What the Sunday papers say…

Malta Today reports that both the Nationalist Party and the Labour Party owe no less than a combined €2.5 million in energy and water bills. Whilst the PN has €1.9 million in outstanding bills, the MLP owes some €600,000 to ARMS (The Automated Revenue Management Services) for electricity and water.

Sister newspaper Illum calculates that there are an estimated 10,000 women in Malta who have undergone breast implant surgery. According to the newspaper, more than 600 such operations are carried out every year, either in private clinics or at hospital.

The Sunday Times claims that 14% of the 104,293 signatures collected by the hunters’ federation, FKNK, may not tally with the electoral register. An exercise carried out by the newspaper found that 137 ID card numbers on the petition did not tally with the list of those eligible to vote in last month’s EP election.

The Malta Independent on Sunday claims that courts are still ignoring the ECHR (European Court of Human Rights) ruling on the right for individuals to have a lawyer before interrogation. Suspects are being denied this fundamental human right, the newspaper says.

It-Torca leads with the story of the German children who were found in Gozo earlier this week and who it transpired had been reported missing by their father. The newspaper claims that German authorities will, in the coming days, appeal in order for the children to be sent back to Germany.

Nationalist organ Il-Mument carries out an interview with former judge Giovanni Bonello in which he claims that government’s refusal to supply information to the Ombudsman on the promotions of personnel within the Armed Forces is nothing short of a “constitutional crisis”.

Kullhadd leads with the news that Malta is one of the leading countries with regard to childcare services. This statistic was issued in a report published earlier this week by the European Commission. According to the report, Malta is the only country which offers childcare centres at no cost.