Press digest

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

The Times says the Police Board is investigating why mistakes were made in charge sheets, leading to acquittals in court.

The Malta Independent leads with yesterday’s political speeches. It quotes Joseph Muscat saying the PL will give the people what they deserve, while the prime minister is quoted as saying that ethics in political life is fundamental.

In-Nazzjon quotes the prime minister saying the best gift for mothers is to see their children succeed. It also says that Joseph Muscat has not replied to questions on his visit to Libya.

l-orizzont highlights yesterday’s tragedy in Xewkija where a man died after being trapped in machinery. It also reports Joseph Muscat quoting an IMF report saying power tariffs are high because of poor Enemalta management.

The overseas press:

Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives have suffered heavy losses in an election in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany's most populous state. Bonn’s General Anzeiger reports that support for the Christian Democrats dropped from 35 per cent to 26 per cent, with the Social Democrats set to return to power with the Greens. Analysts said it was the Christian Democrats' worst result in the state as many voters rejected Merkel's tough line on fiscal discipline as a cure for state debt.  Voters in Greece, France and Italy also recently rejected austerity policies.

Greek political party leaders will continue meeting today after emergency cabinet talks yesterday provided no breakthrough in sight to form a coalition government – raising the prospect of new elections that could scupper reforms and force the country out of the eurozone. Kathimerini reports President Carolos Papoulias initially met for 90 minutes with the heads of the three parties that topped last Sunday's inconclusive election results before holding discussions with smaller parties. But after the full day of last-ditch meetings, the small Democratic Left party, viewed as the most likely candidate for a coalition government with New Democracy and Pasok, said no government had emerged. If a cabinet cannot be formed by Thursday, when parliament convenes, new elections would have to be called in June.

The BBC reports that Alexis Tsipras, the leader of far-left party Syriza, has said he would not attend today’s coalition talks, plunging Greece into further political disarray. Syriza, which came second, insists any new government must cancel austerity measures agreed in return for EU-IMF loans worth €130 billion.

The majority of Greeks say they are "alarmed" by the fragmentation of parliament following last week’s election. A Kappa Research poll for the weekly newspaper To Vima revealed that 42.8per cent of respondents were alarmed or afraid by the outcome of the election, that 72 per cent believed that the parties should cooperate “at all costs”, while 78 per cent want a new government to do everything to keep the country in the euro.

El Pais says more than a thousand demonstrators returned to Madrid’s central square on Sunday to demand the release of 18 people who were arrested during an "Indignant" movement protest. Spanish police had made the arrests early on Sunday as they cleared the square after issuing an official warning to disperse late on Saturday. The square has become a focal point for Madrid's Indignant demonstrators, and many had spent the night there as part of nationwide rallies to mark a year since the inception of the movement that helped inspire similar protests worldwide.

In the latest in a string of murders in Mexico linked to feuding drug cartels El Universal reports that 49 mutilated bodies were found in Mexico, wrapped in black plastic bin bags on the Monterrey-Reynosa road in the state of Nuevo Leon. The police said the bodies had been decapitated and had their hands cut off, making them difficult to identify. They blamed the murders on the conflict between the rival Los Zetas and the Sinaloa drugs cartels. Last Wednesday, 18 headless bodies were found in two vehicles near Guadalajara.

According to Trud, masked gunmen tried to kidnap Bulgarian ambassador to Yemen, Boris Borisov, but failed thanks to his fast reaction. Bulgarian Foreign Minister Nikolay Mladenov said he would raise the question of the kidnapping attempt with his colleagues at their meeting in Brussels today. EU High Representative Catherine Ashton condemned the attempt and called on the Yemeni authorities “to take the necessary measures to ensure the protection of foreign nationals and diplomats and do the utmost to investigate the accident”.

Aftenposten reports a Danish think-tank has called for a shift in global priorities as leading economists ranked how to best and most cost-effectively invest to solve many of the world's seemingly insurmountable problems. The Copenhagen Consensus Centre said solving the problems of diarrhoea; worms and malnutrition would do more for the world's poor than other more grandiose interventions. It proposed investing heavily in agricultural research and development to make food production more efficient.

British national newspapers splash on the dramatic finale to the Premiership with Manchester City dramatically clinching the title to be crowned champions. The Sun days they would celebrate their victory by parading their trophy on an open-top bus throughout the centre of Manchester later today. On Sunday, Roberto Mancini’s team took their first title in 44 years by beating QPR as the game went into injury time. The stunning victory was enough to see off the challenge of defending champions Manchester United, which had been seconds away from celebrating a 20th league crown after a 1-0 victory at Sunderland.