The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press.
The Times says the political leaders were cheered and booed by students at the University. It also reports that the Pope was given a standing ovation at the end of his last public Mass. It also says that only a Cabinet decision could force the return of cash in the oil procurement scandal.
The Malta Independent says the university students grilled the political leaders in a lively debate.
In-Nazzjon quotes the prime minister saying a PN government would create more jobs for the young.
l-orizzont attacks PN General Secretary Paul Borg Olivier over his attitude towards Vince Farrugia and the granting of tenders for cleaning services at Sliema council.
The overseas press
Avvenire reports Pope Benedict XVI has celebrated his last public Mass ahead of his February 28 retirement. Beginning Lent solemnities, he told worshippers crowded into St. Peter's Basilica, including dozens of Cardinals, to end divisions and what he termed "religious hypocrisy". Near the service's close, he was given thunderous applause, and, in an unusual gesture, bishops took off their mitres in a sign of respect. A few of them wept.
Ansa says Rome is preparing a “command centre” to ensure that all offices, departments and infrastructure run smoothly from the time the pope steps down at the end of the month to when his successor is elected. A conclave of cardinals to elect the next pope is expected to take place March 15. According to Mayor Gianni Alemanno, special attention would be paid to traffic and transportation, especially around the Vatican.
EU Times reports that the European Commission has announced an EU-wide plan to carry out DNA tests on beef products, in order to contain the food scandal in which horsemeat was sold as beef. After a ministerial meeting in Brussels to discuss the ongoing scandal, EU Health Commissioner Tonio Borg told reporters that the tests would be on DNA in meat products in all member states. The scandal was sparked after horsemeat was found in burgers in Ireland last month following routine testing. Millions of burgers and frozen meals have been recalled across Europe in the aftermath. EU agriculture ministers must agree to the proposal first.
Sole 24 Ore quotes outgoing Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti saying that if elected, he would take further measures against white-collar crime. Speaking to an election forum, Monti said that his government's earlier anti-corruption measures were good and necessary. But if elected this month, he said, he would implement "other measures especially to combat money laundering," and other related crimes.
Reuters quotes Egyptian and Palestinian officials saying Egyptian forces have flooded smuggling tunnels under the border with the Palestinian-ruled Gaza Strip in a campaign to shut them down. The network of tunnels is a vital lifeline for Gaza, bringing in an estimated 30 percent of all goods that reach the enclave and circumventing a blockade imposed by Israel for more than seven years. Dozens of tunnels had been destroyed since last August following the killing of 16 Egyptian soldiers in a militant attack near the Gaza fence.
L’Echo says the European Union and United States have agreed to pursue talks to create a trans-Atlantic free trade deal. European Commission head Jose Manuel Barroso said a free trade alliance would be a global "game-changer". Barroso confirmed the EU would push to launch talks with the United States a day after US President Barack Obama announced his support for a free trade agreement.
According to Fuji TV, the Japanese economy shrank in the last quarter of 2012 – the third quarter of contraction as the nation's limp economy stayed in recession. Tokyo said growth contracted 0.1 per cent in the October-December quarter from the previous three months, but the world's third-largest economy grew 1.9 percent in 2012 from the previous year, when Japan was hammered by the quake-tsunami disaster.
France 24 reports French President François Hollande arrives in India today on his first trip to Asia since entering office last year. The two-day visit woud be dominated by trade issues including a $12-billion contract for Rafale fighter jets, dubbed “the deal of the century” in France. It would also include nuclear energy agreements and potential tie-ups for new metro lines.
Haaretz says Israel’s ministry of justice has admitted for the first time that an Australian-Israeli citizen was jailed under a false name. The prisoner died in 2010 and an investigation concluded six weeks ago that he had committed suicide. However, a judge has asked the state to check for possible aspects of negligence. ABC News reports that Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Bob Carr confirmed the Federal Government knew of the imprisonment of Australian man Ben Zygier as early as February 2010.
Metro reports that 31 alleged victims of sexual abuse by late British television star Jimmy Savile have sued the BBC in the wake of the scandal which threw the British broadcaster into turmoil. A police report alleged last month that Savile sexually assaulted hundreds of people, mainly children, at BBC premises and hospitals over six decades of abuse. Alan Collins, a lawyer representing the group of alleged victims, said the number of claimants is expected to grow.
Al Ahram says protesters have taken to the streets of Cairo and in capitals around the world demanding an end to endemic sexual aggression in Egypt that is taking on an increasingly political dimension. The rally was the latest in a series of actions to protest against a “culture of impunity” and follows harrowing reports of multiple sexual attacks, including one particularly savage rape, in and around Tahrir Square on the January 25 second anniversary of the Egyptian revolution. The demonstrators were spurred on by comments on Monday by Egyptian lawmakers, which suggested that women were to blame for sexual attacks against them simply for being on the streets at night.