The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press:
The Times leads with the judicial protest filed yesterday by the PL in a bid to prevent its eviction from the premises used as a club in Siggiewi, once the lease expires. It also reports that the police are investigating a man, nicknamed Hitler, after videos turned up on Youtube.
The Malta Independent says that a Moroccan man was jailed for eight years for raping a boy. It also says that Greenpeace is continuing its campaign against Mediterranean tuna fishing.
In-Nazzjon says that the GWU does not want to yield a seat to the For.UM group of trade unions in the MCESD. It also says the PL is trying to deny the people of Siggiewi the use of the property currently used as a PL club.
l-orizzont says flyash dumped in a quarry at Benghajsa could cause cancer, but the government is doing nothing about it. It also reports that while experts say that one PET scanner is needed for every million people, the government is spending some €700,000 on a scanner even though another has been installed in a private hospital.
The overseas press
Le Monde reports that following talks in Berlin, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have announced they would call for a bank levy and a tax on financial market transactions at the G20 meeting in Toronto later this month. Three days before a decisive European Union summit, Merkel also discussed concerns about Spain's economic stability.
Meanwhile, Expansión reveals foreign banks were refusing to lend to some of the Spanish banks, but Treasury Secretary Carlos Ocana denied it was on the brink of seeking a Greek-style European financial rescue. He acknowledged officially for the first time a liquidity freeze on some Spanish banks in the interbank market and said the government was working to restore confidence through budget cuts and reforms. Spain needs to refinance 16.2 billion euros of bonds in July.
Times of Central Asia says some 100,000 minority Uzbeks have fled the purge by Kyrgyzstan mobs and massed at the border of the two nations. The worst ethnic riots in 20 years, have killed at least 124, injured 1,500 and left cities in flames. The United States, Russia and the United Nations are working on humanitarian aid airlifts while neighbouring Uzbekistan has hastily set up refugee camps to handle the flood of hungry, frightened refugees, mostly women, children and the elderly.
The Jerusalem Post reports the Israeli cabinet has given final approval for an official investigation into the navy's attack on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla two weeks ago. The inquiry, headed by retired Israeli Supreme Court justice Yaakov Tirkel, includes two high-ranking foreign observers: Nobel Peace laureate David Trimble of Northern Ireland and Canada's former chief military prosecutor, Ken Watkin. The addition of the foreign observers is meant to boost the credibility of the Israeli-led probe.
The New York Times says more than 5,900 Afghan children were smuggled into Europe last year. UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres said in a report children are being pushed by their parents to leave with smugglers in order to earn money in Europe before sending it back to their families in Afghanistan.
The Wall Street Journal reports that two US politicians have accused BP of taking shortcuts that "increased the danger of a catastrophic well failure" in the days before the catastrophic explosion of the Deepwater Horizon rig that killed 11 workers and triggered the worst ever US oil spill. The claim was made by two top Democrats on the House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee in a letter to BP Chief Executive Tony Hayward, saying it appeared that BP repeatedly chose risky procedures in order to reduce costs and save time and made minimal efforts to contain the added risk".
The Financial Times says BP shares dropped as US senators demanded the oil giant pay out billions in compensation for the oil spill. The Guardian puts BP's bill for 'damages and clean up-costs' at around $34 billion (€28 billion). President Obama has likened the impact of the oil spill disaster on the nation's psyche to the September 11 terrorist attacks
El Tiempo says four members of Colombia's security forces have been freed after spending 12 years as hostages of the Farc guerrilla group. Defence Minister Gabriel Silva said the 300-man raid was carried out with "surgical" precision.
The Daily Express reports that a policewoman who endured lewd comments about her breasts, and taunts of "whoopsy" and "daisy" from sexist colleagues, has won £575,000 (€694,000) in damages. A tribunal heard how members of the firearms unit at Gatwick Airport, where she was the only woman officer, watched pornography on duty and used the radio system to flag up attractive passengers and air hostesses. A hearing in 2007 upheld Ms Lynford's claim that she was forced out of her job by sexual discrimination. Sussex Police Authority is considering an appeal.