The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press.
The Sunday Times of Malta reports that a top minister’s aide told police to arrest the security chief at the Isle of MTV concert last Wednesday after an unaccredited guest was barred from entering the restricted VIP area.
The Malta Independent says Brussels has found no objections to the power station procurement method.
MaltaToday says John Dalli had been ready to serve as Lawrence Gonzi’s deputy after their acrimonious leadership contest.
It-Torca says public land was distributed ‘blindly’ by the Sports Council in the run-up to the general election. It also focuses on the schools maintenance programme.
Il-Mument says European Broadcasting Union delegates who were served by policemen at a banquet described the situation as ‘abnormal’. It also says Parliamentary Secretary Franco Mercieca has not replied to a series of questions.
Illum leads with a letter sent by some prisoners to Home Affairs Minister Manuel Mallia where they complained about inconsistencies in court sentences.
The overseas press
Germany's Der Spiegel magazine says it has seen a secret document showing the US has bugged EU offices in Washington and at UN headquarters in New York. The publication says it was shown the 2010 “top secret” document by fugitive ex-security analyst Edward Snowden. The US National Security Agency document allegedly outlined how it spied on EU internal computer networks, referring to the bloc as a “target”. An EU official said the claim could have a “severe impact” on EU-US ties. The US has so far made no public comments on the claim.
Meanwhile, Teleamazonas TV quotes Ecuador's President Rafael Correa saying the US has asked him to reject an asylum request from fugitive whistleblower Edward Snowden. Correa was speaking after a phone call with US Vice President Joe Biden. Snowden is believed to still be in the transit zone of a Moscow airport.
In London, The Observer leads with claims that some European countries have been involved in secret details to give private data to America. According to businessinsider.com, the “shocking NSA scoop” revealed collusion and mass harvesting of personal communications among the United States and at least six European Union countries. It first appeared in The Guardian – only to be deleted from their website hours after publication. The pulled article now bears the message, “this article has been taken down pending an investigation” but appears to still be on today’s front page of the print edition. It was originally published in The Observer, a Sunday newspaper owned by The Guardian and hosted on their website.
Croatia today stages celebrations to mark its historic entry into the European Union as the bloc's 28th member – almost two decades after the end of the Balkan state's bloody war of independence from the former Yugoslavia. Vjesnik says that symbolically, at midnight on Sunday, Beethoven's “Ode to Joy” – the EU's anthem – will be played after which officials, notably European Commission President José Manuel Barroso and President Ivo Josipovic, will address those present. Heads of state from all six former Yugoslav republics will attend the ceremony, but leaders of many EU member states, including Britain, France and Germany, will not be present.
Al Gomhuria reports that crowds are gathering in Cairo's Tahrir Square ahead of a mass rally to demand the resignation of Egypt's Islamist President Mohammed Morsi. Protesters are unhappy with the policies of the Islamist president and his Muslim Brotherhood allies. Thousands of Morsi supporters rallied in the capital on Saturday. At least three people, including a US citizen, died in unrest on Friday.
South Africa's national broadcaster SABC says President Obama has praised Nelson Mandela as “an inspiration to the world”. The US leader, who was speaking in Pretoria after talks with President Jacob Zuma, does not intend to visit the 94-year-old, who has been critically ill for nearly a week. But he met the Mandela family in private and spoke by telephone to his wife, Graca Machel, who said she draws strength from Obama's words of comfort. According to Zuma, Mandela remains “stable but critical”.
Meanwhile, Sunday World reports riot police clashed with anti-Obama protesters in Soweto. The American leader was in Soweto to deliver a speech to young African leaders at the University of Johannesburg. Stun guns were fired at demonstrators to try and disperse them shortly before Obama arrived in the Johannesburg district. During his weekend trip, the US president will visit Robben Island off Cape Town, where Mandela was imprisoned for 18 years. On Monday, he will continue his African tour in Tanzania.
VOA News says opponents of same-sex marriage in California have filed an emergency petition to the US Supreme Court to try to halt gay weddings in the state. The move comes a day after a federal appeals court in San Francisco lifted a ban that had been in place since 2008. Many Californian gay couples then rushed to get married. But the opponents say the appeals court acted prematurely because by law they had more time to appeal before the ban can be lifted.
The BBC says the Rolling Stones’ hit-packed Glastonbury debut has been hailed as “the high spot of 43 years” of the festival by organiser Michael Eavis. The band opened with “Jumpin' Jack Flash”, with Mick Jagger prowling the stage in a green-sequined jacket. He repeatedly thanked the crowd and, after “It's Only Rock 'N' Roll (But I Like It)”, joked the organisers had “finally got round to asking us” to play. Tens of thousands of fans cheered on the two-hour set featuring 20 songs.