The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press:
The Times reports that the sex abuse victims ‘are not asking for €10m’ as claimed in other media. It also says that building permit requests are down 40%.
The Malta Independent says 2,000 year old trees at Bidnija are still producing olives.
l-orizzont says landowners at Zewwieqa, Gozo, are still without compensation even though their land was expropriated 21 years ago.
In-Nazzjon, meanwhile, says the government is seeking justice for landowners whose land was taken at the time of the Labour government, without compensation. It also gives prominence to the export of Bambinella (small pear) to the UK.
The overseas press
The leaders of the eurozone's strongest economies – French President Nicholas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel – meet in Paris later today to discuss ways to pull debt-ridden countries like Greece and Italy back from the brink, while staving off fears that France and Germany could lose their top-notch AAA credit ratings under the weight of a troubled eurozone. Deutsche Welle says the German government was keen to avoid a divisive debate about euro countries guaranteeing each other's debt. Merkel is under pressure from Berlin to resist any drastic measures that could threaten Germany's stability. On the other hand, Sarkozy – facing popularity rates near rock bottom and battered French bank stocks – must produce dramatic results in order to regain Paris' confidence.
Wall Street Journal quotes IMF head Christine Lagarde warning governments that they must balance spending cuts with short-term support for growth to avoid the risk of a double-dip recession. She acknowledged that there was an unmistakeable need to restore fiscal sustainability with debt consolidation plans but said slamming on the brakes too quickly would hurt the recovery and worsen job prospects.
According to The New York Times, the World Bank says continuing high and volatile food prices were putting the poorest people in the developing world at risk and adding to the problems of famine and drought in the horn of Africa. In its latest report, the bank says that although average food prices were slightly below their recent peak in February, they were still 33 per cent higher than a year ago.
Associated News quotes the US military saying that forces loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi had fired a scud missile near Brega against the rebels – the first use of a tactical ballistic weapon by Libyan troops since the conflict started last March. A US warship off the coast monitored the launch from Col Gaddafi's hometown of Sirte. No one is believed to have been hurt in the incident. The missile attack came after the rebels had threatened to isolate Tripoli by cutting oil pipelines and blocking key supply routes as they edged closer to the capital.
Meanwhile, Egypt Today says Libyan Interior Minister Nassr al-Mabrouk Abdullah has landed at Cairo international airport with nine members of his family in what could be a high-level defection. He arrived on a special plane from Tunisia and said that he was “on a tourist visit”. No official from the Libyan embassy, which is loyal to Muammar Gaddafi, was at the airport to greet him.
NRC Handelsblad reports that the Netherlands had given $143 million of seized Libyan assets to the World Health Organisation. The Dutch Foreign ministry said the funds would be used to provide medicines for civilians in areas held both by rebels and forces loyal to Gaddafi.
Thousands of Palestinian refugees have been forced to flee a camp in the Syrian port of Latakia amid shelling by government troops. A spokesman for the United Nations Relief and Works agency (Unrwa) told the BBC that more than 5,000 of the 10,000 refugees were on the move. He said at least four people had died, urging immediate access to the site. Some 30 people have reportedly died in Latakia in a three-day military attack. Syria says it is tackling gangs. On Monday, there were also reports of a clampdown in the capital Damascus, with people being arrested randomly in the Jobar district.
British Prime Minister David Cameron has announced a broad review of government polices to reverse what he called the "slow motion moral collapse" of British society, which he blames for last week's riots in London and other major British cities. The Guardian reports Cameron said Britain would try to push through changes to the European Convention on Human Rights, which had "undermined personal responsibility". The government was also reportedly considering the cancellation of benefits for people convicted of involvement in the riots, the reintroduction of compulsory military service and a programme of "National Citizen Service" to get 16-year-olds to carry out voluntary work.
Taraf says a Turkish army general has appeared in a civilian court accused of seeking to overthrow the government. General Bilgin Balanli, who was set to head Turkey's air force until his detention three months ago, is the latest to be singled out by prosecutors who claim he was involved in an army conspiracy to topple the government. Hundreds of other military officers have been detained as part of the probe. The Turkish daily newspaper has been at the forefront of exposing the plot, claiming that many of the country's institutions were involved.