The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press:
The Times says the Gozo warden killer has launched a court case for acquittal because he did not have legal assistance during interrogation. It also reports how a Spanish warship carrying rescued migrants has been refused entry to Malta.
The Malta Independent says Malta is demanding answers from Nato over how a warship under its command sailed to Malta with rescued migrants when Tunisia and Lampedusa were closer.
l-orizzont reports how Edward Scicluna has asked in the European Parliament why the take up of EU funds by Malta is low. It also highlights this afternoon’s demonstration in support of Air Malta, being held in Valletta.
In-Nazzjon gives prominence to new medicine price reductions. It also insists that migrants rescued earlier this week were closer to Tunisia and Lampedusa than Malta.
The overseas press
The BBC predicts that some 15 banks were expected to fail the European Banking Authority stress tests, the results of which would be published after European markets close later today (6 p.m. Malta time). The results of the tests, tougher than last year’s, come as the debt crisis crippling Greece, Ireland and Portugal threatens to engulf Italy and Spain. Analysts said it was hoped they would restore confidence in the European banking system which has been shaken by the debt crisis engulfing the eurozone. Only seven out of 91 banks failed last year.
Il Sole 24 Ore reports that Italy’s austerity budget, crucial to calming the financial markets, has moved a step closer to being adopted. The Senate approved it by 161 votes to 135 with three abstentions. The opposition voted against the measure – which is worth €48 billion. The cuts have been rushed through Parliament after financial markets began speculating that Italy was facing difficulties servicing its large debts.
The Washington Times says President Obama has called on Democrats and Republicans in Congress to find a lasting solution to the debt crisis facing the country. Five days of emergency talks have so far failed to produce an agreement between Republicans, who are calling for greater spending cuts, and Democrats, who want to increase corporate taxes. With no end in sight, Standard & Poor’s have become the second credit rating agency after Moody’s to warn that it might have to lower America’s AAA rating.
Cumhuryiet reports Nato foreign ministers are meeting in Turkey to take stock of the military action against the Gaddafi regime in Libya. This would be the fourth contact group meeting in as any months intended to boast the coalition and prepare the way for the post-Gaddafi era. They are expected to consider how to speed up both military and political progress.
The Libyan government has denied a Russian newspaper report that allegedly quoted the Kremlin's special envoy to Libya as saying Gaddafi had threatened to blow up Tripoli if it fell into rebel hands. Kremlin envoy Mikhail Margelov was quoted in Thursday's edition of the Izvestia newspaper as saying Libyan Prime Minister Al-Baghdadi al-Mahmudi recently told him "if the rebels seize the city, we will deluge it with missiles and blow it up". But Al Jamahariya TV quotes Libyan government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim later denying the report, saying Gaddafi's government would never destroy Tripoli or any other Libyan city. He said Margelov's office also told him they never issued any such statement.
The Washington Post says the FBI has opened an inquiry into allegations that Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation sought to hack into the phones of victims of the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington 10 years ago. The fact that suspicions exist has rattled investors.
Murdoch said he believed News Corp had handled the crisis in Britain, over phone hacking and other illegalities, “extremely well”. In an interview with one of his own papers, The Wall Street Journal, he said News Corp had only made “minor mistakes” and would soon recover from the damage.
Al Jazeera reports that Turkish rebels have killed at least 13 Turkish soldiers, and lost seven of their own members, in an ambush in the province of Diyabakir. The attack is the deadliest since the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) ended a ceasefire in January.
El Universal says the Mexican army has discovered the biggest marijuana plantation ever found in the country. The army said the field would have yielded about 120 tons of marijuana with a market value of about 1.8 billion pesos (€112.8 million).
The Irish Examiner reports that the Papal Nuncio to Ireland, Archbishop Giuseppe Leanza has been ordered to get answers from the Vatican on revelations that it allowed priests to ignore the law. The nuncio was told to take a message to the Holy See that the Irish Government believed its conduct in clerical child abuse inquiries had been “disgraceful and unacceptable”. The Catholic hierarchy in Rome stand accused of effectively briefing clergy in a 1997 letter to allow them to defy guidelines and not report paedophiles in their ranks.