The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press:
The Times reports how the Commissioner for Voluntary Organisations, Kenneth Wain, complained that some of the NGOs and individuals granted overseas development aid by Malta were not registered with his Office.
The Malta Independent focuses on a statement yesterday by the UNHCR which said that some 1,500 migrants were believed to have died while crossing the Mediterranean last year.
MaltaToday says that John Dalli has also indicated that he will not contest the PN election, adding that there was no vacancy for the leadership.
In-Nazzjon says unemployment in Malta is the fifth lowest in Europe. It also says that Malta has already made use of 91% of EU funds allocated to it.
l-orizzont like The Times also leads with the complaint by the NGOs Commissioner that the granting of international aid by the Foreign Ministry lacked transparency.
The overseas press
Kathimerini quotes Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos saying Greece has all but concluded a crucial deal to write off half its privately-held debt. He told a news conference they were “one step away” from finalising the debt relief agreement which would see private creditors swap their Greek bonds for new ones of a lower value, over a longer repayment period and on a lower interest rate. Mr Venizelos aid Greece was now focusing on completing negotiations by the end of the week on a new programme of cutbacks until 2015. He hoped eurozone finance ministers could sign off on the new cuts – and a new bailout – during their meeting next Monday in Brussels.
Britain would be ready to use legal action if the new treaty being agreed between 25 EU member-states threatened UK national interests. The Times says that reporting back to the House of Commons from Monday’s summit in Brussels, British Prime Minister David Cameron rejected suggestions that the new inter-governmental agreement on fiscal discipline in the eurozone would create a new “inner group” within the EU. Britain would neither sign nor ratify the treaty and would not be bound by any new obligations, he said.
The New York Times reports that the opposition Syrian National Council has urged the UN Security Council to protect civilians "by all necessary means". However, Russia and China's refusal to sanction a resolution remains an obstacle. The Security Council is considering an Arab League resolution which would order President Bashar al-Assad to stand aside amid the ongoing bloodshed in Syria. Opposing the move, Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said Syria could descend into civil war if the council backed the call.
CBS says US presidential hopeful Mitt Romney has won a clear victory in the Republican primary election in Florida. With 90 per cent of votes counted after polling ended in Florida, Mr Romney has 48 per cent, with rival Newt Gingrich on 32 per cent. Florida's primary is the biggest of the 2012 election season so far. The next contest will be on Saturday in Nevada, which Mr Romney won easily during his first run for the White House in 2008.
Reuters reports that more than 60 people have died in a cold snap across Eastern Europe, with some countries calling in their armies to help provide food, medical supplies and emergency shelter for the homeless. The temperature in Ukraine sank to minus 330C while eastern Bosnia experienced lows of minus 310C and Poland, Romania and Bulgaria minus 300C. Turkey, Greece, Albania and Macedonia were also seeing below-freezing temperatures. The frigid air was set to move west across Europe and would stay in place through the end of the week, with heavy snowfall forecast for Tuscany and central Italy. Paris and London would also struggle to climb above freezing for most of this week.
Clarin says Argentina has hit out at the decision to send England's Prince William to serve as an RAF helicopter pilot in the Falklands saying he would wear “the uniform of a conquistador”. Buenos Aires said it had no intention of going to war over the Falkland Islands, and accused Britain of militarising their sovereignty dispute by sending one of its most modern warships, HMS Dauntless, to the disputed South Atlantic archipelago, which Argentina claimed as the Malvinas Islands
According to Ansa, Italian emergency officials have called off the search for missing people in the submerged part of the Costa Concordia cruise ship, due to the danger to rescue workers. Italy’s Civil Protection agency said in a statement that relatives and diplomatic officials representing the countries of the missing have been informed of the decision. Seventeen bodies have been recovered, of which one has not yet been identified. Sixteen people are listed as missing.
ABC reports that several Asian countries, including Hong Kong and Japan, have temporarily banned some poultry imports from Australia, following an outbreak of avian flu at a duck farm in Victoria. Some 24,000 free range ducks on a farm north-west of Melbourne last week tested positive to a low pathogenic strain of the virus. The affected animals have been killed and the properties quarantined.
The Age reports that the outgoing owner of a Melbourne bus company has rewarded staff with cash gifts totalling tens of millions of dollars. When Ken Grenda sold his bus company for $400 million, he wanted to thank his 2,000 staff members for their hard work. Some workers received more than $100,000 each.
The Kessler Twins say that they have an understanding between them that if one turned into a vegetative state, the other would help her commit euthanasia. The revelation comes in a long interview which Ellen and Alice gave to the magazine Chi, in which the 75-year-olds speak about their careers, men in their lives, jealousy, lifting, money and differences. They are touring Italy with the musical “Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde”.