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

The Times reports that the GWU is invoking the Labour win to boost its membership.

The Malta Independent says the 2013 Budget will be presented again tonight.

In-Nazzjon says there was a chaotic situation at the Hospital Emergency Department, two days after the minister reported progress.

l-orizzont leads with the story of a young woman who fractured her spine when she was hit by a coach, but has remained positive. It also says the PN leadership campaign is becoming bitter, particularly that between Simon Busuttil and Mario de Marco.

The overseas press

As the European Commission warned Portugal to respect the aims laid down in an aid plan for the country after its constitutional court rejected a number of austerity provisions in this year's budget, Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho announced severe cuts in public spending. Radio Renascenca quotes Coelho saying in an address to the nation, measures would be taken to “contain public spending in the areas of social security, health and education”. On Friday the court ruled that several measures in the budget were unlawful, including the scrapping of a 14th month of salary for civil servants and retirees, as well as cuts to unemployment and sickness benefits. The government condemned the decision, which will see it lose out on about €1.2 billion in savings, saying it would make it difficult to achieve the budget cuts needed to meet the terms of a €78-million bailout.

The Financial Times says IMF managing director Christine Lagarde has welcomed the huge monetary stimulus plan unveiled by Japan and said it will help to boost global growth at a time when the outlook is already starting to improve. In a dramatic shift from previous policy, the Bank of Japan last week announced it aimed to double its monetary base over two years through the aggressive purchase of long-term bonds. She was speaking at the Bo’ao business forum in southern China on Sunday. In contrast, some Chinese economists and business leaders have criticised the move by the BoJ, saying it would hurt export competitiveness in other countries and could trigger large capital inflows to China and push up inflation.

In an apparent rebuke to North Korea, Chinese President Xi Jinping said no country “should be allowed to throw a region and even the whole world into chaos for selfish gain”. Xinhua quotes Xi addressing a forum on the southern island of Hainan, saying stability in Asia “faces new challenges, as hot spot issues keep emerging and both traditional and non-traditional security threats exist”. Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard, addressing the same forum, said avoiding conflict on the peninsula was vital. Switzerland’s foreign ministry offered to mediate, saying it was “always willing to help find a solution, if this is the wish of the parties.

Both the incumbent and the opposition candidate claimed victory in Montenegro's presidential election on Sunday, fueling political tensions in the small Balkan country. Vijesti quotes President Filip Vujanovic saying that based on his camp's own, full count of the votes, he had won 51.3 per cent of ballots, while opponent Miodrag Lekic won 48.7 per cent. Lekic's camp, however, said it had counted 97 percent of the ballots and that their candidate had garnered 50.5 per cent of the votes, compared to 49.5 for Vujanovic. The opposition said it expected the result to remain the same until the end of the counting process.

One person has been killed and some 80 others were injured in clashes outside Cairo's main cathedral following the funerals of four Coptic Christians killed in religious violence on Thursday. Al Ahram says police fired tear gas to break up the violence. Witnesses told local TV stations that the violence started when a mob attacked mourners as they exited the cathedral, pelting them with stones and petrol bombs. The Christians responded by throwing stones back.

Il Tempo reports Pope Francis was formally installed as bishop of Rome and he urged lapsed Catholics not to be afraid to return to God. Francis celebrated a Mass before thousands of people in the Rome Basilica of St John in Lateran to formally take possession of the cathedral in his capacity as bishop of the Italian capital, his other major role along with the papacy. Francis, the former archbishop of Buenos Aires, has indicated that he intends to embrace his role as Rome's bishop as well as leader of the 1.2-billion-member Catholic Church. He is expected to visit many of Rome's parishes, a practice he maintained in Buenos Aires.

Times of India says the police have arrested nine people, including builders, police officers and municipality officials on suspicion of colluding to illegally construct a residential building that collapsed, killing 74 people. The police will formally charge the nine with culpable homicide and causing death by negligence. If convicted, they can be sentenced to up to life in prison.

Argentina’s official news agency Telam reports damage from last week's record rains and flooding in Argentina exceeded 2.6 billion pesos (€3.85 billion) and more than 350,000 people suffered losses in property. A statement said 59 people died in two days of torrential rains which led to historic flooding.

Globovision says hundreds of thousands of Venezuelan opposition supporters rallied in Caracas on Sunday, answering a call by their candidate Henrique Capriles and showing strength a week before the presidential election. Capriles faces acting President Nicolas Maduro, who has vowed to continue the hard-line socialism of his late boss, Hugo Chavez, if he wins the April 14 election. Maduro held a huge rally on Sunday in rural Apure state, on the Colombian border.

 

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