The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press:
The Sunday Times quotes the missing fisherman, found on Friday, saying that sharks circled his boat and he despaired. It also reports Joseph Muscat’s promise to create a new middle class.
The Malta Independent reports that Joseph Muscat yesterday listed promises for the future. It also says that court processes will be changed from October 1, with cases being heard by appointment.
MaltaToday says Joseph Muscat and Simon Busuttil may be rival candidates on the Gozo district.
Il-Mument focuses on the prime minister’s visit to Gozo yesterday where he underlined assistance being given to businesses to create jobs. It also says that the Maltese financial centre continues to be praised.
It-Torca given prominence to yesterday’s PL mass meeting. It also says workers at the incinerator face risks from chemical waste.
Illum interviews PN Council president Marthese Portelli.
KullHadd focuses on Joseph Muscat’s promise of stability and certainty.
The overseas press
Tripoli Post reports that the Libyan authorities have taken control of militia bases in Benghazi, following unrest that left 11 people dead and more than 60 others wounded. The clashes outside the jihadist militia compounds followed large-scale protests on Friday in which tens of thousands of Libyan marched through Benghazi, demanding the dissolution of the militant groups. The protesters ousted the jihadist militia Ansar al-Shariah from its headquarters, and seized the bases of other armed militias in Benghazi.
Muslim demonstrators in Islamic countries and elsewhere held new protests on Saturday against a video that mocks the Prophet Muhammad. Dawn says a Pakistani government minister announced a $100,000 award for the death of the filmmaker as more than 1,000 people rallied in Pakistan Islamabad calling for the filmmaker to be punished. Scores of people were injured in clashes in Bangladesh between police and hundreds of demonstrators. In Nigeria, thousands of people took to the streets of Kano, the largest city in the country's mainly Muslim north. In Germany, more than 1,000 people against the film marched peacefully in the western city of Dortmund.
Ansa says Pope Benedict has called on Catholic political parties to defend life and man-woman marriages. Addressing an audience from the International Christian-Democrat Union, the Pope called on them to pledge their commitment for “the respect of life in all of its phases, from conception to its natural end, consequently rejecting induced abortion, euthanasia and every other type of eugenic practice”. The Pope also called on them to defend marriage “as an indissoluble union between a man and a woman”.
Expesso reports that the Portuguese government has made a U-turn on a decision to increase taxes. They have instead agreed to look for alternatives after huge anti-austerity street protests. The government had planned to raise social security contributions next year from 11 to 18 per cent, to meet the conditions of Portugal's international bailout.
Minskij Kurier says voters in Belarus go to the polls today to elect the 110 members of the country's Parliament, the powers of which are limited to ratifying the decisions made by the country's strongman, President Alexander Lukashenko, who has been in power for 18 years. The opposition has called for a boycott of the elections.
Al-Arabiya reports government and opposition forces in Syria continued to wage fierce battles across the country as the rebel Free Syrian Army announced it was moving its command center from Turkey to Syria. It said it hoped to launch an offensive on Damascus. Opposition activists say at least 25 people have been killed as security forces pounded targets.
Le Figaro claims enquiries into Strauss-Kahn's alleged rape in Lille have come to a dead end. With the former IMF chief accused of rape during group sex at the Lille Carlton hotel, his prime accuser, a Belgian prostitute, is said to have withdrawn her claims, suggesting Dominique Strauss-Kahn merely partook in “sex games” in the role of “dominator”.
Asia Times reports that no incriminating evidence has been found that a young Pakistani Christian girl desecrated the Koran. The final police report filed with an Islamabad court showed there were indications that the cleric of a nearby mosque tampered with evidence by putting burnt pages of the Koran into a shopping bag the girl had been carrying. The case gained huge attention because of the girl’s age and questions about her mental capacity. Officials arrested the imam, and the girl was freed on bail.
Global Post says new rules banning female university students from studying 77 subjects in Iran have come into force as the nation's academic year kicked off on Saturday. Banned courses include nuclear physics, computer science and English literature. A much smaller number of courses were also barred to men in some campuses, including studies in history, linguistics, literature, sociology and philosophy. No official reason has been given for the restrictions to courses at more than 30 universities.
Manila News reports archaeologists have discovered an ancient village on Mount Kamhantik in the midst of pristine jungle in the eastern Philippines. The village, believed to date back a thousand years, contains limestone coffins of a type never before found in this South East Asian nation.
A drunken man driving at 200 km an hour through Moscow killed seven teenagers, after slamming into a bus stop. Russia's emergencies ministry said the man, 29, was driving "under the influence of alcohol" and may also have been high on drugs. All the victims, four girls and three boys, were enjoying a day off school. The LifeNews.ru website published photographs of the incident, showing a demolished bus shelter and the victims' bodies covered with fragments of advertising posters.
Metro reports Dutch police have arrested 34 people as rioting broke out at a birthday party in Haren after its Facebook invitation went viral. As many as 29 people were wounded in the clashes, including three police officers. The police had been on high alert after a schoolgirl posted a message inviting friends to her 16th birthday party on Friday, but forgot to mark it as a private event, prompting more than 20,000 replies. Local officials said between 3,000 and 5,000 people turned up in the town of 18,000 residents.