The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press.
The Times of Malta quotes Franco Mercieca saying the waiver granted to him from the ministerial code of ethics was something between him and the prime minister. It also says that an audit of Malta's ambassadors is in the offing.
The Malta Independent says that Malta is bucking the European trend on CO2 emissions with a 6.3% increase between 2011 and 2012.
l-orizzont reports that compensation of €450,996 has been granted to a family in Xaghra whose land was expropriated. The sum is five times higher than what the government had offered. It also reports that the Foreign Ministry is investigating claims of abuse in the granting of visas by the Maltese consulate in Libya.
In-Nazzjon says Parliamentary Secretary Franco Mercieca is continuing to deny facts known to all about breached to the code of ethics. It also says the amnesty to prisoners was promised by Labour before the general election.
The overseas press
Media reports that the US National Security Agency has been monitoring phone and Internet records have raised concerns on both sides of the Atlantic. Deutsche Welle quotes senior EU officials saying they intended to use a meeting later this week to question their American counterparts about the possible impact on the privacy of EU citizens caused by the NSA monitoring programme.
Earlier in the day, Britain's foreign secretary cancelled a trip to Washington to speak to parliament about some of the assertions made in the reports revealed by The Guardian and The Washington Post. The Daily Telegraph says William Hague told lawmakers that British spies had not used US eavesdropping programme to circumvent UK laws.
The White House has declined to provide any further comment concerning the operation. The Obama administration also declined to comment on developments concerning CIA whistle-blower Edward Snowden's flight to Hong Kong. Edward Snowden, the man who leaked the information about the top-secret US programme, has left the hotel in Hong Kong in which he had taken shelter. He checked out of the Mira Hotel on Monday morning, The Washington Post reported. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who heads the Senate Intelligence Committee and supports the surveillance, accused Snowden of committing an “act of treason”" and said he should be prosecuted.
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange says he has had indirect contact with Edward Snowden,. Speaking exclusively to ABC’s Lateline, Assange demanded the Australian Government reveal any links it had to the PRISM programme, and said Australians may have been targeted by US spies.
Turkish riot police fired tear gas in the centre of Ankara on last night to disperse hundreds of protesters on the eleventh day of mass demonstrations against Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Islamic-rooted government. AFP reports restaurant owners were forced to shut themselves in with their clients to escape the gas, on the third consecutive night of clashes between protesters and police in the capital.
Meanwhile, 13 suspects in Turkey were sent to court on Monday after being accused of provoking anti-government riots through their Twitter posts, according to newspaper Cumhuriyet. Two of the suspects were women. Last week 34 people were arrested in Izmir on charges of using Twitter to provoke violence.
A court in Kuwait has sentenced a woman to 11 years’ jail for insulting its emir on Twitter. Al Watan reports Huda al-Ajmi, a 37-year-old teacher, was jailed for tweets deemed insulting to the emir and calling for the overthrow of the regime. She is the first woman to have been jailed for criticising Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah and got the longest known sentence for online dissent in the Gulf state.
Haaretz quotes Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu saying Palestinian preconditions on peace talks were an “insurmountable” obstacle. Palestinian negotiators are calling for a halt to new settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. .
Centre-left mayors were elected in all 11 cities across Italy where run-offs took place on Sunday and yesterday. Adnkronos says the most decisive wins were scored by Ignazio Marino in Rome (with 63 percent of votes) and in the northwestern city of Imperia, where Carlo Capaci got a massive 76.1 percent of votes, compared with 23.9 for his conservative opponent.
The Times reports the Duke of Edinburgh will take what is being described as "a period of convalescence" for approximately two months. Buckingham Palace has issued an update following Prince Philip's abdominal operation on Friday. The statement describes his condition as "comfortable" and says he's in "good spirits." He will stay in hospital for up to two weeks.
Glee star Jane Lynch is divorcing her wife of three years. Lynch married Dr Lara Embry in 2010 in Massachusetts. She told People magazine that splitting up was “a difficult decision for us as we care very deeply about one another”.
The Independent reports that career mothers have been told they should not feel guilty about using pre-school childcare because their children do not suffer academically. A new analysis of six studies looking at 40,000 children over the past four decades has provided conclusive evidence that there is no link between mothers continuing their careers and children going on to achieve less at school.
The Irish Independent says the terminal at Cork airport had to be evacuated because of a burnt piece of toast. The smouldering snack in a break room triggered two fire alarms, forcing all staff and passengers out of the building. However, the evacuation only lasted for seven minutes, and didn't lead to any flight delays.