The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press:
The Times says the total referendum process is to cost taxpayers €4 million. It also says the Commissioner of VAT has had his contract temporarily renewed and he was awarded a performance bonus, despite controversy in that department.
The Malta Independent quotes the Divorce Movement saying the use of children by the anti-divorce campaign was ‘despicable’.
l-orizzont carries a full page report of remarks by Joseph Muscat under the heading “I am proud to be voting yes in the referendum”.
In-Nazzjon gives prominence to Dr Gonzi’s argument that the choice on Saturday should not be based on politics.
The overseas press
The governing Socialist party in Spain has suffered a heavy defeat in local and regional elections. El Pais says the centre-right Popular Party had almost a 10-percentage point lead. Jubilant supporters celebrated outside their party headquarters in Madrid as their party was also heading to victory in virtually all of the 13 regional governments up for grabs. Prime Minister José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said the Socialists had been punished for three years of economic crisis. Elections were overshadowed by mass protests against youth unemployment.
Famagusta Gazette says the right-wing opposition has won parliamentary elections in Cyprus, denting the re-election chances of communist President Demetris Christofias who is handling complex reunification talks with Turkish Cypriots. Analysts believe gains by the opposition in parliament could put Christofias under greater pressure to retract concessions made to Turkish Cypriots in talks which have made little headway since their launch in 2008.
Euronews reports that more than 20,000 people in Switzerland have taken part in the country’s biggest anti-nuclear demonstration in decades against a possible decision by the government to rely on nuclear energy. The biggest march was near the site of Europe’s oldest nuclear plant, Breznau. The demonstration was also attended by people from Germany, Austria and France.
The European Union has opened a diplomatic office in the Libyan rebels' eastern stronghold of Benghazi. Feb 17 says EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton held talks with the head of the Libyan rebel National Transitional Council, Mustafa Abdul Jalil about the bloc’s support, including help with border management and security reform, the economy, health, education and in building civil society. Ashton's visit to eastern Libya come as NATO stepped up its campaign against Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and his supporters. Wire services report NATO warplanes bombed the port of Tripoli and Gaddafi's compound near the capital shortly before her arrival.
Adnkronos reports that the heart, liver and kidneys of 22-month old Italian girl, Elena, who died three days after her father left her in his hot car for five hours, have been transplanted into four other children. University lecturer Lucio Petrizzi, 45, faces manslaughter charges. The girl's mother, who is eight months' pregnant, says what happened to the father could happen to anyone.
Yemen Observer says Gulf Arab states have suspended efforts to negotiate a power transfer deal in Yemen after President Ali Abdullah Saleh refused to sign it. The deal was meant to pave the way for President Saleh’s resignation after months of pro-democracy protests. Earlier, armed with guns, knives and swords, supporters of the Yemeni leader trapped American, European and Arab ambassadors at the UAE diplomatic mission. Security forces broke up the crowd after several hours of letting them besiege the embassy.
Al Jazzeera reports Islamist militants have stormed a naval base in the Pakistani city of Karachi. In one of the most brazen attacks in years, the attackers set off explosives and destroyed a number of planes, including a US-supplied surveillance aircraft. They fired rockets and fought gun battles with commandos sent to subdue them. At least 11 navy personnel have been killed and nine wounded in the fighting at the Naval Station Mehran that was going on more than four hours after the strike began.
According to The New York Times, the UN Security Council has called on the Northern Sudanese army to withdraw from positions it has captured in the disputed oil region of Abyei, on the border with southern Sudan. The US special envoy to Sudan described the situation as “extraordinarily dangerous”.
The Daily Mail says an English Premier League footballer's court battle to keep his alleged sexual affair with former Big Brother contestant Imogen Thomas.
has provoked one of the biggest acts of civil disobedience in modern times. The face of the star alleged to have taken out a privacy injunction was yesterday published by The Sunday Herald, a Scottish newspaper. Football fans mockingly chanted his name at a match with a worldwide audience. And he was mentioned more than 30,000 times on Twitter.