The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press.
The Times says an inquiry report raised doubts on delays in the filing of charges against Cyrus Engerer, and haste after he resigned from the PN. The newspaper also reports how another inquiry said officials are to face disciplinary measures over an escape by migrants.
The Malta Independent reports on a warning made by Nationalist MP Franco Debono that he will abstain in an Opposition motion on the bus service.
The same story is also taken up by l-orizzont. It also reports how prisoners were transferred to Corradino from the Forensics section of Mt Carmel Hospital.
In-Nazzjon reports how the number or eye operations has doubled at Mater Dei Hospital and how the Prime Minister yesterday presented hundreds of scholarships to young people.
The overseas press
Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi and his centre-right coalition face a confidence vote in parliament early this afternoon which could force him out of office. Corriere della Sera reports he addressed parliament ahead of the ballot, saying he had a cohesive majority and that there was "no credible alternative" to his government to help guide the country through the growing sovereign debt crisis. Berlusconi made clear that if he lost the only alternative would be new elections.
Slovak Spectator says Bratislava has approved by an overwhelming majority expanding the powers of the EU bailout fund after rejecting it in a vote on Tuesday. Yesterday, 114 MPs voted in favour of boosting the bailout fund’s powers after the main opposition Smer-Social Democracy agreed to help the outgoing coalition in exchange for early elections.
According to the Greek left-wing liberal daily Ta Nea, public transport in Athens has ground to a halt once more as workers staged a 48-hour strike against austerity measures imposed by the government. Separately, state power company employees have occupied the company’s building to prevent electricity bills including a new property tax from being issued. State television and radio journalists, lawyers, hospital doctors, teachers, customs and tax officers, seamen and municipal workers have also either walked off the job or are planning strikes in the coming days.
Market Watch reports that credit rating agency Fitch has downgraded four European banks and placed seven more international institutions on review for possible downgrade. It said the review focused on large and relatively highly-rated banks that were particularly sensitive to the increased challenges financial markets were now facing. Spain has had its credit rating downgraded by Standard and Poor’s, which said high levels f public sector debts, unemployment and tighter financial conditions were among the reasons for the move.
La Tribune announces that the Paris prosecutor has dropped an investigation into an attempted rape claim against former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn. However, the prosecutor said Strauss-Kahn admitted to sexual aggression against French writer Tristane Banon but the case was time barred because the incident happened in 2003. Earlier this year a rape accusation against Mr Strauss-Kahn involving a New York hotel chambermaid was dropped.
Libyan National Transitional Council vice-chairman Abdul Hafeedh Ghoga has told Al Jazeera that satellites were tracking the former Libyan leader in the desert south of Sabha and that it was only a matter of time before Gaddafi was captured. Ghoga said they had confirmed reports that Gaddafi was in the southern Libyan desert. “He’s not staying in one place. He is moving around with a small convoy which consist of his closest aids and bodyguards."
Wall Street Journal says Raj Rajaratnam has been sentenced to 11 years in prison for insider trading. The former billionaire was also was fined $10 million (€7.3 million). The judge concluded that Rajaratnam made well over $50 million (€36.4 million) in profits from his illegal trades.
Murgunbladid reports that experts have warned that an eruption could be imminent at an even more powerful Icelandic volcano than the one that paralysed air traffic last year. Seismologists are nervously watching rumblings beneath Katla which could spew an ash cloud dwarfing the 2010 eruption that cost airlines €1.45 billion.
MTV.com says yesterday was another day of harsh criticism in the involuntary manslaughter case against Dr Conrad Murray. After nearly two weeks of the prosecution attempting to paint the cardiologist as a negligent, sloppy physician who did not take the proper precautions in safeguarding the health of the 50-year-old pop icon, the final two witnesses took the stand to wrap up the state's case. The Los Angeles Times reports that UCLA sleep expert Nader Kamangar told the court that Murray's decision to give Jackson propofol and two other sedatives on the morning of June 25, 2009, a "recipe for disaster". Murray has pleaded not guilty to the charge of involuntary manslaughter. He faces four years in prison and the loss of his medical license.