The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press.
The Sunday Times of Malta quotes Autobuses de Leon saying that bus passengers in Malta increased by seven per cent in 2015.
It Torca, like most other newspapers, reports that an attempt by rival groups to meet in Malta to discuss a unity government for Libya failed when one of the groups did not turn up.
Il-Mument publishes an e-mail exchange which, it says, proves interference by Castille in the operations of the PBS newsroom.
MaltaToday says the prime minister has been warned that Barts will eat into Mater Dei Hospital resources. It also says that according to a survey among 400 Gozitans, 60 percent of Gozitans want the tunnel.
KullHadd says that according to a survey by a UK company commissioned by the Maltese government, media coverage of the summits held in Malta last month was equivalent to advertising worth half a billion euro.
The Malta Independent on Sunday says Maltese-flagged ships owned by the Turkish President’s son have been implicated in the Isis oil trade.
Illum says the Gozo Ministry has been shorn of responsibility for health, education, the permanent link, waste collection, energy and people with disabilities.
The overseas press
France 24 reports world leaders have hailed as “historic” the final deal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, embraced by delegates of 195 nations at the UN Paris climate summit. President Hollande paid tribute to those taking part in the final negotiations, tweeting that it is rare to be able to change the world, “but you have!” Foreign Minister Laurent Laurent Fabius called the accord “ambitious and balanced”.
USA Today says within minutes of its adoption, US Secretary of State John Kerry declared that the pact would “prevent the worst, most devastating consequences of climate change from ever happening”. And President Obama on Twitter called the agreement “huge”.
The Sunday Times quotes British Prime Minister David Cameron hailing the accord as important for future generations.
Le Journal du Dimanche says International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief Christine Lagarde called the Paris agreement “a critical step forward for addressing the challenge of global climate change”.
Deutsche Welle reports German environment minister Barbra Hendricks saying: “Despite all difficulties, we have reached an ambitious accord. We have written history together.”
VOA News quotes former US Vice-President and environmental campaigner Al Gore saying: “Years from now, our grandchildren will reflect on humanity’s moral courage to solve the climate crisis. And they will look to December 12, 2015 as the day when the community of nations final made the decision to act.”
But Les Echos reports protesters from environmental and human rights groups gathered near the Eiffel Tower to denounce the accord as insufficient”. Climate scientists have welcomed the pact as a major political advance, but warned of a gaping hole – the lack of a detailed roadmap for cutting greenhouse gases that cause the problem.
In other news…
The Sunday Express says British MPS have been warned that British jihadists who have returned from fighting in Syria could target them and their staff and they have been told to increase security in their homes and constituencies. Some 300 jihadists have returned to the UK and now free on the streets, posing what security chiefs called “a direct threat”.
Der Spiegel reports the United States has asked Germany for more military help in the fight against Islamic State militants in Syria. Germany’s mission currently includes six Tornado reconnaissance jets, a frigate to protect the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle, refuelling aircraft and up to 1,200 troops. Germany does not plan to carry out airstrikes in Syria.
France today goes to the polls in the second round of regional elections, inclined to be a challenge for the far-right National Front to repeat its last week’s success when it gained nearly 28 per cent of the regional vote and was placed first in six out of the country’s 13 continental regions. Le Parisien says that according to a TNS-Sofres poll, the FN leader Marie Le Pen and her niece Marion Marechal-Le Pen could be defeated by Republican candidates, who have the support of the Socialists.
According to Polskie Radio, an estimated 50,000 Poles have protested in Warsaw against the new conservative government’s bid to appoint loyal judges to Poland’s constitutional court. Similar marches were held in other Polish cities.
Radio Liberty reports more than 30 activists have been detained after defying a protest ban and holding ‘individual’ rallies against rights abuses. Among those held was the leader of Russia’s leading liberal party.
Antenna says thousands have protested against Montenegro’s plan to join the NATO alliance, demanding the issue be put to referendum. The military alliance invited Montenegro to join earlier this month.
Al Ouruba reports at least 15 people have been killed and dozens more wounded after a car bomb struck the central Syrian city of Homs. The blast happened a few days after a truce had been agreed with rebels in the Waer neighbourhood.
According to LBC, police in Spain have arrested six men from Liverpool as part of an international drugs bust which involved 1.4 tons of compressed cocaine disguised as wooden shipping pallets. The drugs arrived on a Colombian ship into the Spanish port of Valencia. They also seized thousands of litres of chemicals at a warehouse, thought to be intended to extract the cocaine. Drug syndicates have used increasingly elaborate plans to evade detection in recent years, including hiding cocaine in breast implants, a wig, a plaster cast encasing a man’s broken leg, as well as inside a 42-piece crockery set.