The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press:

The Times says the Curia has referred sex abuse cases at St Joseph’s Home to the Vatican after finding that the claims were founded. It also quotes the Prime Minister saying the government is prepared to go back before the European Court to prove it is right about its right to allow hunting in spring.

The Malta Independent says an average of only eight MPs attend parliamentary sittings when the TV cameras are not there. It also says that Malta is aiming for only a minimal deficit by 2013.

l-orizzont gives prominence to the official GWU reaction to the Budget, with the union saying that the government was insensistive to the people’s ‘pain’ from government-imposed financial burdens.

In-Nazzjon features a speech by PN Deputy leader Tonio Borg, who told the party’s general council that the government had a clear vision which was achieving results.

The overseas press:

The Washington Post quotes President Obama saying there has been what he described as “a credible threat against the United States” after apparent explosives were found in two packages from Yemen addressed to Jewish places of worship in Chicago. The packages, carried by cargo plane, were intercepted in Britain and Dubai and triggered international security alerts. Mr Obama said President Ali Abdallah Saleh of Yemen had pledged his country's full support in investigating the threat. The White House said the tip-off came from the Saudi authorities.

In other developments outlined by the BBC:

• New aviation security measures are being taken in light of the high security alert in force in the US, the UK and the Middle East’
• The US says that if a terror link was confirmed, the main suspects would be al-Qaeda's branch in Yemen known as “al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula”;
• US fighter jets escorted Emirates flight from Dubai into New York, with officials saying the action was taken "out of an abundance of caution" because cargo from Yemen was on board;
• Cobra, the UK government's emergency planning committee, is to meet again on Saturday as discussions continue about how to tighten UK security further

Az-Zaman says a suicide bomber wearing an explosives belt killed 25 people and injured 65 others, mostly Shiites. He blew himself up inside a popular cafe in the town of Balad Ruz, 70 kilometers northeast of Baghdad, as people were gathered to play dominoes and drink tea.

La Tribune reports workers at all France’s oil refineries have voted to end the strike against raising the state retirement age. The strikes began two weeks ago as part of a wider campaign against the pension reform.

Jakarta Post says Indonesia’s Mount Merapi volcano has erupted for a third time. Earlier, officials said two people who suffered burns from Tuesday's eruption had died from their injuries, bringing the confirmed death toll to 35.

Asahi Shimbun reports that delegates from nearly 200 countries have adopted a 10-year plan to protect threatened plants and animals. The deal, agreed at the UN bio-diversity conference in Japan, includes a pledge of millions of dollars to aid conservation in poorer regions.

Clarin says former Argentine President Nestor Kirchner has been buried in his home town of Rio Gallegos. Thousands of people waving flags joined the funeral procession led by his widow, current President Cristina Fernandez, before a private ceremony. Earlier, huge crowds lined the streets of Buenos Aires in pouring rain to salute his coffin.

Asia Times reports North Korea has fired over its heavily fortified southern border and South Korea retaliated in what observers see as a rare instance of their cold war turning hot. The incident – the first at the border since 2007 – came just hours after North Korea threatened to retaliate for South Korea's refusal last week to hold military talks with its wartime rival.

Corriere della Sera quotes Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi telling reporters after a meeting with European leaders in Brussels that he loved life and women and would not apologize for enjoying himself. The comments follow reports that a 17-year-old Moroccan known as "Ruby" told Milan magistrates she had attended parties at Berlusconi's residence in Arcore near Milan. The influential Catholic weekly Famiglia Cristiana said Berlusconi was in a "state of sickness".

Affari Italiani reports that a Milan court has convicted three doctors of performing unnecessary surgeries with the hospital's chief surgeon sentenced to 15-and-a-half years in prison. In what was one of Italy's most notorious cases, prosecutors produced evidence that unneeded operations, including amputations, were performed on 83 patients with the aim of getting large reimbursements from the state health system.

According to The Scotsman, Scots are narrowly in favour of the UK switching to British Summer Time all year round. About 3,000 people took part in the internet survey which found that almost half of Scottish parents believed the change in daylight hours would affect their children's sleep patterns. And one-third of respondents said it would be harder to get their children to school on Monday.