The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press:
The Times quotes Alfred Sant calling for the divorce result to be respected. It also reports how the man who shot Star has been sentenced to jail.
The Malta Independent also leads with the Star court case. It also quotes Arriva officials saying all is on schedule for the launching of the new bus service.
MaltaToday says the final vote on divorce is expected in Parliament in August. It also quotes Evarist Bartolo saying the second contract awarded to Joseph Mizzi – for the purchase of trucks - showed BWSC learnt nothing from the BWSC case.
l-orizzont reports how the Dog star was buried alive for 14 hours.
In-Nazzjon also leads with the jail term imposed on the man who shot Star.
The overseas press
Kathimerini reports Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou survived a crucial confidence vote early this morning, keeping alive a government dedicated to averting a debt default that could spark a financial maelstrom around the world. Lawmakers voted 155 to 143 along party lines to back Papandreou, who now faces a critical vote next week on a €28 billion set of austerity measures which include tax increases and massive spending cuts. EU finance ministers are refusing to hand the Greek government a second bailout package of €12 billion unless it agrees to implement these measures.
Meanwhile, The Financial Times reports British Prime Minister David Cameron has insisted the euro would not collapse because member states “will not let it”. The 17 eurozone nations have too much invested in the single currency to allow it to fail, he told a press conference at Downing Street. Mr Cameron said Britain suffered when the eurozone struggled because 40 per cent of UK exports were to eurozone countries.
Associated Press says two top US senators have unveiled a resolution giving President Barack Obama limited authority in the three-month-old war against Libya, warning that the drastic step of cutting off funds for the military operation would be a lifeline to a weakened Muammar Gaddafi. The bipartisan resolution would allow the mission to continue but would impose a one-year limit on the Nato-led operation, a period McCain said is "more than enough time to finish the job." It also would prohibit American ground forces in Libya.
The Washington Times reports President Obama was expected to call for a major withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan, with roughly 10,000 returning home to the US in less than a year. Obama was also weighing a timetable for bringing home the other 20,000 troops he ordered to Afghanistan as part of his December 2009 decision to send reinforcements to reverse the Taliban's battlefield momentum.
In what the BBC described as “the worst violence in Northern Ireland for a decade”, hundreds of rioters threw fireworks, gasoline bombs and other missiles and attacked police vans in east Belfast on Tuesday as sectarian violence flared up for a second night. There were reports two men had sustained burns. British TV stations showed groups of hooded and masked men pelting each other with stones and missiles, and many attacked police vans.
The New York Times says the UN General Assembly has voted unanimously to give Ban Ki-moon a second term as secretary-general. Delegates praised him for strengthening the world body's role and visibility in difficult circumstances. The 67-year-old South Korean diplomat took over as UN chief from Kofi Annan in 2007.
Most world newspapers carry pictures on their front page of US first lady Michelle Obama and her family paying their respects to Nelson Mandela during a private visit at the home of the former South African president and revered statesman. It was the first meeting between America’s first black first lady and the political prisoner who later became his country’s first elected black president.
El Universal says President Philipe Calderon has praised Mexican police on the capture of the leader of La Familia drug cartel – one of the country’s leading drug gangs. He said the authorities had dealt a debilitating blow to a major organised crime group that terrorised western Mexico. Jose de Jesus Mendez Vargas, also known as El Chango, or "The Monkey," was arrested in the central state of Aguascalientes without confrontation or casualties.
American Scientist reports cigarette packets in the United States will have to carry macabre images in nine new warning labels that are part of a campaign by the Food and Drug Administration to use fear and disgust to discourage Americans from lighting up. The labels include rotting teeth and gums, diseased lungs, a sewn-up corpse of a smoker and cigarette smoke coming out of the tracheotomy hole in a man's neck. The labels represent the biggest change in cigarette packs in the US in 25 years.
MSNBC says US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton has said she supported a campaign by Saudi women to win the right to drive. She praised the courage of the women who drove through Saudi streets last week in protest against current restrictions. The campaign group “Saudi Women for Driving” said their challenge to the authorities was inspired by the wave of protest in the Arab world.