Press digest

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

The Times says the PN expects all MPs to vote against the PL motion of no confidence in Transport Minister Austin Gatt. Nationalist MP Franco Debono says he will abstain. It also says that the Greek PM may call off his plans to hold a referendum on the EU bailout.

The Malta Independent reports that Franco Debono was absent from the PN executive meeting.

In-Nazzjon’s main story is that the Greek prime minister is prepared to withdraw his proposal to hold a referendum on the EU bailout. It also says that bus passengers were up 28% last month compared to the same month last year. It also says that a PN motion  has called on all its MPs to vote against a PL motion on the bus transport reform.

l-orizzont carries the heading ‘Debono Assenti’ after the Nationalist MP did not attend yesterday’s PN executive meeting. The newspaper also gives prominence to the call made on the GWU yesterday by the new UHM leadership.

The overseas press

All eyes are on Athens today as Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou faces a confidence vote in parliament. Kathimerini reports that the country remains in political turmoil after a day of dramatic events with Papandreou’s fate still hanging in the balance. There are fears that he may lose the confidence vote and Greece may have to hold fresh elections – a move which may further delay the implementation of a Greek bailout package. Eurozone leaders have already withheld €8 billion euros of fresh rescue loans to Greece and there are fears that further delays may see the government run out of cash and default on its payments. Papandreou has indicated he was ready to drop his controversial plans for a referendum on the latest European bailout and austerity plan if the opposition backed the deal. But the opposition, as well as several government MPs, have replied by demanding his resignation and calling for a snap election.

Le Monde says the developments in Athens have overshadowed the meeting in Cannes of the G20 leaders who are set to continue their talks later today. They seek to increase the firepower of the International Monetary Fund in the hope that increased resources would help the fund support struggling eurozone economies. There have also been calls for a "financial firewall" to protect vulnerable economies. At the end of the first day, President Obama warned that resolving the eurozone crisis was the most important task facing the summit.

The Irish Independent says the head of the Catholic Church in Ireland has criticised a government decision to close its embassy to the Vatican to save money. Cardinal Sean Brady said he was profoundly disappointed by the move, which he claimed showed little regard for the important role the Holy See plays in international relations. Ireland will be left without a resident ambassador to the Vatican for the first time since diplomatic relations were established between the two states in 1929. Irish Foreign Minister Eamon Gilmore said it was to do with cost cutting, not the row over the church’s handling of the child-abuse scandal in Ireland.

USA Today reports that prosecution and defence lawyers have made their closing statements in the trial of Dr Conrad Murray, accused of responsibility of the death of Michael Jackson. The prosecution alleges Dr Murray administered the powerful sedative propofol as a treatment for insomnia and then abandoned the singer. The defence say Jackson injected himself in the doctor’s absence.

The Washington Times says the United States has warned a group of pro-Palestinian activists not to break the Israeli blockade of Gaza. The 27 activists from the US and eight other countries set sail from Turkey on Wednesday aboard two yachts.

The International Herald Tribune reports that the CIA has accused China and Russia of being the main source of computer hacking attacks on American companies. A report says both private firms and cybersecurity experts have reported an "onslaught" of computer network intrusions that they say originated from China. However, they have not been able to track the ultimate culprit of the intrusions. Both China and Russia's embassies have denied the allegations.

The official Chinese Xinhua News Agency says rescuers were working to try to save 57 miners who were trapped in a coal mine in central China after a rock explosion that followed a small earthquake. Four miners were killed in the blast. Fourteen workers escaped.

La Tribuna reports over 175 Honduran police officers have been arrested in a purge against corruption and organised crime. The Security Ministry said the officers were suspected of offences including murder, kidnap and drug dealing. Earlier this week President Porfirio Lobo sacked his top police commanders and deployed troops to combat crime.

A woman who claims Justin Bieber fathered her baby in a backstage bathroom could be investigated for having sex with a minor because the singer was 16 at the time. Los Angeles police told The Associated Press that the department could investigate after Mariah Yeater filed the paternity suit against the teen heartthrob in San Diego Superior Court. Yeater had just turned 19 when she says she and Bieber, then 16, had a brief sexual encounter after one of the singer's concerts at Staples Centre. She said she gave birth to a boy in July and believes Bieber is the father because there were no other possible men she had sex with at that time.