The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press.
Times of Malta says half of 75 sex abuse cases reported so far this year involved minors.
The Malta Independent says the government has started to repeal outdated laws.
In-Nazzjon says Air Malta workers are surprised by government intentions for an Air China partial or total take-over.
l-orizzont leads with the speech at a political activity yesterday by Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, where he underlined how the government has silenced PN criticism on unemployment.
The overseas press
The world’s top scientists have given their clearest warning yet of the severe and irreversible impacts of climate change. Dagbladet says that in a report launched in Copenhagen, the UN climate change panel warned greenhouse gas levels are at their highest point in 800,000 years, with recent increases mostly due to the burning of fossil fuels.
Meanwhile, a study published in today’s science journal Ecology Letters reveals Europe has an estimated 421 million fewer birds than three decades ago, and current treatment of the environment is unsustainable for many common species. The population crash is related to modern farming methods and the loss and damage of habitats.
Reuters says the Libyan army has issued a deadline for civilians to evacuate the central part of Benghazi as it prepares a military operation against Islamists. Six more people were killed yesterday, bringing the death toll since the start of the army offensive to 230.
In the UK, the “i” newspaper dedicates its front page to a warning by German Chancellor Angela Merkel that she would accept the UK quitting the EU if Prime Minister David Cameron refused to back down on migrants. Berlin has warned she would abandon attempts to keep Britain in the EU.
Cotidianul reports Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta is set to win the first round of the country’s presidential election. Exit polls show that the Socialist party leader is set to take between 38 percent and 40 percent of the vote.
Baltic Times says Alexander Zakharchenko, the prime minister of the self-declared government in Donetsk, is said to have won more than 80 per cent of the vote in elections, and his counterpart in Luhansk, Igor Plotnitsky, just over 60 per cent.
Deutsche Welle reports an iron gate with the infamous slogan “Work will set you free” has been stolen from the former Nazi concentration camp at Dachau. The theft has been deemed an “offensive attack on the memory of the Holocaust.”
According to the new NBC poll, by a 4-to-1 margin, Americans say that domestic issues like the economy, health care, Medicare and Social Security are more important in deciding their vote for Congress tomorrow than issues like the Ebola virus and the fight against ISIS.
Dawn reports more than 50 people have been killed and at least 100 injured – 15 seriously – in a suicide bombing close to Pakistan’s only border crossing with India. Both the Taliban and the militant group Jundullah claimed responsibility for the attack.
Al Ayyam says a series of bombings in the Iraqi capital Baghdad has killed more than 30 pilgrims on the eve of the Sia religious festival, Ashura.
Jeune Afrique reports the OAU’s Peace and Security Council will be meeting later today to discuss the situation in Burkina Faso as it called for the military to hand over power to civilian authorities. The military has promised to install a unity government to manage a political transition after a popular uprising forced the resignation of President Blaise Compaore.
South China Morning Post says the police in Hong Kong have charged a British banker with murdering two women. Rurick Jutting was arrested after the women, said to be sex workers from Indonesia, were found dead at his apartment early on Saturday.