The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press.
The Sunday Times reports that Prime Minister Joseph Muscat has defended President Abela in the ongoing controversy over attempts to use charity money to fund the studies of the president’s daughter-in-law’s sister, who serves the Community Chest Fund.
The Malta Independent says the PN leader is to refuse a party salary until the PN finances are back on solid ground.
Il-mument says representatives of the social partners and constituted bodies have praised the PN’s direction as set by Simon Busuttil.
MaltaToday says Libya’s richest man is to move his core business to Malta. Husni Bey is one of the persons behind the Metropolis project in Gzira, which is about to be given the green light.
Illum reports that the political parties promised a plot of land in Paola to the Muslim community without knowing that part of it is privately owned.
KullHadd says BWSC were paid €8 million for work which was not done.
The overseas press
Il Tempo reports some 100,000 Italian protesters have rallied in Rome against the policies of the new coalition government, urging the centre-left Prime Minister, Enrico Letta, to scrap austerity measures and focus on job creation. Organised by the unions, Saturday's peaceful march and rally drew supporters from across the country. A controversial poster depicted German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who is seen as typifying austerity, in mock-Nazi uniform.
Deutsche Welle says that after meeting with Pope Francis at the Vatican, Angela Merkel has called for stronger market regulation. The German chancellor spoke with the pope privately in his library for 45 minutes, unusually long for a private papal audience. Afterward, she told reporters that the scandals and excesses criticised by Francis earlier in the week showed that regulatory measures had failed. Merkel said she and Pope Francis had spoken mainly about globalisation, the European Union and the role of Europe in the world. “Pope Francis made it clear that we need a strong, fair Europe and I found the message very encouraging.”
Kiev Post reports that supporters and opponents of the Ukrainian government have clashed in Kiev as both sides held rival demonstrations. Police intervened as scuffles broke out close to the main opposition rally. Both sides have been holding demonstrations across Ukraine. This time many people had come to the capital to protest over the economy: the cost of living has soared as pay has failed to keep up with inflation. The opposition again demanded the release of jailed ex-premier Yulia Tymoshenko.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has told the Argentine newspaper Clarin he won't step down before elections. He said he was not someone who flees from his responsibilities, adding he did not rule out “a Western war against Syria”. In the rare interview with a foreign newspaper, Assad appeared to dismiss the possibility of serious progress arising from peace talks planned for next month, and to back away from earlier statements by Syrian officials that the government was willing to negotiate with its armed opponents. The country's main opposition group has demanded that these talks lead to Assad's departure.
Meanwhile, rebels have kidnapped the father of Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad. There was no immediate claim of responsibility. Rami Abdul-Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, told the news agency AFP that the man was seized “in reprisal for the arrest by regime forces of relatives of one of the armed men” and that negotiations were under way to free him.
Dawn reports a senior Pakistani politician in former cricket star Imran Khan's Movement for Justice Party has been shot dead in Karachi. Nobody has claimed responsibility for her killing. At least two gunmen on a motorcycle shot dead 59-year-old Zahra Shahid Hussain outside of her residence, a day before the southern port city was set for a revote of the May 11 general election. There have been conflicting police reports about whether Shahid was assassinated, or whether she was the victim of a robbery gone wrong.
Asia Times says North Korea fired three short-range missiles off its east coast Saturday, following through on months of threats to conduct a missile launch. The South Korean Defence Ministry reported that it detected two launches in the morning and another in the afternoon. Its initial assessment was that the missiles were short-range surface-to-ship or surface-to-surface missiles capable of travelling up to 72 miles, rather than the new medium-range Musudan missile that analysts fear could threaten US troops in Guam or Okinawa, Japan. Pyongyang recently withdrew two mid-range missiles from its eastern coast following a period of heightened tensions with the US and Seoul.
According to Afghan Post, conservative lawmakers in Afghanistan have blocked a law strengthening protection for women for being un-Islamic. Among other measures, the law would have set a minimum marriage age for girls, and women not being prosecuted for rapes committed against them. Some said such laws might encourage sex outside of marriage.
Arab News reports a Saudi woman has made history by reaching the summit of the world's highest mountain. Raha Moharrak, 25, not only became the first Saudi woman to attempt the climb but also the youngest Arab to make it to the top of Everest. She is part of a four-person expedition that also includes the first Qatari man and the first Palestinian man attempting to reach the summit. They are trying to raise a million dollars (€780,000) for education projects in Nepal.
ABC says hoarding, gambling and marijuana withdrawal are among the newly-expanded disorders contained in the fifth revision of the American Psychiatric Association Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, known as DSM-5 – a 947-page reference book. Other categories have been redesigned, such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), which is now the sole title for a range of previously separate diagnoses that used to include Asperger's, autistic disintegrative disorder, and childhood disintegrative disorder. The $25 million revision happens only once in a generation and comes after nearly two decades of debate, deliberation and change in clinical practice.