The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press:
The Times says that the eco-system at Dwejra was ‘eliminated’ by the dumping of sand. It also says that the government may be forced to pay an extra €320,000 to bus owners.
The Malta Independent quotes the Ombudsman saying that the hospital authorities showed a wrong, uncaring and insensitive attitude after a baby’s death.
MaltaToday discusses why Brussels turned down a Maltese government request to invest €100m in Air Malta. It also says that MP Jesmond Mugliett is challenging the government on confidentiality clauses in public contracts.
In-Nazzjon says that the Auditor-General told the PAC yesterday that he found no evidence of corruption in the power station extension contract.
l-orizzont says the Ombudsman found a series of coincidences in the power station contract, which he described as ‘smoke of corruption’
The overseas press
The Financial Times reports the European Union announcing it was in talks with the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank about taking on growing problems in Ireland's banking sector. EU economy commissioner Olli Rehn said ahead of a meeting with eurozone finance ministers in Brussels that Ireland's banking crisis was "the most pressing problem" facing the monetary union.
Börzen Zeitung quotes Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, who headed Tuesday's talks by the panel of financial ministers known as the Eurogroup, vowing to protect the 16-nation euro currency. Juncker urged that the Irish government to decide on financial aid, with inevitable strings attached, within days. However, he stressed that no aid could be given if Ireland did not request it.
Meanwhile, The Irish Times says Ireland moved to reassure Europe that the country was not in crisis and that no multi-billion euro bail-out is necessary. Prime Minister Brian Cowen told Parliament the debts were “fully-funded” until mid-2011 and that domestic measures to stabilise public finances were working.
Tribune de Geneve reports the International Labour Organisation has warned countries against cutting social security to reduce public spending. The ILO says social security encourages stability.
The Royal engagement dominates the front pages of theBritish nationals. The Daily Express carries a large picture of Princess Diana's engagement ring which Prince William has given to his fiancée. The Daily Star quotes the prince saying that he gave Kate his mother’s ring because he wanted her to be with them at such a happy time. The Times calls the couple “The new romantics”. The wedding is to take place in London and the couple will then live in north Wales, where the prince, who is second in line to the throne, is serving with the RAF.
The Egyptian Gazette says Muslims in southern Egypt have burned down at least 10 houses belonging to Christians. No one was injured in the attack, the latest flare-up between Egypt's majority Muslims and Christians, who make up some 10 per cent of the population. The cause is believed to be rumours of a relationship between a Coptic Christian man and a Muslim woman.
Meanwhile, Kathemerini reports dozens of far-right activists and local residents threw eggs and taunted hundreds of Muslim immigrants as they gathered to pray in a central square for Eid al-Adha surrounded by a protective cordon of riot police. The Muslim community in Greece is estimated at about one million, in a country where most people are Greek Orthodox Christians.
The Washington Times says US Vice-President Joseph Biden has warned the US that failure to ratify a new nuclear arms control treaty with Russia would endanger America’s national security. He was reacting to comments by John Kyl, a Republican senator who said he did not believe the landmark arms treaty with Russia could be ratified before the end of the year. Quick ratification has been a major foreign policy objective of President Barack Obama.
USA Today says a US paratrooper who fought in Afghanistan has become the first living soldier since the Vietnam War to be awarded the medal of honour, America's highest military decoration. Salvatore Junta braved enemy fire to rescue two comrades taken prison by Taliban fighters.
Bangkok Post reports that the police in Thailand have found the remains of more than 300 human foetuses hidden in a Buddhist temple. The police say they suspect the foetuses came from illegal abortion clinics. Abortion is illegal in Thailand, except when the pregnancy affects the mother's health or is the result of rape.
East African Standard says UNESCO has added the French cuisine, Spanish flamenco and the Peking opera to its cultural heritage list. The 24-member committee, meeting in Nairobi to weigh 47 nominations from 29 countries, honoured gastronomy for the first time. The list was started in 2003 as a parallel to the UNESCO monuments list begun in 1972. It had designated 178 customs before the current round, most of them folk traditions such as dances or ceremonies.