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

The Times reports that a young boy from Libya is at Mater Dei Hospital ITU with a  head wound.  The newspaper also carries an interview with a relative of Sarah Agius, who died in a traffic accident in Valencia.

The Malta Independent says clerical abuse victims were offered money to give an interview to Al Jazeera. It also reports how the weather forced a postponement of the laying of the breakwater bridge.

l-orizzont says a contractor has warned that works in the Dock 1 area will not be completed on time if it is left in the hands of an Italian contractor. It also features comments by Joseph Muscat on Enemalta’s dumping of the chemical Mercaptan.

In-Nazzjon in a reaction to comments by Joseph Muscat, says the opposition leader does not know what is happening in the health sector.  

The overseas press

Greece has announced it would miss the targets for cutting both 2011 and 2012 budget deficit targets despite implementing a harsh programme of savings and tax hikes that were set by the European Union and International Monetary Fund. Ta Nea quotes a Finance Ministry statement saying this was because the economy was in a far worse state than predicted. It was expected to shrink by more than 5½ per cent this year – a rate twice as high as previously thought. The targets are part of a huge bailout package.

Kathimerini reports that the Greek cabinet also discussed its plan for 30,000 public sector workers layoffs. Labor unions have vowed to step up pressure against the socialist government, planning strikes and protests in coming weeks. The government, which has a majority of only four seats in parliament, could be forced into elections if just a handful of legislators balk at the austerity plans.

Tageblatt says Finance Ministers of the 17 eurozone member states meet later today in Luxembourg in a bid to reach an agreement on whether to release the next €8-billion- loan to Greece, which the IMF has blocked for the past month. Without the bailout installment, Athens says it would default on its bills within weeks.

Austrian Finance Minister Maria Fekter told Germany's Welt am Sonntag she thought the eurozone was likely to grant Greece a new slice of aid. But Alexander Dobrindt, general secretary of the Christian Social Union (CSU), told Deutschlandfunk radio Greece should consider exiting the eurozone. He added that the eurozone's bailout fund, the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) "should have the right to organize the exit" of Greece from the currency bloc.

The Daily Express says there will be a House of Commons vote on whether there could be a referendum on the UK's involvement in the European Union. However, British Prime Minister David Cameron has said he would not support such a referendum. Speaking at the start of the Conservative Party in Manchester, Mr Cameron said his government’s immediate priority on Europe was to get the crisis in the eurozone sorted out and revive the continent’s economy.

Al Jazeera reports that thousands of Libyans have been fleeing Sirte, one of the last strongholds of Gaddafi forces now under a temporary ceasefire. But people emerging from the city said shooting continued and the Red Cross has warned of a medical emergency. Meanwhile Moussa Ibrahim, the fugitive spokesman for Gaddafi and a Sirte native, telephoned a Syria-based television channel Ar-Rai late on Saturday saying they expected a strong attack from several points of Sirte but they were ready.

Al Ahram says the head of the interim military government in Egypt has said the ousted President Hosni Mubarak never asked the army to fire on protesters. Field Marshal Tantawi said he had testified before God and told the truth last week when he gave evidence in secret at the former president's trial. Mr Mubarak is charged with the killing of protesters during the 18-day revolt which forced him from office. Some 850 demonstrators were killed.

The Jerusalem Post reports that Israel has welcomed a proposal by international mediators to resume long-stalled talks with the Palestinians but said it has some concerns abut the plan. Senior Cabinet ministers discussed the proposal at a meeting yesterday. The plan was put forth after the Palestinians last month asked the United Nations to recognise their state in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem. Prime Minister.

Sky News quoted Amanda Knox’s father saying his daughter was "fighting for her life", just hours ahead of the dramatic climax to what has been dubbed the trial of the century. Knox, 24, and her family have high hopes that she would be cleared of the murder of Meredith Kercher, 21. Key to the 10-month appeal has been an independent DNA report which has poured scorn on the original police forensic investigation, suggesting evidence used to convict her and former boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito, 27, was unreliable. Knox and Sollecito will today both be allowed to make statements to the court and they will both plead their innocence and beg the court to release them from their four-year imprisonment.

Pravda says Russian police have detained 40 of anti-gay protesters and gay rights activists during a gay pride rally in central Moscow. Yesterday’s protest was one of the few gay rights events sanctioned by authorities. In recent years, several attempts to hold gay pride marches in Moscow and other Russian cities have been blocked by police, Russian Orthodox Church activists and soccer fans.




 

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