The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press:
The Times and the other newspapers lead with the incident yesterday where a youth fell and died in a cesspit. His father was injured. It also carries reasons given by the Infrastructure Ministry for a number of delays in employment levels at SmartCity.
The Malta Independent leads with a story on how Malta must continue to slash the deficit.
l-orizzont says the Mistra Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando incident before the election was ‘orchestrated’.
In-Nazzjon says 6,000 jobs were created in Malta in a year and unemployment was down by 1,000. It also reports Mepa’s approval of the masterplan for the Citadella in Gozo.
The overseas press
Stock markets have been boosted by expectations that European leaders are about to act to ease the debt crisis. The main markets in London, Frankfurt and Paris ended 3-4% higher, while Hong Kong rose 5.7% and the Dow Jones 1.7%. European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso told Euronews that there were plans for co-ordinated action to recapitalise banks.
Börzen Zeitung reports that the European Central Bank has unveiled new measures to support banks and prevent a credit crunch from sweeping the eurozone. However, it stopped short of cutting interest rates to spur the economy, citing too-high inflation. Addressing the worsening financial strains in the euro zone's banking sector, the ECB voted to make longer-term loans available to banks later this year for maturities up to 13 months, ensuring that banks have unlimited financing into 2013 as long as they can post collateral. Starting next month, the ECB will also purchase €40 billion in bank bonds backed by mortgages and other assets, known as covered bonds, which are a key source of funds for banks.
The Daily Telegraph quotes Bank of England governor Sir Mervyn King saying Britain could be in the grip of the "most serious financial crisis ever". The situation could be even worse than the Great Depression of the 1930s, he said, making it crucial do "the right thing" - which in the UK now means pumping more cash into the economy.
The left-wing liberal daily Tá Néa reports that the Greek government has submitted a Bill to parliament aimed at suspending 30,000 government workers at reduced pay by year’s end and to cut salaries by an additional €2.8 billion. The new cutbacks come on top of salary and pension cuts, as well as a string of tax rises over the past 18 months that outraged ordinary Greeks trying to cope with a 16 per cent unemployment rate. The Bill comes a day after a nationwide civil servant strike shut down the government.
Fugitive leader Muammar Gaddafi has called on Libyans to take to the streets and wage a campaign of civil disobedience against the country’s new leaders. He made the appeal in an audio recording broadcast on Syrian-based Al-Rai TV, which has become the mouthpiece of his resistance. Gaddafi says the National Transitional Council, which has assumed leadership of the country since then-rebel forces swept into Tripoli in late August, has no legitimacy. Meanwhile, a senior Libyan official has denied abuse of captured Gaddafi loyalists after allegations of torture were made to Sky News by imprisoned soldiers.
Nato’s bombing campaign in Libya, now in its seventh month, will continue despite the collapse of the Gaddafi regime. Le Soir quotes French Defence Minister Gerard Longuet saying the air strikes would not stop until all remaining pockets of resistance were suppressed. Nato has carried out more than 9,300 air strikes against Gaddafi’s forces since the campaign started in March.
The Los Angeles Times says lawyers for DR Conrad Murray, the doctor accused of killing Michael Jackson, have spent the first half of the eighth day of his trial calling into question key evidence against him. Coroner's investigator Elissa Fleak had earlier told the court she found a large collection of drugs and medical paraphernalia in the pop star's bedroom and wardrobe, including vials of propofol, the drug that killed him. In aggressive cross-examination, Dr Murray's lawyer questioned Fleak's recollection, suggesting she had made a "substantial number of mistakes" in her investigation of the scene.
The BBC reports that world and business leaders have paid tribute to Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, who has died at 56 after a long battle with pancreatic cancer. US President Barack Obama and Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev said Mr Jobs had changed the world. Microsoft's Bill Gates said it had been "an insanely great honour" to work with him. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg remembered his "mentor and friend". Thousands of celebrities and ordinary people went on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to record their tributes and memories of the man behind products such as the iPod, the iPhone, the iPad.
The parents of a missing 10-month-old baby who disappeared from her bed have made an emotional appeal for her return. Kansas Globe says Jeremy Irwin and Deborah Bradley, from Kansas City, begged that their daughter Lisa Irwin be dropped off somewhere safe, with no questions asked. Police have said they are looking into the possibility that Lisa may have been snatched from her bed by someone entering the house through an open window.
Daily Star reports that Wayne Rooney’s father has “vigorously” denied allegations of being involved in a football betting scam and his solicitor said he was “co-operating fully” with the police investigation. Wayne Rooney Snr, 48, was bailed pending further inquiries after being held when police swooped at his home in West Derby, Liverpool. Eight other people were also arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud. Merseyside Police said the arrests were the culmination of a joint operation with the Gambling Commission into “suspicious betting activity”.