Press digest

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

The Times of Malta says the International Monetary Fund has urged cuts over the 'optimistic' tax target.

The Malta Independent reports how Joseph Muscat yesterday denied that the ministerial code of ethics is being breached.

In-Nazzjon also reports how the IMF warned the government about the deficit while praising economic performance between 2008 and 2012.

l-orizzont reports that the authorities are investigating a case of racism after an African man was dragged off a bus and insulted by inspectors. The case took place last week on the St Julian's route. It also says the health minister spent €15,000 on 'propaganda' before the general election.

The overseas press

The recession across the eurozone extended into its sixth quarter – longer than the slump that hit the region during the financial crisis of 2008-9. Börzen Zeitung reports that Eurostat, the EU’s statistics office, said that nine of the 17 eurozone countries are in recession, with France a notable addition to the list. There was also bad news for the wider 27-country EU, which is also now officially in recession.  A recession is officially defined as two straight quarters of negative growth.

Sky News says 130 British MPs have backed an amendment to the Queen's Speech, expressing their regret at the Government's decision not to include an EU referendum bill in its new legislative programme. The amendment was signed by 92 MPs, mostly Conservative Eurosceptics. However, when it came to the vote, it was defeated by 277 votes to 130.

The Wall Street Journal reports that an angry President Barack Obama has sacked the acting head of the US Internal Revenue Service over a scandal sparked when officials unfairly targeted conservative groups. Obama said Treasury Secretary Jack Lew had asked for and received the resignation of tax agency chief Steven Miller and promised a new system of checks and safeguards to make sure the episode was not repeated.

For the first time, scientists have created human embryos that are genetic copies of living people and used them to make stem cells – a feat that paves the way for treating a range of diseases with personalised body tissues but also ignites fears of human cloning. If replicated in other labs, the methods detailed in the journal Cell would allow researchers to fashion human embryonic stem cells that are custom-made for patients with Alzheimer's disease, diabetes and other health problems.

The secret to living longer is having a better immune system, suggests new research published in the journal Immunity & Ageing. A study conducted by Professor Katsuiku Kirokawa and his colleagues of the Tokyo Medical and Dental University revealed women tend to live longer than men, at least partly because their immune systems are able to fight off infections for a longer period of time. The Japanese scientists found that as a body's defences diminish over time, there is an elevated risk of conditions that can shorten life-spans.

The American accused of abducting and raping three women at his home for 10 years is to plead not guilty to all charges against him, his lawyers say. Craig Weintraub and Jay Schlachet told Fox News that Ariel Castro has been portrayed as a “monster” in the media, and after meeting with him they do not see him that way. Mr Weintraub says it was unfair and offensive that “the media and the community want to demonise this man before they know the whole story”. He also said Castro “loves dearly” the child he fathered with kidnap victim Amanda Berry.

Ansa reports that two captive doves have celebrated their freedom with a soaring flight over St Peter’s Square thanks to Pope Francis. As the Pontiff toured the square in his open-topped popemobile at his weekly public audience, someone in the crowd thrust a white bird cage with two doves inside at him. Looking puzzled, his security detail took the cage and handed it to Francis. Without hesitation, the pope opened the cage door, thrust a hand inside, extracted one dove and sent it to fly over the vast square. Francis struggled to remove the other bird, whose feathers got caught in the cage bars. It sat for a while on his hand, before it too flew off.

According to L’Arena, romance in the city of lovers Romeo and Juliette may soon get a bit more expensive. The City of Verona is considering charging visitors two euros each to enter the courtyard, where visitors go to see Juliet's balcony and imagine Romeo standing beneath. City officials want to create a special suite on the top floor of the building where Juliet reportedly lived, to be leased to rich honeymooners at a rate of as much as €5,000 a night.

Huffington Post reports a video of a Czech woman has gone viral after appearing to drink a pint of beer through her ear. A video of the incredible scenes was uploaded on the Czech Beer Festival's Facebook page and has now been viewed more than 250,000 times. The clip sees the woman put one end of a straw in her pint of beer and the other end in her ear before apparently sucking up some of the drink. However, a number of critics have slammed the video as being fake.

Times of India reports that an Air India captain was accidentally locked out of his cockpit after going to the toilet, forcing his co-pilot to make an emergency landing. The airline said the all efforts to open it, even from inside, failed and the co-pilot landed the plane at the nearest airport. The door was fixed by ground maintenance staff and the plane resumed its flight from New Delhi to the Bangalore. The airline said the incident posed no danger to the passengers.