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

The Times says Franco Debono still holds the cards, but the PN is winning time as it prepares for local council elections and then general elections.

In a similar vein, The Malta Independent says Franco Debono is keeping silent and the government is keeping the people guessing. It also says that the governent has signed the antii-counterfeiting trade agreement

l-orizzont reports that work on the Dock 1 area rehabilitation project has fallen back by five months. It also says calls for a general election are growing.

In-Nazzjon says the Attorney General is calling on the courts to declare former priest Godwin Scerri guilty of rape. It also says that Fitch has downgraded the ratings of several countries, but retained Malta's untouched.

The overseas press

The German government wants Greece to cede sovereignty over tax and spending decisions to a eurozone “budget commissioner” to secure a second €130 billion bail-out. According to a copy of the proposal obtained by the Financial Times, the new commissioner would have the power to veto budget decisions taken by the Greek government if they were not in line with targets set by international lenders. The new administrator, appointed by other eurozone finance ministers, would take responsibility for overseeing “all major blocks of expenditure” by the Greek government.

Bloomberg reports Fitch Ratings has cut the sovereign credit ratings of Italy, Spain, Belgium, Slovenia and Cyprus and indicated the possibility of further cuts. The rating agency said that the countries were vulnerable and lacked flexibility in the near-term to handle financial shocks stemming from the regional debt crisis. Fitch’s move follows that of Standard & Poor’s, which two weeks ago downgraded the credit ratings of nine eurozone countries and stripped France and Austria of their triple A status.

El Pais says Spain's unemployment figure has topped 5.27 million – the highest rate for 17 years – representing an unemployment rate of 22.85 per cent, twice the eurozone average. Young people were hit especially hard, with 51.4 per cent of 16- to 24-year-olds looking for a job.

The New York Times reports that the UN Security Council has met to consider a draft resolution against Syria's government. France, Germany and the UK drafted a resolution with Arab states, supporting the League's call for President Bashar al-Assad to hand power to a deputy. Russia, an ally of Mr Assad, has said it will not back the text. The UN meeting comes amid a spike in violence across Syria, with activists reporting 135 people killed in the past two days.

ABC TV says Authorities are on alert in central Queensland where a monsoonal low is expected to cause heavy rain this weekend. The system moved through the state's north-west overnight, dumping heavy falls in and around the Mount Isa region. It then dumped heavy rain over Queensland's western interior, before starting to weaken.

According to Ansa, the Italian company that operated the capsized Costa Concordia cruise ship has offered passengers nearly €11,000 each in compensation. The company says it will also cover medical and travel expenses for the more than 3,000 passengers on board. Injured passengers will be dealt with individually. However, lawyers representing passengers and crew members are advising clients not to accept. An American class action is demanding €121,000 compensation for each of its clients.

The Moscow Times reports Russian electoral officials have disqualified the only liberal challenger to Vladimir Putin in presidential elections on March 4, sparking allegations that the poll's legitimacy had been undermined. The central elections commission said it could not accept Grigory Yavlinsky's candidacy because it found nearly a quarter of the registration signatures were either photocopies or forgeries. Russia requires all presidential hopefuls whose parties did not make it into parliament to gather two million signatures in order to get on the ballot.

Los Angeles Times says three letters by Albert Einstein to a group that campaigned against the Nazis in Germany in the 1930s will go on the auction block in Los Angeles next Tuesday. Einstein made his home in the United States after Adolf Hitler came to power in 1933. The letters are to be sold at auction by Nate D Sanders, which last October sold an Einstein letter for €10,600 which commended an activist for his efforts helping European Jews.

Sky News reports that Europe's largest bell will ring to start a €32 million Olympic opening ceremony inspired by Shakespeare and featuring NHS nurses and 900 local pupils. The show's artistic director, Danny Boyle, said the “Isles of Wonder” ceremony was inspired by “The Tempest”. Six months before the performance kicks off London 2012, the Oscar winner said it would be about a land recovering from its industrial legacy. One billion people are expected to watch the opening ceremony on July27.