The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press:
The Times says MPs have rallied ahead of a crucial vote in parliament on ministerial pay. It also reports on the death of the dog Star.
The Malta Independent said there is heartbreak and sorrow after the death of Star.
In-Nazzjon reports that the PN has set up a committee to discuss the Divorce Law. It also highlights the opening of Bisazza Street as a pedestrian zone.
l-orizzont says Eddie Fenech Adami, Beppe Fenech Adami and Austin Gatt are putting pressure on Lawrence Gonzi on how he should vote on divorce.
The overseas press
Syria’s official Sana news agency reports that 120 members of the police and security forces have been killed by armed groups in the northwestern town of Jisr al-Shoghour. The regime vowed to take swift action against an ambush that would stand as the deadliest strike against government troops in the country's uprising against President Al-Assad. The government announcement was quickly challenged by activists, town residents and others.
Meanwhile, early this morning, a man identifying himself as Syrian Army lieutenant appeared on the Al-Jazeera satellite channel and denied that the regime was fighting armed groups. In what appeared to mark the first army defection announced on TV, he urged other officers to protect the people and side with protesters, rather than protecting the regime.
AFP quotes a Libyan information ministry official saying Nato-led warplanes have struck the offices of the Libyan state broadcaster in Tripoli. There was also further damage to the offices of Libya's General People's Congress, which had already been largely destroyed in a strike three weeks ago. Libyan rebels have been pressuring satellite networks that air Muammar Gaddafi's channels saying that these "incite hate and violence" by painting rebels as "terrorists" seeking to split the country in two.
Al Hayat says 23 doctors and 24 nurses, who treated injured anti-government protesters during the months of unrest in Bahrain, have gone on trial accused of trying to overthrow the monarchy. They were charged during a closed hearing in a security court created under emergency rule, imposed last March to quell a wave of Shiite-led demonstrations for greater freedoms. At least 31 people have died since the protests began in mid-February. Two protesters were sentenced to death.
The Wall Street Journal carries a front-page picture of a group of chambermaids who heckled former IMF head Dominique Strauss-Kahn and shouted "Shame on you" as he walked into a court building, where he pleaded not guilty to charges of sexually assaulting a 32-year-old chambermaid. He arrived at the hearing in Manhattan accompanied by his wife, French television journalist Anne Sinclair. The hotel maid who accused Strauss-Kahn of trying to rape her has said she was prepared to face him in court. His next court appearance is set for July 18.
The New York Times reports that married US congressman Anthony Weiner has admitted sending a close-up picture of his underpants to a young woman, but said he would not resign. The Democratic representative also acknowledged "inappropriate" communications with women online. A tearful Mr Weiner told a news conference he was “deeply ashamed” of his “terrible judgement”. He said he had not met the women, and had never had sex outside his marriage.
As Portugal's president asked the Social Democratic Party leader to form a new government, Expresso quotes Pedro Passos Coelho saying he would immediately cut public spending and start privatising companies to meet requirements under the country's €78 billion bailout programme. Passos Coelho's centre-right party won Sunday’s general election but fell short of securing a majority. He was expected join forces with a smaller conservative party to implement the tough EU-IMF austerity measures. »
Deutsche Welle reports German Chancellor Angela Merkel is in Washington to meet with top US officials and to receive the Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama during a visit both leaders hope would project a close working relationship. Germany annoyed the US and many others in the international community with a surprising abstention when the UN Security Council voted to establish a no-fly zone over Libya.
Hanover’s Neue Presse says the German authorities were still hunting for the origin of the deadly E.coli outbreak after early tests failed to confirm that a bean-sprout farm in northern Germany was the source. The agriculture ministry in the state of Lower Saxony said that tests on 23 of 40 samples found them to be free of E. coli. The testing is continuing. The outbreak has killed 22 people and made over 2,000 others ill.
The Irish Examiner reports that the UN Committee against Torture has criticised Ireland’s prison conditions and accused the state of failing to protect women confined to Catholic Church workhouses. In one of the most damning criticisms the committee said the state had failed to protect young girls and women confined without their consent to so-called Magdalene Laundries between 1922 and 1996. It also called on the Irish government for prompt investigations and prosecutions over the damning Ryan Report into child sexual abuse in church-run industrial schools and orphanages. A survivors’ support group has demanded a state apology, perpetrators’ prosecution and the a right to compensation.
Sky News reports that Iran's dreams of taking part in the 2012 Olympics women's football tournament have been left in tatters after Fifa ruled their Islamic dress was banned for safety reasons because their full-body strip included a head scarf to conceal their hair – mandatory in Iran. They were barred from playing a qualifier against Jordan. Iran's soccer association has said the kit was neither religious, nor political, nor will it lead to harm a player. Fifa banned the hijab in 2007 and has extended the safety rule to include neck warmers.