The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press.
The Times reports that up to a million people are expected for the Pope’s inaugural Mass. It also reports that a teenage party is planned despite an organiser’s conviction of defiling minors.
The Malta Independent says Pope Francis has chosen a Gozitan priest as his secretary.
In-Nazzjon says Prime Minister Muscat has admitted that he found a sound economy.
l-orizzont says the number of homeless people in Malta is increasing. according to the administrator of the YMCA.
The overseas press
Deutsche Welle reports that European heavyweights Angela Merkel, François Hollande and José Manuel Barosso have pledged to work together to ensure stability and growth in the eurozone and expressed optimism on the future of the currency bloc. The three spoke on Monday in Berlin ahead of a meeting with business representatives. Barroso said confidence was gradually returning to Europe, but the crisis was not yet over. The meeting came as Eurostat announced the 17-member eurozone posted a trade deficit of €3.9 billion in January. In December, the single currency bloc still had a surplus of €10.8 billion.
Adnkronos reports world and religious leaders are among one million people expected to attend the inauguration of Pope Francis in St Peter's Square. Among them are some 130 heads of state and government and representatives of 33 Christian faiths, apart from Jewish, Moslem and Buddhist delegations. The two-hour ceremony starts at 9.30am after the pope prays on the tomb of St Peter. Large crowds are also expected in Buenos Aires in the Pope's native Argentina, where big screens have been erected outside the city's main cathedral.
Ansa quotes sources saying Pope Francis has chosen Gozitan priest Monsignor Alfred Xuereb as his personal secretary. Mgr Xuereb was Benedict XVI's second secretary and worked closely with Archbishop Georg Gaenswein, who was the former pope's personal secretary until his resignation on February 28.
Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, the first head of state to be received by Pope Francis, has said she had asked him to intervene in the dispute between her country and Britain over the Falkland Islands. Il Tempo quotes Fernandez telling reporters after a 20-minute private meeting and lunch with Francis that she asked for his intervention “to avoid problems that could emerge from the militarisation of Great Britain in the south Atlantic”. During their meeting, Fernandez presented Francis with a mate gourd and straw for drinking traditional Argentine tea, while she said Francis had given her a white rose. The two also kissed during their meeting, prompting Fernandez to remark afterwards: “Never in my life has a pope kissed me!'”
The Irish Examiner reports eurozone finance ministers have backed-down on plans to tax Cypriot bank deposits of under €100,000. In a conference call on Tuesday evening, they discussed the proposed levy of just under 7 per cent on accounts up to €100,000. Eurozone sources are now suggesting that tax may be scrapped altogether. The plan to seize up to 10 percent of savings accounts in Cyprus to help pay for a €15.8 billion financial bailout was met with fury on Monday, and the government shut down banks until later this week. Although the euro and stock prices of European banks fell, global financial markets largely remained calm.
Meanwhile, Moscow Times says President Putin considers the introduction of the levy on bank deposits in Cyprus to be an “unjust, unprofessional and dangerous decision”. Russian depositors in Cyprus are expected to lose an estimated €2 billion. Sigma TV reported that Russian giant Gazprom on Sunday made an offer to buy one or two Cypriot banks and strengthen the banking sector in order to avoid the humiliating loan from the troika. But Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades declined the offer, as he wants the problem to be solved within the framework of the EU.
The Palestinian Authority has urged the world to step up financial aid and press Israel to allow economic development, over fears of “political collapse” due to “Israeli fiscal strangulation”. A Palestinian Authority report seen by AFP says “the recent confiscation of Palestinian-owned revenues by Israel comes on top of an already severe fiscal crisis that was caused by a large shortfall of external support”.
The Jerusalem Post reports Israel's new government has taken office after a coalition agreement was signed last week. Speaking to the MPs, Prime Minister Netanyahu said his government was “ready for compromises in exchange for real peace” and would talk to the Palestinians “in good faith”. But, Netanyahu said, Israel faced “very great threats” from Iran's nuclear programme and the ongoing conflict in Syria, which has just entered its third year.
The Washington Times says President Obama has urged Iran to take immediate steps to lessen tensions over its nuclear programme. In a statement, he called on the Islamic Republic to move toward a long-term settlement over the issue. President Obama said that if Iran does so, it would reap the benefits of improved trade and relations with the United States and the wider world.
AFP reports North Korea has said that “nuclear blackmail” by the United States would drive more countries to follow its lead and build their own atomic weapon. The North proclaimed its “very proud and powerful” position at the latest nuclear weapons state on the first day of negotiations for a conventional weapons treaty at the UN headquarters.
Corriere della Sera says Milan's Bicocca University will set up a commission of inquiry to investigate how a human foetus ended up in a refrigerator in the university's biotechnology lab. Meanwhile one of the university's researchers said the case could be an attempt to sabotage the institutes's research into Lou Gehrig's disease, or ALS – a disease of the nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord that control voluntary muscle movement.
Motorists caught driving while using their mobile phones have blamed “ranting” ex-wives, over-zealous bosses and even childbirth for their offending behaviour. Metro says one driver also admitted failing to see a red light because he was on the phone and another denied making a call, saying he was only using the internet. English police in Surrey have released details of the excuses given by drivers as part of a campaign targeting the use of mobile phones while behind the wheel. They said a driver is four times more likely to crash if using a mobile phone while driving. They warned that texting, updating social media sites or reading emails takes the attention away from driving safely and even a momentary lapse in concentration could mean life or death for the driver or other road users.