The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press:
The Times said the AFM was forced to issue a denial of Italian claims that a migrants’ boat was redirected to Lampedusa. It also says that herbal products are facing EU tests.
The Malta Independent carries claims by the Divorce Movement of a campaign based on fear made by those opposing divorce. It also reports how Joseph Muscat has called for an inquiry into the engagement of Pakistani nurses at Mater Dei.
In-Nazzjon gives prominence to the Prime Minister’s call for society to reflect on the life environment being left to the young.
l-orizzont says that Support Services, a company which engaged care workers, is being challenged to publish work contracts after denying that working conditions are miserable. It also reports that according to EU figures, living conditions for mothers in Malta are among the toughest in Europe.
The overseas press
British Chancellor George Osborne has hinted to the BBC that British taxpayers might have to step in to rescue Greece. Analysts have said Greece might be forced to quit the eurozone as its economy continued to decline while it tried to tackle its crippling national debt. The Daily Express reports a new financial rescue plan for Greece could cost Britain €17 billion while the Financial Times says the Greek bail-out was heading for a revamp. The Wall Street Journal claims the Greek debt issue has divided the European nations. Greece has already agreed a €110 billion rescue package with the IMF and EU. Last Friday the euro lost one per cent of its value after a story appeared in the German Der Spiegel stating there had been a ‘secret meeting’ of EU members to discuss Greece.
Britain’s The Guardian alleges that dozens of African migrants were left to die in the Mediterranean last March after a number of European and Nato military units apparently ignored their cries for help. The paper says the boat, carrying 72 passengers, including several women and young children, ran into trouble after leaving Tripoli for Lampedusa. Despite alarms being raised with the Italian coastguard and the boat making contact with a military helicopter and a Nato warship, no rescue effort was attempted. All but 11 of those on board died from thirst and hunger after their vessel was left to drift in open waters for 16 days.
President Barack Obama has called on Pakistan to investigate the network that sustained Osama Bin Laden in his hideout where he was killed last week. He told CBS show “60 Minutes” that the government in Islamabad had to find out if any of its officials knew of the al-Qaeda leader's whereabouts. An Obama administration official said the US wanted to speak to Bin Laden's widows, who are in Pakistani custody. Pakistan has denied knowing Bin Laden was holed up in Abbottabad.
Al Ahram quotes Egyptian Justice Minister Abdel Aziz al-Gindi warning that those who threatened the country's security would face "an iron fist". He was speaking after after an emergency cabinet meeting convened by Prime Minister Essam Sharaf as 12 people died and more than 180 were wounded during clashes between Muslims and Christians in Cairo. The army said more than 190 people detained after the fatal clashes would face military trials. Meanwhile, CNN reports a small group of Coptic Christians gathering near the US Embassy in Cairo on Sunday called for international protection of Egypt's Christian community and condemned the government for not doing more to protect them.
Al Jazeera says Syrian security forces have killed at least two unarmed protesters when they opened fire on a demonstration in the eastern city of Deir al-Zor, the centre of Syria's oil production which has been witnessing rallies of up to 4,000 people each night since security forces killed pro-democracy protesters on Friday. The report cane a day after troops in tanks rolled into the coastal city of Banias, another protest stronghold, and cut off water, electricity and nearly all forms of communication. Around six people have been killed in two days and security forces reportedly arrested more than 200 people, including a 10-year-old boy, as part of the offensive.
Corriere della Sera reports Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has called prosecutors a ‘cancer of democracy’ - hours before his trial for perverting the course of justice resumes in Milan. Speaking at a rally in Milan for Letizia Moratti, his party’s candidate for mayor, he told the roaring crowd the prosecutors were subversive. He said his followers could not allow Milan to be taken by the opposition because the left wanted to build mosques everywhere. Berlusconi is charged with perverting the course of justice after allegedly paying British company lawyer David Mills £365,000 (€415,000) in return for giving favourable evidence.
Le Figaro reports France's first lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy has shelved plans to attend the Cannes Film Festival amid rumours she is expecting twins. Organisers hoped she would draw huge crowds to Cannes where her film “Midnight In Paris” was opening the glamorous event. The 43-year-old former model revealed, soon after she married 55-year-old Sarkozy in 2008, they would try for a baby – but vowed she would never resort to fertility treatment.
Florida Post says state governor Rick Scott is this week expected to sign a law banning teenagers from wearing their trousers low so that their underwear can be seen. The measure would prohibit students from wearing clothing that “exposes their undergarments” or “indecently exposes their body parts” while they are at school. Penalties range from a verbal warning to a three-day exclusion from school. An advocate of the ban, state senator Gary Siplin, said it was “pro-family, pro-education, pro-jobs”.