The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press:
The Times says the police are taking disciplinary action against a sergeant for using excessive force.
The Malta Independent focuses on yesterday’s speeches by the political leaders.
In-Nazzjon leads with the prime minister’s comments yesterday on the government’s job-creation record.
l-orizzont says a man tried to attack the police with knives in Zabbar. It also quotes Joseph Muscat as saying that the Pre-Budget document belied the government,s jobs claims.
The overseas press
The London 2012 Olympic Games have ended with a spectacular musical celebration of Britain’s people and its culture. The Times called it a “concert of a lifetime”. Against the background of a giant 400ft version of the Union Flag, the show included some of the biggest names of the British pop scene. The Olympic Flag was lowered and then passed by London Mayor Boris Johnson to Jacques Rogge, president of the International Olympic Committee, who in turn presented it to Rio Mayor Eduardo Paes. According to Metro, the party marked the end of British sport's most successful Olympic Games in more than a century which saw a final medal tally of 64. The United States ended on top of the medals table, winning 104 overall including 46 gold. China finished second and Russia third.
Al Ahram quotes Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi saying he had acted for the benefit of the nation by sacking the powerful Defence Minister Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi and Army Chief of Staff Sami Annan. He also appointed senior judge Mahmoud Mekki as vice-president. President Morsi, who also cancelled a military decree that limited his own constitutional powers, was shown on state TV swearing in his new Defence Minister, Abdel Fattah al Sissi. Thousands of people gathered in Cairo’s Tahrir Square to support the president.
The authorities in Iran say their main focus after Saturday’s devastating earthquakes is to provide food and shelter to thousands of survivors. Iran's Press TV reports more than 300 people died and over 2000 were injured. Medics and Red Crescent workers transported hundreds of casualties to larger hospitals by ambulance and specially equipped buses. More than 10 search and rescue teams with radar devices were deployed to the scene of the quakes. Some 400 rescue vehicles were sent out along with aid supplies, food and blankets. Rescue operations had been called off as of Sunday afternoon and that all those buried under the rubble had been pulled out.
Al-Ayyam reports gunmen executed eight young Shiites on Sunday and hid a bomb under the bodies, which exploded as police attended the scene. The police said the gunmen rounded up 25 men, allowed those who were Sunnis to leave but gathered the Shiites and shot them execution-style, killing eight. Four policemen were wounded. The police have arrested 37 suspects.
Radio Nigeria quotes security forces saying they have killed 20 suspected militants of the Islamist Boko Haram group during a gun battle. A soldier died and two others were wounded in the shoot-out.
Gazete Oku announces Kurdish separatists in Turkey have kidnapped a member of parliament – the first time the PKK has targeted an elected deputy. Huseyin Aygun, from the main opposition Republican People's Party, was returning from his constituency when his car was ambushed. Aygun is himself a Kurd.
Il Tempo reports hundreds of passengers have been stranded at Rome’s main airport following the collapse of an Italian budget airline, Windjet. The company stopped operations on Sunday after the breakdown of take-over talks with Alitalia. The Italian aviation authority, which appeared set to revoke the airline’s operating licence, said Windjet had about 300,000 bookings through to October.
Avvenire says the Vatican is expected to announce today whether Pope Benedict’s former butler is to stand trial. Vatican police arrested Paolo Gabriele last May on suspicion of stealing letters from the Vatican’s private office. Gabriele, who confessed to stealing the papers, had told investigators that he had thought he had acted in the interests of the Catholic Church.
The Irish Enquirer reports the country’s Medicine's Board has issued a warning after reports of an increasing number of Irish women buying abortion pills online. Some of the termination tablets cost as little as €45. The board said that it was concerned by the number of women availing of these tablets and the potential damage of self-medicating. It is against the law in Ireland for anyone to supply prescription-only medicines by mail order and this includes supply through online means. The IMB said that it is working to step up its bid in tackling the booming online practice.
Researchers in Japan say radioactive fallout from the Fukushima meltdowns has created abnormalities among the nation's butterfly species. In an article published in the British journal Nature, the scientists said they abnormalities, including unusually-small wings, in more than 10 per cent of the butterflies they surveyed. The rate of abnormalities then rose to more than 33 per cent with the second generation, with some butterflies dying before reaching adulthood.