The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press:
The Times and l-orizzont report on negative reactions to the Gozo Bishop’s claim that IVF is abortive. Those quoted include Dr Pierre Mallia and a number of MPs. The Times also reports that the price of petrol has soared.
The Malta Independent gives prominence to yesterday’s speeches by the prime minister and the leader of the opposition.
In-Nazzjon quotes the prime minister saying that government spending on health services is growing. It also says that the police still have to speak to a man, Steve Zammit, who was shot in Marsascala two weeks ago. Another man was killed in the same incident.
The overseas press
Cumhuriyet reports Gulf Arab states have agreed to pay the salaries and other costs of the rebel Free Syrian Army through a multi-million dollar fund operated by the opposition Syrian National Council. The decision was announced at a meeting in Istanbul with more than 70 countries backing political change in Syria.
Wild celebrations are taking place in Rangoon after pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi won her first bid for a seat in Burma's parliament. Myanmar Times says thousands of people took to the streets after the vote, singing, dancing and cheering for Ms Suu Kyi and members of her party who were elected. It was the first time Ms Suu Kyi was able to freely contest an election, having been under house arrest in 1990 and 2010.
The Independent reports that the British government was introducing legislation that would allow it to monitor its citizens' phone calls, emails, text messages and internet use. The UK Home Office said technological advances force to have new powers to tackle terrorism and crime. Civil liberty groups have expressed concern that the legislation, which also covers social networking sites, would see Britain adopt the same kind of surveillance as China and Iran.
According to the Moscow Times, Russian authorities closed Moscow's Red Square on Sunday and detained dozens of people who were trying to hold a silent anti-government protest. Several hundred people responded to calls on the internet to gather in Red Square outside the Kremlin wearing white ribbons or clothing as a symbol of protest, but found the iron gates to the sprawling square closed.
Global Post says Tuareg separatist rebels in Mali have entered Timbuktu – the last stronghold of the army in the north of the county. The say they now control the city, which was reported to be quiet. The rebels, who want an independent Turaeg homeland, were assisted by Islamist fighters and had made sweeping military gains since mutinous troops staged a coup in Mali 10 days ago.
President Nicolas Sarkozy could move to Belgium if he lost the forthcoming presidential election by the Socialist candidate François Hollande. The Belgian DH Dimanche reports Sarkozy had alreaady set his eyes on an elegant villa, worth some €9 million in one of the most exclusive neighborhoods of Brussels.
Le Parisien says topless activists of the Ukrainian women movement Femen have staged protests against anti-women's politics of Islam in front of the Eiffel tower at the Trocadero in Paris. They called on Muslim women to fight against Sharia laws.
An 11-year-old British girl, with hair almost as long as she is tall, has lopped off her fairytale locks for the first time in her life – so it can be made into wigs for children with cancer. The Daily Mail reports Artemis Paterson experienced her first ever haircut to give her metre-long hair to the Little Princess Trust after reading about the girls and boys who suffer from hair loss. The Trust, founded in 2005, funds specialist wigs for children coping with hair loss and by the end of last year donated 1,000 wigs.
The King is dead! Long live the Queen. New Musical Express reports King of Rock ’n Roll Elvis Presley – until this week holder of the British record for the number of albums by a single artist to reach number one in the UK charts – has been deposed by none other than the queen of pop Madonna. Her latest album, MDNA has hit the top spot and it’s her twelfth number 1 album. It has already sold more than 39,000 copies and is also on course to top the US charts. Madonna's first chart-topping release was Like a Virgin in 1984.
Corriere dello Sport announces the death of former Italy football international Giorgio Chinaglia at his home in Florida. The 65-year-old suffered complications after treatment for a heart problem. Chinaglia, who was born in Italy but grew up in Wales, began his career with Swansea and later played for Lazio and New York Cosmos, where he scored a record 262 goals. In 1972 he won a place in the Italy team, going on to play 14 times for his country and taking part in the 1974 World Cup.