The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press
The Times says that Muammar Gaddafi is under siege and Maltese workers who made it back from Libya said they have returned from 'hell'.
The Malta Independent says there have been massacres in Libya.
In-Nazzjon leads with the escape to Malta of two Libyan fighter pilots.
l-orizzont asks if a civil war has broken out in Libya.
The overseas press
Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has appeared on state TV early this morning (1 a.m. Malta time) to dismiss reports that he had fled amid the unrest sweeping the country. Al Jazeera reports that in a 22-second appearance in his first televised appearance since protests to topple him started last week, he asserted, "I am in Tripoli and not in Venezuela. Do not believe the channels belonging to stray dogs." Reports on Monday said Gaddafi had fled to Venezuela – a claim dismissed by both Tripoli and Caracas. State TV reported earlier that pro-government demonstrations were taking place in Green Square in the capital.
Quryna says Col Gaddafi's statement came after security forces and protesters clashed in the capital for a second night. Witnesses said warplanes and helicopters fired on protesters in the city. To the west, sources said the army was fighting forces loyal to Col Gaddafi. Earlier, the newly established General Committee for Defence said its forces would cleanse Libya of anti-government elements. A statement described the protesters as "terrorist gangs made up mostly of misguided youths", who had been exploited and fed "hallucinogenic pills" by people following foreign agendas.
According to Al-Sharq al-Awsat, deep rifts opened in Gaddafi's regime, with Libyan government officials at home and abroad resigning, air force pilots defecting and a bloody crackdown on protest in the capital of Tripoli, where cars and buildings were burned. World leaders expressed outrage at the "vicious forms of repression" used against the demonstrators. Key Libyan diplomats disowned Gaddafi’s regime and the country's deputy UN ambassador called on the longtime ruler to step down because of its bloody crackdown on protesters.
The Wall Street Journal says that the first major protests to hit an OPEC country have put the oil industry on edge, sending crude prices jumping and raising speculation about the use of emergency oil reserves that have only been touched twice in two decades. In addition to Libya, the industry is closely watching protests in Algeria, Bahrain and Iran, the second-largest crude exporter in the OPEC behind Saudi Arabia.
Al-Thawra says Yemen’s President Ali Abdullah Saleh has rejected demands to step down but offered to begin talks with the protesters. He told a news conference he had ordered troops not to fire at anti-government protesters, except in self-defence. However, protests continued in the capital Sanaa, Taiz and Aden.
Al-Quds al-Arabi reports that Hassan Meshaima, a prominent opposition figure accused by Bahrain of plotting against the state, plans to return from London. The head of a group known as Haq, Hassan is scheduled to arrive in Manama later today as the embattled monarchy tries to engage demonstrators in talks aimed at easing the week-long series of clashes and marches that have deeply divided the strategic Gulf nation.
Al Ahram announces that Egypt’s top prosecutor has moved to freeze the vast fortunes amassed by overthrown President Hosni Mubarak and his family. He has also told the foreign minister to ask other nations to freeze any assets abroad. The family’s wealth – speculation has put it at anywhere from €700 million to €51 billion – has come under growing scrutiny since Mubarak left Cairo to the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh on February 11. Their domestic assets have already been frozen.
The Dominion Post reports a powerful earthquake hit the New Zealand city of Christchurch, collapsing buildings, burying vehicles under debris and sending rescuers scrambling to help trapped people amid reports of multiple deaths. Police said two buses had been crushed by falling debris, while witnesses said screams could be heard coming from a business building where up to 150 people were feared trapped.
Corriere della Sera says a Tunisian driver has been shot and wounded by Italian police after crashing his car through a window at Milan’s Malpensa airport then threatening officers with a knife. They ruled out any terrorist motive for the incident. The man was being treated at hospital. The airport was briefly evacuated but had resumed normal operations by early afternoon.
L’Autre Afrique reports that a Congolese court has for the first time sentenced a high-ranking army officer to 20 years in jail for rape, issuing a landmark verdict in a case that has been described as a test of the country's resolve in battling the scourge of rape. During the trial, some 50 women poured out their stories in a wave of anguish. Rape has long been a weapon of war in the Congo, with soldiers and militias using sexual violence to punish and intimidate the population. At least 8,300 rapes were reported in 2009 alone; aid workers say the true toll is higher.