The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press:
The Times says Clinton has rewarded Malta with a top diplomat to serve as ambassador. It also says that there will be no gas rounds again today.
The Malta Independent reports how Hillary Clinton thanked Malta for its ‘extraordinary response’ during the Libyan crisis.
MaltaToday says an acclaimed Canadian playwright has objected to Valletta’s cultural capital bid because of the censorship rules.
In-Nazzjon quotes Clinton saying Malta had a major role in international affairs.
l-orizzont reports that 9,183 people in Malta are on a minimum wage. It also says that a dog has been found suffering a gunshot wound. The dog was found on Monday in Siggiewi and has been operated on.
The overseas press
The Obama administration has offered millions of dollars in new aid to Libya. Associated Press says the promise was made by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton who encouraged the country's new leadership to commit to a democratic future free of retribution. She acknowledged in unusually blunt terms that the United States would like to see former dictator Muammar Gaddafi dead. She told students and others at a town hall-style gathering in Tripoli te Americans hoped he could be captured or killed soon so that Libyns would not have to fear him any longer.
Troops with the National Transitional Council claim they have located 100 bodies inside a hospital of Bani Walid, the town in southern Libya captured by the anti-Gaddafi forces. According to the Libyan news website al-Qurayna, the bodies belong to rebels. Following the capture of Bani Walid, Sirte is the final enclave of resistance by Gaddafi loyalists.
NTC head Mahmoud Jibril in an interview with London-based Arabic-language daily al-Sharq al-Awsat said Gaddafi was still in Libya and has no plan to surrender. He rather intends to declare an Islamic state in the south.
According to Kathimerini, railway workers and journalists joined ferry crews, rubbish collectors, tax officials and lawyers and went on strike in Greece as the build-up continued to a huge demonstration on Thursday when parliament votes on crucial austerity measures. The highly unpopular new measures include further pension and salary cuts, the suspension on reduced pay of 30,000 public servants out of a total of more than 750,000 and the suspension of collective labour contracts.
Crowds in Israeli and Palestinian cities turned out to celebrate the success of a long-awaited exchange: after five years, Gilad Shalit was again in Israeli hands and 477 Palestinian prisoners were now home. The Jerusalem Post says Shalit, received a hero's welcome in his hometown, to which he flew after meeting PM Benjamin Netanyahu. Yellow ribbons had been tied to trees along the roads to the village, and supporters surged around his family's vehicle as they drove in.
According to Al Ayyam, the majority of the Palestinian prisoners – close to 300 – were released to Gaza. More than 140 went to the West Bank and Jerusalem, and the remaining 43 would be released into exile, in countries including Qatar, Turkey and Syria. Hamas declared a holiday in Gaza, and regional leader Ismail Haniye greeted each of the returning prisoners personally when they crossed into the Gaza Strip. Massive crowds turned out to give the returnees a rapturous welcome.
Several British nationals report that a Russian woman accused of spying had a four-year affair with her MP boss. The Daily Mail says a deportation tribunal heard how Katia Zatuliveter, 26, targeted Liberal Democrat MP Mike Hancock because his womanising past made him “potentially vulnerable”. The Russian, who also admitted having affairs with European diplomats from the age of 18, is suspected of using her position within Parliament to pass information to Russian intelligence. She is now appearing before the Special Immigration Appeals Commission in an attempt to remain in Britain.
Corriere della Sera reports that a Milan judge has cleared Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi in a fraud case related to his private Mediaset television empire. Judge Maria Vicidomini dismissed the case against Berlusconi but ordered his son Pier Silvio, the deputy chairman of the company, and chairman Fedele Confalonieri to stand trial. In the case company subsidiary Mediatrade is accused of fraud and tax evasion related to the purchase of TV rights in the United States.
Ansa says Italian singing diva Mina has launched a social media campaign to identify who wrote a song on her upcoming album. The demo, entitled Questa Canzone (This Song), was sent to the pop superstar without a name or return address, yet made its way onto her new album set for release next month. Mina, 70, is reckoned by many the finest female pop singer Italy has produced.
The BBC has learnt that Fifa President Sapp Blatter is to call for the release of court documents which could reveal that senior officials of football’s world governing body took bribes in return for granting TV and sponsorship rights during in the 1990’s. The documents relate to a criminal investigation into the collapse of fifa’s former marketing partner, International Sport and Leisure (ISL). Fifa has repeatedly blocked attempts by journalists to have the documents released. In May, Blatter pledged €20 million to Interpol over 10 years to help tackle the problem. The donation includes the creation of an anti-corruption centre in Singapore. Others are to be set up in South America and the Middle East.