The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press.
The Sunday Times reports Dom Mintoff’s funeral under the heading ‘The end of an era’.
The Malta Independent says Dom Mintoff was laid to rest.
MaltaToday says Mintoff was given a Papal send-off.
It-Torca says the people were behind Mintoff till the end.
Il-Mument reports on The Last Farewell to Dom Mintoff. It also says that a Maltese company provided wi-fi services in the Olympic village.
Illum says the country gave Mintoff the final salute.
KullHadd says Malta honoured Dom Mintoff.
The overseas press
France 24 reports French President François Hollande has echoed comments made by German Chancellor Angela Merkel saying that Greece must stay in the eurozone. Meeting with Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras in Paris to talk about the country's bailout plan, Hollande encouraged Greek leaders to make sure economic reforms they enact can be borne by the Greek people. The French president said Greece must demonstrate the credibility of its plan for relieving its economic woes. However, he sidestepped Samaras’ request for more time to implement the harsh austerity measures its creditors insisted upon. According to the Financial Times, the main opposition Syriza party in Greece said he had failed to renegotiate the bailout terms, instead delivering “oaths of loyalty” to a “failed and socially catastrophic” deal.
VOA says a "deeply saddened" President Barack Obama has hailed late US space pioneer Neil Armstrong as one of America's greatest ever heroes, for having inspired a generation to reach for the stars. Armstrong, the first person to set foot on the moon, died after suffering complications from cardiovascular surgery. He was 82. Obama, who was just under eight years old when Armstrong and his fellow Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin landed on the moon on July 20, 1969, said: "Neil was among the greatest of American heroes - not just of his time, but of all time.”
El Universal reports President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela has ordered investigators to urgently find the cause of a huge explosion in the country’s biggest oil refinery which killed at least 26 people and 80 others injured. The Interior Ministry said the blast was caused a gas leak. Three days of national mourning have been declared.
Palm Beach Post says tropical storm Isaac has battered eastern Cuba on its way toward the Florida Keys after its torrential rains and gusty winds left six dead in Haiti, which is still recovering from a devastating 2010 earthquake. Isaac has led to the start of full business at the US Republican convention in Florida being delayed until Tuesday.
Al Arabiya quotes Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Malki saying in Ramallah that President Mahmoud Abbas would boycott the Non-Aligned Movement summit in Iran if his Islamist rival Ismail Haniya of Hamas attended – “no matter what form his attendance takes”. A Hamas spokesman earlier on Saturday said Haniya would attend the August 30-31 conference in Tehran “in accordance with the invitation from Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad”.
al bawaba reports forces loyal to Syrian president Bashar al-Assad have been accused of mass summary executions after more than 200 bodies were found in a suburb of the nation's capital, Damascus. The claims of the "execution style" killings in the south-western suburb of Daraya come a day after Damascus was retaken by the Syrian army. Local activists initially reported finding 79 bodies, but say another 122 more were found later.
On the political level, The New York Times quotes Lakhdar Brahimi, the new international mediator for Syria, declaring he was "flattered and touched" but also "scared" by the mission that awaited him. Brahimi will work from New York, while the UN mission, set up in April to monitor a cease-fire which was never applied, packed up after having to end its patrols in June due to the growing of violence. Its leader, General Babacar Gaye of Senegal, left Damascus on Saturday.
Le Monde reports French designer John Galliano has been stripped of a prestigious French award following his racist and anti-Semitic remarks that he made last year. Galliano was arrested in February last year over allegations that he became embroiled in a bust-up with bar patrons in Paris and had shouted insults. He was subsequently sacked as head designer at Christian Dior, fined 5,268 pounds and charged for his behaviour. Now, French officials have decided to revoke his Legion d’Honneur medal that Galliano received in 2009 for his contributions to haute couture. The decree was signed by French President Francois Hollande.
A 49-year-old Maine woman has given birth to her grandson after her daughter was precluded from becoming pregnant because of a heart condition. The Portland Press reports Linda Sirois of Madawska gave birth to 3.8 kg Madden Hebert for her 25-year-olddaughter. Angel Hebert says her baby is "eating like a champ and he doesn't fuss too much", Sirois said she's offered for years to become a gestational surrogate for Angel if a doctor said she shouldn't become pregnant. Hebert, of Presque Isle, says she and husband Brian Hebert got that word last summer. Sirois has four children, including twins, and her youngest kids are in college. She says she thinks the pregnancy with Madden might have been her easiest.