Pacific free trade zone. Nine Apec nations are involved in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), but China has so far not expressed interest in joining the talks. While not taking part in the TPP discussions, Chinese President Hu Jintao said he backed a long-term goal of negotiating a free trade area in the region, which could in future include all Apec members.
The Sydney Morning Herald says lawyers in Australia have called for the release of up to 19 Indonesians detained in Western Australian prisons who they say could be children.The teenagers, some of whom have been held for up to two years, were crew on boats suspected of illegally carrying asylum seekers into Australian waters. Lawyers for the boys, who are being held as suspected illegal immigrants, claim they should be released into the community while authorities determine whether or not they are children.
Newswatch says a newborn baby in Nigeria got added to a government payroll, earning about $150 a month for the last two or three years. The baby was one of many so-called "ghost workers" found to be getting salaries without performing a job. Garba Gajam, the attorney general of Zamfara state located in Nigeria's arid and impoverished northwest said the employee was listed as being one-month-old in government records, but Gajam said the child's father actually started collecting the salary before the baby was born. Records also show that the baby has a diploma.