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

The Times says there is pressure on ministers to rectify their pay packet rise. It also reports that a board has found lack of accountability in the Vat Department.

The Malta Independent carries comments by the Divorce Movement that arguments by the No camp are based on deceit, fear and lies.  It also carries comments by the Children’s Commissioner against divorce.

In-Nazzjon says the government has appointed a board of inquiry on the engagement of care workers. It also reports how Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi will meet British Prime Minister David Cameron in London today.

l-orizzont says more workers have joined the GWU. It also says that academic results in a school in Cottonera have not improved.

The overseas press

The European edition of The Wall Street Journal leads with Standard & Poor's downgrading of the credit rating of Greece to B from BB minus in response to worries that Greece would not be able to meet debt-reduction targets. This meant Greek bonds dropped further into “junk” status, making investment in its bonds riskier.  A year ago, Greece accepted a bailout from the IMF and EU but has struggled to pay it back.

(Go to http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,15061625,00.html to see what the European Press had to say about the issue)

Reuters reports NATO has denied allegations made in a report in yesterday’s edition of The Guardian that it ignored calls for help from a refugee boat in the Mediterranean. The British newspaper had said that after drifting for 16 days at sea, 62 of the boat's 72 passengers died.

The New York Times quoted UN humanitarian chief Valerie Amos calling for a pause in hostilities to help ease the humanitarian crisis in Libya. Speaking to the UN Security Council, Baroness Amos described the situation in the besieged port of Misurata as “dire”, as the only rebel-held city in western Libya was running short of food and water. She said the disruption caused by a combination of the conflict and sanctions was paralyzing the country. Some 750,000 people have fled Libya since the conflict began in March.

The International Herald Tribune reports that the UN has said it was increasingly worried about the situation in southern Syrian City of Deraa, where government forces are reported to have killed dozens of people. The UN humanitarian mission still has not been allowed there despite a promise from the authorities a week ago. In another development, the EU has announced an arms embargo on Syria.

Al Jazeera says Pakistani Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani has told parliament that he was to launch an investigation into how Osama Bin Laden was able to live in the garrison city of Abbottabad undetected. However, he insisted that allegations of Pakistani complicity and incompetence were "absurd". President Barack Obama has urged Pakistan to investigate the suspected network that sustained Bin Laden.

Asia Times reports that India has started war games involving some 20,000 combat troops along its border with Pakistan, currently reeling under pressure of the bin Laden affair. India has already denounced Pakistan as a terrorist "sanctuary", renewing calls for Islamabad to arrest suspects behind the 2008 Mumbai attacks by a Pakistan-based militant group. The Indian army, the world's fourth largest in terms of personnel, has conducted 10 major military exercises along Pakistan's border in the past six years. The two nuclear-armed countries have fought three wars since gaining their independence in 1947.

Metro says Oxfam has warned that foreign forces in Afghanistan must do more to prevent human rights abuses by Afghan forces, including killings and child sex abuse. A report by the British charity said police and troops were responsible for at least 10 per cent of the more than 2,700 deaths in Afghanistan last year.

Al Ayyam quotes the Palestinian Authority saying it had been unable to pay government workers because Israel was withholding tax funds. Israel halted the transfer of taxes after the Palestinian Authority signed a long-awaited reconciliation agreement wit Hamas.

Tennessee Globe says the authorities in Memphis have called on residents to prepare to leave their homes as the Mississippi River rises to record levels. Hundreds of people have already been forced to leave low-lying neighbourhoods.

The South Florida Sun Sentinel reports that it took 60 rescuers two hours to free a member of the Austrian Olympic swim team who was buried in sand up to his neck on Florida's Pompano Beach. Authorities say 19-year-old Jakub Maly had spent much of Sunday digging a hole that was more than 2 metres deep and nearly 2 metres across. At one point Maly jumped into the hole as a joke and sand collapsed around him, risking being crushed by the pressure from the sand. He was freed and taken to a hospital, where he was treated and later released. The Austrian Olympic team has been training in South Florida since April. Sunday was an off day for team members.

L’Equipe says FIFA has pledged to spend €20 million and forge closer ties with Interpol to crack down on football match-fixing and betting fraud. FIFA President Sepp Blatter said it would fund anti-corruption programmes over 10 years to educate players, referees and officials. The project will operate from Interpol's base in Singapore. FIFA believes fixers with Singapore connections have organised recent international friendly matches purely for betting scams.   

 

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