The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press.
The Times leads with the PN decision to go before the Constitutional Court to press its request for a recount of the eighth and 13th districts.
The Malta Independent features a report which says discrimination against migrants is still widespread in Malta. It also reports that the PN has filed a Constitutional case against the electoral commission seeking a recount of the eighth and 13th districts.
In-Nazzjon says long queues formed outside several ministerial offices yesterday, with people demanding to see the ministers.
l-orizzont reports how the government is to pay for both parents to accompany sick children when they need cancer treatment abroad.
The overseas press
The official Cyprus CNA news agency reports President Nicos Anastasiades will this morning present cabinet minister with Plan B, aimed at securing an EU-IMF bailout and has demanded that a decision on the deal for the near-bankrupt eurozone member must be made today, which “is expected to be a difficult day”. Sources said the rescue plan includes some Russian assistance and a smaller bank deposit tax. Nearly a third of the total amount of deposits in Cyprus’s banks is believed to be held by Russians who are expected to lose an estimated €2 billion. US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke played down the effect of the banking crisis on the world economy.
Reuters reports President Obama faces a stony reception when he travels to the West Bank later today for talks with Palestinian leaders who accuse him of letting Israel ride rough-shod over their dream of statehood. Obama has said he would not bring any new initiatives to try to revive long-dormant peace talks and instead come to Israel and the Palestinian territories for simple consultations. Arriving in Israel on Wednesday, he affirmed Israel's sovereign right to defend itself from any threat and vowed to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons. Obama offered his personal commitment that the US would stand by Israel in any circumstances that required it to act to protect its people.
RTV Slovenija says Slovenian politicians have approved a new, left-leaning government after a previous centre-right administration was ousted over corruption allegations. The new cabinet of Prime Minister Alenka Bratusek takes over amid growing discontent with austerity measures designed to help avoid an international bailout. The cabinet includes members from multiple parties. It won support today from 52 deputies in the 90-member parliament; 35 voted against it. Ms Bratusek, 42, entered parliament only last year after a decade in local politics. She said her government aims to build “stability, trust, growth and positive effects” in the country of two million.
Adnkronos reports Pope Francis reached out to Islam and other non-Christian faiths, stating that the Catholic Church valued "the promotion of friendship and respect between men and women of different religious traditions. He was addressing representatives of non-Christian religions at the Vatican's Clementine Hall.
France 24 reports French investigators have searched the Paris home of IMF chief Christine Lagarde as part of an inquiry into her role in a €285 million arbitration deal in favour of a tycoon. Ms Lagarde was France’s finance minister when magnate Bernard Tapie won the 2008 settlement with a state-owned bank over the mishandled sale of Adidas in the 1990s. Critics said the settlement was too generous. Her lawyer said she had nothing to hide and welcomed the search as another step in proving her innocence.
According to ABC, Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard has delivered a national apology to victims of the government's forced adoption practices that were in place in Australia from the late 1950s to the 1970s. More than 800 people affected by forced adoptions gathered at the Great Hall in Canberra for the historic occasion. Ms Gillard also announced $5 million funding to improve access to specialist support, records tracing and mental health care for those affected by forced adoption. Last year the Senate released a report into Australia's forced adoption practices. It said there were as many as 150,000 adoptions between 1951 and 1975.
Mexico’s El Universal says police in Cancun have stopped an 11-year-old girl who was selling crack and marijuana. She claimed she had been abandoned by her parents and was “working” for man whom she knows by name. Local media have given prominence to the incident which has, once again, brought up the problem of children used by the drug cartels.
El Pais says the financial crisis has widened the gap between the rich and poor in Spain: the difference between income by than 30 per cent since 2006, according to the latest report by Caritas. Over the past six years, the revenue of the population with the lowest incomes has shrivelled by five per cent per year, while the increase in income of the richest households was the largest so far recorded. Caritas says this is the gap of inequality, the largest in the EU, carries the risk of “social fragmentation”.
Corriere della Sera says a Milan judge has sentenced a man accused of pedophilia to 11 years and four months in jail after he was found guilty of getting underage girls to undress and perform sexual acts through a webcam. Gianluca Mascherpa, a volleyball coach, used a false nickname on Facebook to meet and carry on '”virtual emotional” relations with young girls. Mascherpa, who also used his position as a volleyball trainer to meet other young girls, was arrested in March 2012 and, told the preliminary hearing judge he was willing to accept being “chemically castrated'”.
UEFA president Michel Platini has once again stressed his belief that the 2022 World Cup in Qatar must be held during the winter. He told Germany’s leading sports magazine Kicker that the searing heat in the Asian country would make playing football unbearable. Platini also responded to FIFA Ġresident Sepp Blatter’s comments that the decision to stage Euro 2020 across the continent would rip the “heart and soul” out of the tournament. European football’s governing body announced in December that it had taken the unprecedented step of hosting the event in several cities throughout Europe. Platini defended the decision, saying, “The name European fits better than ever, as the Euros will be held for the first time in Europe.”
Ansa reports that the Italian national football team got a nasty shock when the aircraft that was taking them to Geneva yesterday was struck by lightning shortly before landing. There were moments of panic aboard the charter flight after the passengers felt the impact and saw an intense flash of light but no one was hurt. The Azzurri travelled to Geneva for tonight’s friendly against Brazil.