The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press:
The Sunday Times says the wife of Nicholas Azzopardi (who died in police custody after a fall, having claimed to have been beaten) has ended her silence on his death and denied an affair with a police sergeant. She is also warning of legal action against her father-in-law.
The Malta Independent on Sunday says objectors are insisting that new Portomaso apartments should not be allowed in a protected eco-zone. It also says that a vote on the crucial Budget implementation bill beckons.
MaltaToday says the government is setting up a special purpose vehicle to finance city gate. Called Malta Investment plc, it will sell shares in the project. It also says that John Bencini will not be a Labour candidate.
It-Torca says some workers are being exploited to the extent that they have to pay to use company equipment.
Il-Mument reports that Malta is first in the use of ICT, according to the World Economic Forum. It also reports on contacts between the PL and North Korea.
Illum says that according to a survey, Dom Mintoff is perceived to have done more good than bad.
KullHadd says government workers have been used for works at the Zurrieq PN club. It also claims PBS censorship of the PL.
The overseas press
France 24 reports more than 750,000 voters in the French overseas territories – from French Guiana on the northern shores of South America to the Pacific islands of Polynesia – have been casting their votes on the eve of the first round of the Presidential election, expected to send incumbent President Nicolas Sarkozy and Socialist rival François Hollande to a runoff next month. Final polls showed Hollande narrowly ahead of conservative Sarkozy and comfortably winning the May 6 runoff to become France's first Socialist president since François Mitterrand left office in 1995.
Reuters reports that the prospect of record abstention loomed over Sunday's ballot, with hundreds of young demonstrators marching through Paris yesterday complaining that none of the candidates appealed to them. One poll suggested almost a third of voters could stay at home. Polls in mainland France were due to open on from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. with voting stations in big cities open two hours longer. The first official results are expected be released after the last voting booths close at 8 p.m.
The Liberal-led government in the Netherlands looks set for early elections after budget talks between the main parties collapsed. NRC Handelsblad quotes Prime Minister Mark Rutte saying he was holding a crisis cabinet meeting on Monday, but elections were to be expected. Leaders of the coalition parties have been locked in negotiations for the last seven weeks to try and cut €16 billion from the national budget. The right-wing Freedom Party walked out of the three-party talks yesterday.
Metro says anti-government demonstrators in the Czech Republic have staged what was described as “the biggest rally since the fall of communism in 1989”. The 120,000 protesters, including many pensioners and students, packed the capital Prague, protesting against austerity measures and corruption. Echoing 1989, people jangled their keys - a signal to the centre-right coalition cabinet to lock up and leave. Chanting and whistling, they carried banners which read “Stop thieves!” and “Away with the government!” The government has recently been rocked by splits and defections and it was no longer clear if the coalition of Prime Minister Petr Necas commands a majority in parliament.
Al Ayam quotes the Bahraini authorities saying they were "confident" that today’s Formula 1 Grand Prix would not be disrupted by continuing anti-government protests. The heavily-guarded race track has been surrounded with layers of security to keep opposition activists away. On Saturday, protests intensified after the body of a Shia man killed in overnight in clashes with security forces was discovered on a rooftop. Protesters have called for the race to be cancelled, but the government was determined it would go ahead. The race is due to start at 2.00 p.m. (Malta time)
The New York Times says the UN Security Council has voted to deploy up to 300 unarmed military observers to Syria for three months monitoring the ceasefire trying to implement a plan agreed by the Syrian government. The unanimous vote was taken despite western concern about Syria’s failure to comply with the truce. Russia's UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin told the council that the resolution was "of fundamental importance" to push forward the six-point peace plan negotiated by international envoy Kofi Annan. US ambassador Susan Rice warned that Washington would not wait the full three months of the monitors' mandate to pursue measures against Damascus if it continued to violate its commitments.
Netherlands Post reports that some 125 people have been injured, at least 13 of them seriously, when two passenger trains collided in Amsterdam. The train were not derailed and they appeared to have sustained minor damage. It was not immediately known what caused the head-on collision.
The death has been announced of Charles Colson, an adviser to President Richard Nixon who was involved in the Watergate scandal and later became an evangelical preacher. He was 80. CNN says he was known as the "hatchet man" for Nixon and served seven months in jail for his role in discrediting a political opponent. Later, he started a prison ministry and campaigned for penal reform.
South Sudan has accused Sudan of bombing one of its oil facilities, despite recent moves to defuse the conflict between the two countries. A number of blasts have been heard in South Sudan, with a military official telling the BBC that the Unity oil field was targeted. The government in Khartoum has so far made no public comments on the claim.
Sky News reports Bee Gees singer Robin Gibb has woken from a coma and responded to members of his family. Gibb, 62, contracted pneumonia and fell into the coma last week. He is suffering from colon and liver cancer. His spokesman Doug Wright said the singer had been able to nod and communicate with family members, who have been at his bedside at a hospital in west London. He did not give further details.