The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press:
The Times quotes the Central Bank forecasting a 1.5 per cent economic growth with house prices rising for the first time in two years. In a story from court, it says that a Zebbug man has been sent to jail for a theft of €400,000
in-Nazzjon also carries the court story on its front page. It says that an MUT-government agreement is based on the reform in education.
The Malta Independent also leads with the MUT agreement. A photo shows the police removing a number of abandoned cars from the Marsa race course. It says that allegations made by Swedish students that immigrant children were mistreated proved to be untrue.
l-Orizzont says that Mater Dei is not free and that the MUMN is to publish a list of treatments given against payment.
The overseas press
Manila Times quotes Philippines President Benigno Aquino saying a "thorough investigation" would be held into how eight Hong Kong tourists were killed while they were being held hostage on a bus in Manila. The day-long siege ended when police marksmen shot and killed the gunman, but not before the disgruntled former policeman had killed eight of the 15 passengers. Survivors and experts have criticised the police for being indecisive and slow in their handling of the crisis.
Asia Observer says officials from Pakistan have held talks with the International Monetary Fund to discuss its 8.7 billion euro loan package in the wake of the devastating floods. This could include lowering some fiscal targets or allowing Pakistan to apply for emergency natural disaster funding. Earlier, President Asif Ali Zardari said it might take more than three years for Pakistan to recover from the disaster and cost up to 12 billion euros.
Sydney’s Daily Telegraph reports that Julia Gillard's chances of forming the new Australian government looked more likely this morning as meetings continued in Canberra. With the expected support of two New South Wales independents and that of the lone Greens member from Melbourne, Ms Gillard would be able to form government with the slimmest of margins and claim the critical 76 seats needed to govern.
Associated Press reports that some 200 women and four young boys have been raped by rebels in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), during a four-day seizure of a town. A US aid worker and a Congolese doctor told the news agency the attacks occurred within miles of a UN peacekeepers' base. The UN estimated at least 5,400 women in the DRC were believed to have been raped in 2009 alone.
El Universal says the 33 Chilean miners, trapped 700 metres inside the earth and facing perhaps four months before rescue, have began getting food, water and oxygen from above as rescue teams worked to gauge their state of mind and brace them for the long wait ahead. Through a newly-installed communications system, each of the men spoke and reported feeling hungry but well, except for one with a stomach problem. They requested toothbrushes. The teperature of the shelter, which was big enough for all 33 men, was. between 32 and 34 degrees Celsius.
El Mundo says two Spanish aid workers held by al Qaeda's North African wing were back Barcelona after being freed on yesterday, ending a kidnapping that lasted nearly nine months. The two were met by family, friends, and colleagues, including Alicia Gamez, who was kidnapped with them and released in March. The men were seized while they were traveling through Mauritania with a relief aid convoy last November.
Al Ahram reports Egypt's general prosecutor has ordered the arrest of the deputy minister of culture and four security officials, pending further investigations into a stolen Van Gogh painting. Mohsen Abd El-Shaalan and the members of the internal security forces assigned to the Mahmoud Khalil Museum in Cairo could face charges of "negligence and failing to carry out their employment duties". Saturday's theft of the painting "Poppy Flowers" took place in broad daylight after it was cut out of its frame.
Metro says pilgrims attending the large public events during Pope Benedict's visit to Britain next month have been issued a long list of do's and don'ts including a ban on musical instruments and steel cutlery. The list, on the official papal visit website, encouraged worshippers to take sunblock, flags and folding chairs for the events in Glasgow, London and Birmingham but said alcohol, gazebos and lit candles should be left at home because they "could pose a threat". The four-day trip, from September 16 to 19, will be the first-ever official papal visit to Britain.
China Daily said a massive traffic jam in China, which has slowed vehicles to a crawl for nine days, was easing. Vehicles, mostly lorries bound for Beijing, were in a queue for about 100km because of heavy traffic, road works and breakdowns. There has been a boom in road building in China in recent years but vehicle use has soared at the same time.
Los Angeles Times announces Tiger Woods and his Swedish wife Elin Nordegren have divorced, nne months after explosive revelations that the world’s No. 1 golfer had repeatedly cheated on his wife. The couple issued a statement saying the divorce judgement provided for shared parenting of their two young children and asking for privacy for the family. It made no mention of any monetary settlement.
China’s Hunan TV reports that a 10-month-old boy has been named the "Michelin baby" after ballooning to the weight of a six-year-old. When he was born, Xiao Lei weighed in at around 3.5kg, only just above the average weight of a newborn baby. But a fierce appetite has seen him expand to 20kg – double the size of most babies of his age. His mother has said he was fed only her breast milk. If the baby did not lose weight, it would cause future problems for his heart and blood pressure.