The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press:
All the local newspapers report on the passing away yesterday of Mary Fenech Adami, wife of the former President.
In other stories, The Times reports that there are no restrictions on alcohol sales during village feasts.
The Malta Independent says more Arriva drivers were absent yesterday. It also says that the police have denied receiving reports of pillage along Sliema beach.
l-orizzont says there is confusion within Arriva, with lack of communication with its own workers. It says many workers did not turn up for work yesterday because they were not asked to.
In-Nazzjon reports that 570 business owners have received €35 million from the European Social Fund.
The overseas press
South Sudan has become the world's newest nation – the 193rd country recognised by the UN and the 54th UN member state in Africa. It is the climax of a process made possible by the 2005 peace deal that ended a long and bloody civil war in which some 1.5 million people died. Panapress reports residents in the capital, Juba, danced, honked car horns, banged on jerry cans and chanted the name of the world's newest president, Salva Kiir. Akhbar Al Youm says the government in Khartoum has formally recognized its southern neighbour but there remain many sources of potential conflict: precise borders have not yet been agreed and there is disagreement on how to share oil wealth.
Space & Aviation News reports that President Obama has praised the men and women who have worked on the American space shuttle programme over the past three decades. He was speaking as the final shuttle, Atlantis, was launched on its mission watched by around a million spectators. The 12-day mission will ferry of supplies to the International Space Station. Upon its return, the 30-year space shuttle programme will come to a close, with Atlantis and the other two shuttles retired to museums.
The Financial Times confirms News Corporation chairman Rupert Murdoch would fly to London later today as a third person was arrested by police over alleged phone hacking at the News Of The World. Sky News quotes Scotland Yard saying the 63-year-old man, believed to be a private investigator who worked for the tabloid, was arrested in connection with allegations of corruption and phone hacking. According to The Guardian, the police are investigating evidence that a News International executive may have deleted millions of emails to obstruct Scotland Yard's phone-hacking inquiry.
Former News of the World editor Andy Coulson has been released on police bail after his arrest on suspicion of bribing police officers. The Times reports that after nine hours of questioning, he denied any knowledge of phone hacking when he was editor but said there was a lot he would like to say but could not. The Daily Telegraph says Prime Minister David Cameron defended his decision to hire Coulson as director of communications but The Independent asks whether the phone-hacking scandal is Britain's Watergate.
Al Jazeera reports that hundreds of thousands of people have attended an anti-government protest in the Syrian city of Hama. At least 14 people were reportedly killed at other protests nationwide, including six in a Damascus suburb. Earlier, the US and French ambassadors visited Hama to show their solidarity. The Syrian authorities called it an incitement to further aggression.
MSNBC reports the death of former US First Lady Betty Ford. She was 93. Mrs Ford established a drug and alcohol rehabilitation facility – the Betty Ford Centre – in 1982. Her battles with cancer and substance abuse inspired millions to seek treatment. She was married to former President Gerald Ford, who died in 2006, for 58 years.
Los Angeles Times says the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have arrived in Los Angeles on a whirlwind weekend tour. Prince William will play in a charity polo match later today, with his wife Kate due to present the winners' trophy. Their engagements also include a Bafta black-tie reception, and a visit to a community arts centre. The California trip follows a nine-day visit to Canada by the royals.
The Lancet reports that the financial crisis "almost certainly" led to an increase in suicides across Europe. An analysis by US and UK researchers found a rise in suicides was recorded among working age people from 2007 to 2009 in nine of the 10 nations studied. The increases varied between five per cent and 17 per cent for under 65s after a period of falling suicide rates. Only Austria, being less exposed to the financial crisis, saw suicide rates fall. Of the risers, Finland fared best while Greece had the worst record