The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press.
Times of Malta and l-orizzont lead with yesterday’s announcement of the new gas energy provider. The Times of Malta quotes officials saying a gas storage ship will be berthed permanently at Delimara.
In-Nazzjon says the energy agreement announced yesterday is binding on the government, not the private sector.
The Malta Independent gives prominence to Joseph Muscat’s lightning visit to Libya and his meeting with the Libyan prime minister for talks on migration.
The overseas press
Il Tempo reports Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta has convened a government summit to work out with the ministers of foreign affairs, the interior and defence, the operational and financial details of the humanitarian mission to limit the loss of lives of immigrants trying to reach Europe over the Mediterranean Sea, which he announced on Saturday.
Le Parisien announces that France's far-right National Front Party candidate Laurent Lopez has won the cantonal by-election in Brignoles, a town in the south of France. Lopez won with 53.9 percent of vote against 46.1 percent for the centre-right candidate Catherine Delzers. The result reflects the rising popularity of the anti-immigrant, anti-EU party ahead of next year's municipal and European elections.
Novosty says police in Russia have arrested at least 400 people after a protest in southern Moscow against the killing of a young ethnic Russian stabbed to death on ThursdayThe violence comes against a background of growing tension between ethnic Russians, migrants from the Caucasus region, who are Russian citizens, and non-Russians from the former Soviet republics.
As debate rages over the US budget and borrowing limit, IMF Director Christine Lagarde has warned US spending cuts must not be too drastic or they could threaten global economic recovery. In an interview on NBC Sunday talk show “Meet the Press,” Lagarde said the United States must address its spending on social programmes, adding that a US technical default would bring “massive disruption' the world over”.
VOA News says the stark assessment by Lagarde came after news that talks between the Republican Speaker of the House of Representative, John Boehner and President Obama had broken down, putting the onus on the Senate leadership to craft a bipartisan pact to avert what experts predict would be financial catastrophe.
All India Radio reports some 100 pilgrims, many of them women and children, have been killed and dozens more injured in a stampede at a temple in the heartland of the country. Reports said the stampede may have in part been caused by police baton-charging thousands of people gathered for a major Hindu festival.
The Jerusalem Post reports Israeli Defence Forces have discovered a 2.5 km tunnel from the Gaza strip to the territory of Israel which was built by militant Islamist groups, probably with the aim of carrying out a terrorist attack. The military said the tunnel was built for “terrorist activities against Israeli civilians and military personnel inside Israel”.
The BBC reports pictures of men seen in and around the Portuguese town of Praia da Luz at the time of Madeleine McCann's disappearance are to be released by British detectives. A number of e-fits are to be shown in tonight's episode of “BBC Crimewatch” in a bid to identify the men.
Cancer cost the then 27 countries of the European Union €126 billion in 2009, according to a study published on today in The Lancet Oncology. The bill mainly comprised €51 billion in costs for health-scare systems, including drugs; €23 billion in unpaid care provided by friends and relatives of people with cancer; and €52 billion in lost productivity due to premature deaths and illness. Britain, France, Germany and Italy accounted for most than two-thirds of the cost. Four types of cancer – breast, colorectal, lung and prostate – contributed to around half of all new cancer diagnoses and deaths. Lung cancer had the highest overall cost, of €18.8 billion, and was also responsible for the biggest loss of productivity.
Le Parisien reports two Chinese tourists who had with them 3,700 one-euro coins were arrested by French police who suspected them of being counterfeiters. They were released after the coins proved to be authentic legal tender. They men said they had retrieved from European cars sent to China to be scrapped.