The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press:
The Times reports that Brussels had approved a loan of €52 million to Air Malta. It also reports on the passing away of Gozo Bishop emeritus Nikol Cauchi.
The Malta Independent says the pro-divorce lobby group is to seek funds for its campaign.
l-orizzont also reports how the EU has approved a temporary loan to Air Malta.
In-Nazzjon reports how Austin Gatt will remain at the forefront to ensure that the PN wins the next general election.
The overseas press
The Financial Times predicts that Eurozone finance ministers meeting in Brussels would press Ireland and Portugal to spell out their detailed plans to handle their national debt amid signs that the two countries were edging towards an international bail-out. The meeting comes amid signs of increasing fractures within the monetary union over the European Central Bank’s efforts to pressure Ireland into taking aid.
Deutsche Welle says German Chancellor Angela Merkel has renewed calls for a pan-European crisis mechanism that would help prevent future debt crises and protect the euro. She told delegates at the Christian Democrats' party convention, where she was re-elected as head of her party, that a new culture of stability was needed in Europe. She even went so far as to criticize her predecessor, Social Democrat Gerhard Schroeder, for giving his consent for Greece to join the eurozone, calling it "irresponsible".
Meanwhile, Kathemerini reports that Greece learned yesterday that its massive budget deficit was even bigger than expected. EU figures showed that Greece's deficit in 2009 rose to 15.4 percent of GDP, a big jump from the initial estimate of 13.6 percent. Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou promptly hit back, insisting that measures proposed by Germany to avoid future crises could force some economies into bankruptcy. Germany is also reluctant to extend the eurozone's bailout package beyond 2013.
The BBC reports that the British government has reached a big financial settlement with about a dozen former terrorism detainees. It is thought the men are being paid several million dollars in compensations. Some of the detainees were held at the Guantanamo Bay detention centre and claimed the British security services were complicity in their torture before they reached the base in Cuba.
Global News says 49 people have been killed and some 90 others were injured when a fire ripped through a high-rise apartment building in Shanghai. The 28-storey building was under renovation when the blaze broke out. Officials confirmed more than 100 people had been rescued.
Meanwhile, The Times of India says 51 people have been killed and 76 injured when a four-storey building collapsed in a suburb of Dehli. Scores of people are still feared to be under the debris. The authorities said the foundation of the old building could have weakened due to the heavy rains in monsoon when water of the Yamuna River flooded the area. Residents claimed that construction of an extra floor was going on when the incident took place.
Le Matin reports at least two people have been killed during clashes between protesters and UN troops in Haiti, where a cholera epidemic has claimed over 900 lives in about three weeks. Protesters, who hold Nepalese UN peacekeepers responsible for the cholera outbreak, threw stones and threatened to set fire to a base in the country's second-largest city of Cap Haitien. The UN disputes the claims against the Nepalese mission, but the suspicion persists.
Il Tempo reports that Italian President Giorgio Napolitano will have talks later today with House Speaker Gianfranco Fini and his Senate counterpart Renato Schifani over the government crisis excerbated by the resignation yesterday of four members loyal to Fini, who has been insisting Premier Silvio Berlusconi resign. Italy has been edging closer to a an early election since Fini broke from Berlusconi in July and deprived him of a safe majority in the House. All parties have pledged not to trigger a crisis until the 2011 budget is passed next month.
Il Mattino says police have seized a record ten tonnes of cocaine, valued at 250 million euros, in the port of Gioia Tauro in the southern region of Calabria. The drugs were found inside a container which had arrived from Brazil that was supposed to contain farm equipment.
The New York Post says a made-up word most famously used by US politician Sarah Palin has been named the Oxford American Dictionary's Word of the Year for 2010. During a TV appearance in July Ms Palin demanded that US President Barack Obama "refudiate" charges that the country's Tea Party movement is racist – the word is believed to be a mixture of "refute" and "repudiate". The paper said "refudiate" triumphed over other words including "bankster", a name for an evil banker, and "Gleek", a name for a fan of the TV show Glee.
Gulf News reports a Filipina maid and her Bangladeshi lover would receive 100 lashes and be deported for having sex out of wedlock in the United Arab Emirates. The Sharjah Sharia Court ordered the Filipina to be lashed 100 times and deported for "unlawful sex". The Bangladeshi would be lashed for adultery and jailed for a year for entering the house belonging to the Filipina's sponsor without permission before being deported. The Filipina's sponsor saw her lover leaving the house and reported it to police, Gulf News said, adding the two admitted to having sex after their arrest.