The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press:
The Times reports that drug dealers in Malta import the purest heroin in the EU – at 36% purity.
The Malta Independent says the amnesty on VAT arrears penalties can go up to 80%.
MaltaToday under the heading Budget Blitz says the Budget is a political manoeuvre aimed at disaffected voters. It also says the PN parliamentary group had not been informed beforehand on the Budget tax cuts.
l-orizzont quotes economists saying the government could have done more in the Budget.
In-Nazzjon says 2,568 women found a job last year. It also reports how Mepa will issue a provisional nine-month environmental permit to monitor the operations of the power station extension.
The overseas press
The Financial Times reports that more than three quarters of fund managers predict Europe would slide into recession next year after Eurostat reported that the EU economy grew by 0.2 percent in the third quarter compared with the previous three months – the same pace as in the second quarter, and far slower than the 0.7 percent before that. The statistics did not include Italy and Greece, whose debt crisis only got worse in October, the month after this snapshot was taken. The European Commission has warned that unemployment in that 17-nation eurozone, already 10.2 percent, would remain high for the foreseeable future.
Bloomberg reports that the euro declined to a five-week low against the dollar and the yen this morning as Spain and France prepared to sell notes after Italy led a slump in euro-area debt, signaling Europe’s debt crisis was spreading. The euro fell 0.6 percent against both currencies.
Ansa quotes Italian Prime Minister designate Mario Monti saying he would see President Giorgio Napolitano this morning after succeeding to form a new government. Monti told reporters he was confident the country would emerge from the current crisis.
The Times says British Prime Minister David Cameron has delivered a harsh attack on “pointless” European Union rules and regulations which, he said, were stifling growth as it battled with the eurozone crisis. In his annual foreign policy speech to the Lord Mayor of London’s banquet, he called for “fundamental reform” in Europe as he lambasted “out of touch” EU institutions demanding budget increases at a time of austerity for their citizens.
Beirut’s An Nahar reports that army defectors ambushed dozens of Syrian troops and regime forces gunned down civilians during one of the bloodiest days of the eight-month-old uprising against President Bashar al Assad. Up to 90 people were killed in a wave of violence Monday but the extent of the bloodshed only came to light Tuesday, in part because corpses lying in the streets did not reach the morgue until daylight. Reports of the violence emerged as the Syrian government announced that it had released 1,180 prisoners.
Chumhuriyet says Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has made his strongest denunciation yet of President Assad. He said no regime could survive by killing and jailing is opponents. The United Nations has said that at least 3,500 people had been killed in Syria since the uprising started in March. Erdogan’s comments came as officials said that plans for a Turkish oil company to explore for new deposits in Syria had been canceled, and that Turkish power lines into Syria might be severed.
The New York Times reports crackdowns against the Occupy Wall Street encampments across the United States reached the epicenter of the movement Tuesday, when police evicted protesters from a Manhattan park. A judge ruled that their free speech rights did not extend to pitching a tent and setting up camp for months at a time. If crowds of demonstrators returned to Zuccotti Park, they would not be allowed to bring tents, sleeping bags and other equipment that turned the area into a makeshift city of dissent.
Meanwhile, The Age says police in Australia have swooped down on the Occupy Melbourne camp, arresting three protesters as they enforced city orders requiring demonstrators to take down tents and tarpaulins. The anti-corporate "Occupy" protest in New York has inspired demonstrations around the world. Police in Melbourne made several arrests last month at an Occupy demonstration.
The British Medical Association called for all smoking in cars to be banned across the UK to protect people from second-hand smoke. The Lancet says doctors opted for the extension of the current ban on smoking in public places after reviewing evidence showing the levels of toxins in a car can be up to 23 times higher than in a smoky bar.
USA Today says Facebook was investigating reports that pornographic and violent images had been posted to its website. It is understood the material was being spread by a virus which tempted members to click on a seemingly-innocent link.