The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press:
The Times says the EU is to fund a gas pipeline to Malta. The announcement was made in Parliament by the prime minister during the Budget speech. The newspaper also reports that the Air Malta early retirement schemes will cost €20m.
The Malta Independent says distressed workers at Gozo Channel are calling for the chairman’s reinstatement. However the Finance Minister said his behaviour was unacceptable.
In-Nazzjon quotes the prime minister saying that good direction is getting results for the government.
l-orizzont says the government is ‘undermining the right to strike in pubic transport. The story refers to a legal notice explaining the minimum number of workers required for an essential service to be provided. It also reports that three-quarters of para-medical staff are unhappy with working conditions.
The overseas press
Reuters reports that the leaders of France and Germany will voice their support for new Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti at a tripartite meeting in Strasbourg later today, seeking to stem the risk of the debt crisis gripping the heart of the eurozone. The talks, hosted by President Nicolas Sarkozy, would discuss the reforms planned by the former EU commissioner to restore confidence in the eurozone's third largest economy, as well as the bloc's overall strategy for dealing with the crisis.
Radio Renascenca says international flights to and from Portugal have been disrupted at the beginning of a 24-hour general strike. Air traffic controllers, public transport workers, teachers and hospital staff are among the hundreds of thousands expected to join the industrial action in ptotest against government austerity measures.
Bloomberg reports Asian stocks fell for a second day after Germany failed to receive sufficient bids at a debt sale, adding to concern Europe’s crisis was worsening and driving investors away from risky assets. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index dropped 2.2 per cent in New York yesterday after Germany failed to get bids for 35 percent of the 10-year bonds offered at a sale. The Western Europe Index of credit-default swaps on 15 governments rose to an all-time high, adding concern the region’s debt crisis that began more than two years ago in Greece now risks engulfing Germany.
RIA Novosti quotes President Dmitry Medvedev saying Russia might deploy "advanced offensive weapon systems" on its borders with Europe in response to a planned US-backed European missile shield in Poland and Romania. Medvedev's comments, in a live broadcast on national television, came as he outlined a series of possible “appropriate measures” if missile defence talks between Moscow and Washington resulted in failure. The Alliance has dismissed Russia’s concerns over the shield, saying it needed it to deal with “rogue states” such as Iran.
The Egyptian Gazette says three more people died in Cairo on Wednesday as clashes continued with protesters stepping up their demands for Egypt's military rulers to resign. Street battles with riot police, now entering their sixth day, have been heaviest around the fortified interior ministry located on a side street off Tahrir Square. The protesters have rejected a pledge by the ruling military council to speed up transition to a civilian government.
Gulf News announces that Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh has signed a deal in Riyadh, under which he would and step down after months of unrest. Under the plan, he would transfer his powers to his deputy ahead of an early election and in return will get immunity from prosecution. But protesters rallying in the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, said they would reject any deal giving the president immunity.
Al Ayam says King Hamad of Bahrain has promised reforms to prevent abuses by security forces, after an independent report about a crackdown on protests said authorities had used "excessive force". The much-awaited report into the events in February said a number of detained protesters had been tortured. More than 40 people died in the unrest.
USA Today reports that police in the Ohio have charged seven men with hate crimes following a number of hair-cutting attacks in the Amish community. Amish men and women have had their beards and hair cut in a spate of assaults that have been blamed on a breakaway group in the community. Amish women do not cut their hair and men grow beards once they marry.
TMZ, the entertainment news portal, reports that prosecutors in the Conrad Murray manslaughter case have asked Judge Michael Pastor to order the physician to pay Michael Jackson's children more than $100 million for their loss. The District Attorney quoted a letter from the MJ Estate, estimating Michael would have made $100 million in revenue from the "This Is It" tour. The DA was also seeking the maximum punishment – four years in a state prison.
Samoa Observer says festivities continued throughout the night in the Samoan capital Apia after the country’s national football team, ranked as one of the worst in the world, won its first international match. The players from the tiny US territory beat their Pacific island rivals Tonga 2-1 in the first regional qualifying round for the Fifa world cup. American Samoa first started playing international football in 1994 and had lost 30 games in a row, including a world record 31-0 defeat to Australia.