The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press.
The Sunday Times of Malta reports that there was an hour’s delay before the AFM was informed that a tanker arrested by court order had weighed anchor and fled.
The Malta Independent on Sunday quotes PN deputy leader Beppe Fenech Adami saying the holding of a referendum is the biggest civil right.
MaltaToday says the Enemalta chief officer has resigned amid allegations of derailed an audit by the National Audit Office. It also says that Bahar ic-Caghaq has been earmarked for a luxury resort on an artificial island.
It-Torca says the first civil union will take place this week, in Gozo.
Il-Mument focuses on overcrowding at St Vincent de Paul home for the elderly.
Illum reports that John Bundy was meant to take over from Norman Vella on TVM.
KullHadd leads with the introduction of the Right of Disclosure.
The overseas press
Qatar deployed its political connections and natural gas wealth to help win the 2022 World Cup, according to allegations published by The Sunday Times. For the second week running the newspaper has published details of meetings and deals that it claims demonstrate former Fifa executive committee member Mohamed Bin Hammam broke bid rules as he lobbied on behalf of his country’s bid. Qatar denies the allegations. Meanwhile, Fifa sponsor Sony has meanwhile called on Fifa to investigate the allegations thoroughly.
The Financial Times reports western intelligence agencies have handed Turkish authorities the names of some 5,000 jihadis they fear are attempting to travel to Syria to join al-Qaeda-linked groups to fight against President Bashar al-Assad. An estimated 450 citizens have already travelled to Syria, alongside 700 from France and more than 300 from Germany. Turkey is the main transit point at issue.
Kyiv Post says Ukraine’s new president Petro Poroshenko said his country would never give up Crimea and would not compromise on its path towards closer ties with Europe. The 48-year-old billionaire took the oath of office before parliament, buoyed by Western support but facing a crisis in relations with Russia as a separatist uprising seethes in the east of his country.
Hours after the speech, RIA Novosti reported President Putin ordered security tightened along Russia’s border with Ukraine to prevent illegal crossings. Ukraine claims that many of the insurgents in the east have come from Russia.
According to AFP, Iran and the United States will on Monday and Tuesday hold their first direct talks in decades, in an unprecedented move toward securing a comprehensive nuclear deal between Tehran and the West. The talks in Geneva will be the first between Iran and the US to fall outside the P5+1 group – Britain, China, France, Russia, the United States plus Germany – which is pursuing talks in the quest for a landmark nuclear settlement.
Al Ayyam reports a series of car bombs exploded across Iraq’s capital tonight, killing at least 52 people in a day of violence that saw militants storm a university in the country’s restive Anbar province and take dozens hostage. The attacks are largely focused on Shiite neighbourhoods.
Avvenire says Pope Francis has called on policy-makers to provide more schooling, sports and jobs. During his meeting in St Peter’s square with 50,000 athletes of the Italian Sports Centre, he said with these three ways open, there would be no drugs and alcohol.
Il Tempo reports some 200,000 people took to the streets of Rome for the city’s annual Gay Pride parade and to call on the Italian government to recognise civil unions for same-sex couples. Ignazio Marino, Rome’s left-wing mayor, opened the procession by repeating his campaign promise to pass legislation allowing civil unions for gay couples. Adevarul says that also yesterday, some 400 people braved rainy weather to take part in a Gay Pride march in Bucharest, also demanding the right to civil unions for same-sex couples.
O Globo says workers for a company running Sao Paulo’s subway system have entered day three of strike action after demands for higher wages went unmet. Police were forced to use tear gas and batons to disperse striking transit workers on Friday as commuters tried to enter one of the main subway stations in Brazil’s largest city.
Radio Okapi reports at least 37 people, including 18 women and eight children, have been killed in Democratic Republic of Congo’s South Kivu province. The state’s governor blamed the attack on a dispute over cattle.
The Washington Post says a small plane got too close to the US Capitol yesterday, triggering an evacuation of the building and nearby structures. Meanwhile, a more potentially dangerous threat was streaking toward the planet from outer space: an asteroid, discovered only weeks ago, is to come within about 777,000 miles of Earth today, according to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. However, no evacuations have been suggested.