The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press.
The Times says the Security Service is being probed, by the police. It also reports how Joseph Muscat has asked Lawrence Gonzi to accompany him to the Pope's inauguration in Rome.
The Malta Independent reports how the PN lost Birkirkara as the PL tightened its grip on local councils. It also reports on the Pope's first Angelus.
In-Nazzjon says Joseph Muscat has acknowledged that the former ministers reimbursed all the honoraria payments.
l-orizzont reports how Labour won Birkirkara for the first time.
The overseas press
Cyprus Mail reports Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades has explained to the nation an unpopular levy on citizens’ bank deposits under the terms of an EU bailout agreement, saying it was the "least painful" option. But in his nationally-televised speech, President Nicos Anastasiades also urged politicians to approve the bailout plan today, saying it was essential to save the country from bankruptcy. Under the bailout terms, investors with deposits of more than €100,000 are to be slapped with a 9.9 per cent charge, while those with savings below the threshold would pay 6.75 per cent. He also said he was trying to change the terms imposed on Nicosia for the bailout. The decision, announced on Saturday morning, stunned Cypriots and caused a run on cash points. Electronic transfers were stopped. Cyprus is financially crippled by its exposure to neighboring Greece.
European Council President Herman Van Rompuy has told Dutch-language state broadcaster VRT that he would retire from politics at the end of 2014. The 65-year-old was first elected as Council President in 2009 and was re-appointed in June 2012. Van Rompuy has had a long career in Belgian politics, previously serving as the country's prime minister and budget minister.
More than 150,000 faithful attended the Angelus prayer led by Pope Francis in St Peter's Square, reported Vatican spokesman, Father Federico Lombardi. AGI reports that after the Angelus, His Holiness said, "I once again embrace the faithful of Rome and all the world, as well as those who are watching us on the television. I chose the name of Italy's patron saint, Saint Francis of Assisi, and this strengthens my tie to this land where, as you know, my family originated. But today all of us are part of a new family."
Daily News says Venezuela's acting president Nicolas Maduro has urged US President Barack Obama to stop what he called “a plot by the Pentagon and the Central Intelligence Agency” to kill his opposition rival Henrique Capriles. Maduro, a disciple of the late Hugo Chavez, who shared his hatred of the United States, believes that Washington is plotting to get rid of Capriles so that the blame falls on him, thus propelling Venezuela into chaos. Maduro first mentioned a plot against Capriles, last week, blaming it on former Bush administration officials Roger Noriega and Otto Reich. Both rejected the allegations as untrue, outrageous and defamatory.
Haaretz quotes official sources saying former General Moshe Yaalon will be Israel's next Minister of Defence. The 63-yar-old succeeds Ehud Barak. The former general was Chief of Staff from 2002 to 2005. Wary of the Palestinians, Yaalon has recently taken a more cautious line over a possible military strike on Iran.
AFP quotes SITE monitoring service reporting Al-Qaeda in North Africa has urged Muslim youths to stay in their countries to battle secularism but said jihadists should travel to fight "crusader France" in Algeria and Mali. In a message posted on jihadist websites, Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) cited fatwas, or religious edicts, to encourage Muslim youths against deserting their countries. French deployed forces in Mali earlier this year to help stop Al-Qaeda-linked fighters who had controlled northern Mali, near the Algerian border, since April 2012 from moving southward and threatening the capital Bamako. Some 4,000 French troops are presently on the ground in Mali where they have been fighting the Islamists.
The Boston Herald reports a military judge has sentenced an Air Force instructor to four years in prison for raping a female trainee at the South Texas base where he worked. Staff Sgt. Eddy Soto had previously pleaded guilty to five counts, including having had sex with a female trainee and with the wife of a male trainee. Prosecutors also claimed he raped a woman who had flown from California to San Antonio to visit him on the condition of no sex. Thirty-two Lackland air force base instructors have been investigated, with six convicted of misconduct. Investigators say more than 40 women had inappropriate contact with instructors, and were either sexually harassed or raped.
Metro says Athens midfielder Giorgos Katidis has been banned from any Greek national team for life after giving a Nazi salute while celebrating a goal in the Greek league. Greece's football federation said Sunday in a statement that the player's gesture as “a deep insult to all victims of Nazi brutality”.'
Argentina's La Nación reports that San Lorenzo de Almagro, the football team that Pope Francis supports, managed a one-nil win against Colon, perhaps thanks to the new emblem that the players wore on the front of their jerseys in honour of the Argentinian pontiff. “A Holy triumph” ran the headline on the front page of Cancha Llena, the online sports insert of the newspaper, which also published photos of the special badge that has an image of the pontiff, dominated by the words “Papa Francisco”.