The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press:
The Times reports that a teen party organizer has been accused of having sex with a minor.
The Malta Independent quotes the MAM saying an increase in operations is creating hospital bottlenecks.
MaltaToday features a call by Nicholas Azzopardi’s father for an investigation into possible links between a police sergeant and his dead son’s wife. Nicholas Azzopardi died in police custody. An inquiry into his death had been reopened.
In-Nazzjon gives prominence to the announcement that Baxter is to transfer its global research and development unit to Malta.
l-orizzont features a Labour press conference yesterday which criticised reduced government spending for local councils and sports. It also reports on the GWU call for shop assistants to be given double pay if they are called to work on Sundays.
The overseas press
The International Business Times quotes the head of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) urging eurozone member-states to double their bailout fund to one trillion euros. Angelo Gurria said eurozone finance ministers meeting later this week, should boost the fund because the current commitments were not enough to restore market confidence. Some fear that the fund could not cope with another bailout. So far, Greece, Republic of Ireland and Portugal have been bailed out. The OECD was predicting a 0.2 per cent growth for the bloc and urged more work to reform the economies of the eurozone.
Greece is likely to hold a snap election in May. Kathirmerini says officials from the two main political parties have suggested May 6 as the likely date for polling to elect a new government to implement the latest round of austerity cuts. The EU and IMF have warned Greece that whoever wins the election must maintain economic reforms for Athens to continue receiving its latest €130 billion bailout
Meanwhile, the Irish Enquirer says that the Irish referendum on the budgetary discipline pact would be held on Thursday, May 31. Deputy Prime Minister Eamon Gilmore has said it was important to ratify the treaty to bring stability to the euro and the eurozone. According to Reuters, early opinion polls have given supporters of the fiscal compact a clear lead.
MSNBC reports that Pope Benedict has met President Raul Castro on the second day of his visit to Cuba. No details have been released of the hour-long, closed-door meeting but brief video feeds showed Castro greeting the pope at the Palace of the Revolution, and later seeing him off. After arriving in Havana, the pope prayed before the statue of the Virgin of Charity of El Cobre, the country's patron saint, and told a crowd he prayed for a Cuba "advancing along the ways of renewal and hope". However, Cuban officials have insisted that political reform was not on the agenda.
According to the BBC, western powers have reacted sceptically to Syria's acceptance of the peace plan put forward by UN envoy Kofi Annan. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said President Bashar al-Assad would be judged by events and called on him to allow in humanitarian aid and start preparing for a democratic transition. Other Western powers have made similar comments. Agence France-Presse has reported opposition factions meeting in Istanbul have called on Syria to withdraw its tanks to show it is serious about accepting Annan's proposals. Earlier the UN said more than 9,000 people have now died since the Syria uprising started a year ago.
Pravda says Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has harshly criticised Mitt Romney, the top Republican contender in the US presidential race, for saying Russia was America’s “No. 1 geopolitical foe”. Romney made the comment while attacking President Barack Obama, who got caught on tape on Monday telling Medvedev that he would have more room to negotiate on missile defence if he was re-elected in November. At a briefing in Seoul, where Medvedev and Obama were attending a nuclear security summit, the Russian leader said Romney’s remarks “smacked of Hollywood” and sounded as if they came from the 1970s. He advised Romney to “use his head”.
Haaretz announces that Shaul Mofaz has won the Kadima party leadership primaries in Israel, garnishing 61.7 per cent of the vote against Tzipi Livni’s 37.23 percent. Mofaz appealed to Israelis to have faith in what he called “Kadima's new journey” and expressed his conviction that his party would pose a significant challenge to Prime Minister Netanyahu's administration in Israel's general elections.
ABC quotes sources in Libya saying more than 30 people have been killed and over 120 injured in two days of clashes between rival militias in a southern Libyan oasis. The clashes in Sabha come as the ruling National Transitional Council struggles to assert its authority across the country. The death toll only includes victims from tribal groups who have been fighting armed members of the Toubou tribe in the desert city 750 kilometres south of the capital. One tribal chief, Issa Abdel Majid Mansur, says 40 members of his Toubou tribe have been killed, and accuses Libyan authorities of a campaign of ethnic cleansing against his people.
Jakarta Post reports that thousands of Indonesians protesting at plans to push up fuel prices by more than 30 per cent have clashed with riot police. Rallies were held under tight security in big cities all over the country as parliament debated the need for a rise. Some MPs said the government had no choice but to cut budget-busting fuel subsidies, which have for years enabled motorists to fill up for roughly €1.45 per gallon..
California Globe says a puppy named after one of the world’s biggest pop stars could set the world record for the tiniest dog. Animal rescuers in northern California said the female Dachshund mix, named Beyonce, was so small at birth that she could fit into a spoon. At two weeks, she is about the size of a business card. The Grace Foundation said Beyonce was born without a heartbeat but vets managed to revive her through chest compressions and mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. The foundation says she will be ready for adoption in about two weeks. It has submitted an application to Guinness World Records for the world’s smallest dog.