Press digest

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

The Times says Malta has lambasted Italy over its failure to rescue migrants close to Lampedusa.

The Malta Independent reports how 171 migrants were rescued by the AFM. Meanwhile SOS Malta has suspended humanitarian aid to Misrata after the boat which took the supplies was used by former Libyan Energy Minister Fathi bin Shatwan to escape.

l-orizzont says Italy broke international law when it did not rescue migrants close to Lampedusa and did not allow an AFM patrol boat to take them there.

In-Nazzjon also says that Italy failed in its legal obligations. It also says that social initiatives remain a government priority.

The overseas press:

News Channel 4 has announced that Democratic and Republican negotiators have reached a budget deal that would avoid a government shutdown. It will reportedly cut $39 billion (£24bn) from the budget over last year's levels between now and 30 September. President Barack Obama said the cuts would be painful but necessary. Without the agreement, reached perilously close to a midnight deadline, the government's massive gears would have come to a halt, limiting federal services and payrolls.

Al Jazeera quotes witnesses saying that hundreds of army soldiers and Central Security officers stormed Cairo's Tahrir Square in the early morning hours on Saturday, firing shots into the air, brandishing tasers and batons, and beating people to disperse a crowd of thousands of protesters. Tens of thousands of people had flooded into the square on Friday calling for the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, which now runs the country, to honour their demands, including prosecuting a number of former high-ranking regime officials, including Mubarak himself.

The BBC says at least 23 protesters were reported to have been killed during anti-government rallies in the southern Syrian city of Deraa. There were also unconfirmed reports of deaths in Homs, Duma and Harasta, as protests swept the country. However, state-run Syrian TV said that 19 members of the security forces had been killed "by armed groups" in Deraa.

Reuters reports Libyan rebels have repulsed a government assault on the besieged western port city of Misurata and quotes a resident saying five people were killed in the fighting. Misurata, has been under siege by Gaddafi's forces for weeks. Meanwhile, NATO air strikes have hit weapons depots belonging to Gaddafi's forces near the town of Zintan.

Corriere della Sera says Italy and France have agreed to launch patrols off the Tunisian coast to stop migrants heading to Europe. Italian Interior Minister Roberto Maroni and his French counterpart Claude Gueant met in Milan to discuss the growing number of north-African immigrants arriving in Italy. The meeting followed a dispute between Paris and Rome over plans to let immigrants travel within Europe.

The Warsaw Voice reports EU finance ministers meeting near Budapest, have offered Portugal a bailout expected to total €80 billion, setting tough conditions for the country to qualify for the EU-IMF rescue package. The loans depend on Lisbon introducing spending cuts and tax rises that were likely to prove unpopular with the electorate as Portuguese politicians prepare for elections on June 5.

O Globo says grieving families gathered in Rio de Janiero to bury 12 children gunned down in the halls of their school, an unheard-of act of school violence which left stunned Brazilians struggling for answers. Ten girls and two boys between the ages of 12 and 15 were killed, most shot in the head at point-blank range by 23-year-old Wellington Oliveira, who shot himself dead after being confronted by police. At least 12 other students were injured in the shooting at the Tasso da Silveira school. Two are in grave condition.

The Daily Express leads with the shooting on board the nuclear submarine HMS Astute in Southampton docks in which a person was killed and another injured. The police, who said a man has been arrested, have released a statement saying that the incident was not terror-related, and that there was no risk to the public. The Southampton City Council's mayor, leader and chief executive were on board the submarine when the fatal shooting happened. They were not injured.

The Independent dedicates the whole front-page to the “unreserved apology” issued by News International over the News of the World phone hacking scandal. It announced it had set up a compensation scheme to settle some of the civil legal actions it was facing in connection with the affair. Former cabinet minister Tessa Jowell and her husband David Mills – ssentenced to four and a half years' jail in 2009 by an Italian court for taking £370,000 bribe, are thought to be on the list.

A study in Taiwan suggests shopping makes people live longer. New Strait Times says scientists have found that those who shopped every day were 27 per cent less likely to die compared to those who never shopped, or who went less than once a week. The study, which was carried out over a 10-year period, also found that older men are particularly likely to benefit from frequently going out to purchase their goods.