The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press.
The Times of Malta says PN employees are being asked to forfeit their salaries.
The Malta Independent gives prominence to a comment by Deputy Prime Minister Louis Grech condemning the chemical attacks in Syria. It also reports how the European Court awarded a Balzan woman €160,000 after not being given compensation for a property taken over by the government 30 years ago.
In-Nazzjon says the Social Services Department has discontinued the customer care service in a number of local councils. It also quotes Simon Busuttil saying the Police Board decision has serious implications.
MaltaToday says oil industry operator Medserv has greeted the oil deal with Libya, saying it could turn Malta into a Little Aberdeen. Aberdeen is the ‘petroleum capital of Europe.
l-orizzont says the Transport Minister will today be given the first report on the bendy buses.
The overseas press
Fox News reports US Secretary of State John Kerry has warned US senators before their debate on Syria next week, they must not fail to respond to an “undeniable chemical attack” by President Assad on his own people. He said that standing aside would give the green light to other dictators to pursue weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear weapons. Kerry’s words were mirrored by US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel, who said a refusal to act in Syria would undermine the credibility of other US security commitments, including the president's pledge to prevent Iran acquiring nuclear weapons.
The Wall Street Journal says the leader of the Republicans in the US House of Representatives, John Boehner, has said he supports Obama’s call for military intervention in Syria – a significant boost to the president.
Meanwhile, in what observers see as a veiled criticism of Barack Obama's decision to seek congressional authorisation for military intervention against the Syrian regime, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the UN charter permitted the use of force only in self defence or with the agreement of the Security Council. The New York Times quotes Ban saying that if samples taken by UN inspectors proved that chemical weapons had been used in the Augost 21 attack in Damascus, this would constitute a serious violation of international law and a war crime, in which case the Security Council should unite and take action.
AFP says French President François Hollande has called on Europe to unite in response to the Syria crisis, ahead of a meeting of EU foreign ministers at the weekend. During a joint press conference with German President Joachim Gauck, who is visiting Paris, the French president added that he would not intervene alone in Syria if the US Congress voted against military action. Gauck conveyed a message from German Chancellor Angela Merkel that she assumed that an appropriate response would be agreed internationally.
Huffington Post quotes UNHCR Commissioner Antonio Guterres saying more than two million people have fled Syria – a ten-fold increase in just a year. He said Syria was “haemorrhaging women, children and men who cross borders often with little more than the clothes on their backs”.
Avvenire says that the Lower Basilica of St Francis of Assisi will remain open until Friday evening for the faithful to pray at the tomb of the saint for peace in Syria and for those who are called upon to ensure the paths of justice in the world. Pope Francis on Tuesday issued a fresh plea for peace and urged a negotiated settlement on the civil war in Syria.
Reuters reports thousands of supporters of overthrown Islamist president Mohamed Mursi took to the streets in towns and cities across Egypt on Tuesday evening to denounce Egypt's new military-backed rulers – their second show of mass support in four days. Marking two months since Egypt's first democratically-elected leader was ousted by the army after big protests, marchers turned out in cities in the Nile Delta, in Upper Egypt and on the Suez Canal, as well as the capital, Cairo.
Metro says WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has asked Swedish police to investigate what happened to a suitcase he suspects was stolen from him by intelligence agents as he travelled from Sweden to Germany in 2010. According to an affidavit that Assange’s lawyer filed along with a criminal complaint to police at Stockholm’s Arlanda Airport, the suitcase contained three laptops with WikiLeaks material, including evidence of a “war crime” allegedly committed by US troops in Afghanistan.
A man convicted of killing his brother was beheaded in Saudia Arabia's central Qasim province, the state Spa news agency reported on Tuesday. At least 63 three people have been put to death in Saudi Arabia this year and in 2012 at least 69 were executed according to Human Rights Watch. China, Iran, the United States and Saudia Arabia are the countries that execute the most people each year.
Asahi Shimbun says Tokyo has unveiled a half-billion dollar plan to stem radioactive water leaks at Fukushima, creating a wall of ice underneath the stricken plant, as the government elbowed the operator aside. Acknowledging global concerns over the “haphazard” management of the crisis by Tokyo Electric Power, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said his administration would step in with public money to get the job done.
The developers behind a skyscraper blamed for starting fires and causing damage by reflecting the sun’s rays have said they would erect a temporary scaffold screen in an attempt to stop the “phenomenon”. The Independent says angry business owners in Eastcheap say the £200 million project has blistered paintwork, caused tiles to smash and singed fabric. A motorist has also said the intense heat melted part of his Jaguar.
RIA Novosti reports a drunk man damaged 22 new vehicles trying to steal a Lada Kalina car from a dealer’s parking lot in the central Russian city of Voronezh. The overall damage from the joyride is estimated at about 3 million roubles (about €68,000).
The BBC reports nurses have been warned about wearing nail extensions and using nail polish after a poll suggested infection control was being put at risk by fashion-conscious NHS staff. An online poll of nearly 500 student nurses found lapses were commonplace with 60 per cent reporting nail extensions and polish being used. The Royal College of Nursing said the findings were “worrying”.