The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press:
The Times says fears about a deadly superbug are growing in Malta. The fear was raised in a Brussels conference.
The Malta Independent says bus drivers defied the government and went on strike last night.
l-orizzont carries the GWU’s detailed reaction to the Budget, saying the burdens on the people will remain. It also reports on the bus strike.
In-Nazzjon says the GWU stopped the bus service last night. It also highlights the resignation from the PL of a Pembroke councillor.
The overseas press
Italy’s new Prime Minister Mario Monti has easily won a crucial vote of confidence in the Senate to pursue widespread reforms and austerity aimed at staving off the sovereign debt crisis and saving the euro currency. Corriere della Sera reports that the country’s upper house voted 281-25 to back the one-day-old government Before the vote, the new Prime Minister appealed to Italians to accept sacrifices to save their country from bankruptcy, but pledged economic growth and greater social cohesion in return.. The lower house votes today.
Monti’s debut address was held against the backdrop of violent anti-austerity protests. Il Tempo says demonstrators angry at budget cuts clashed with police across Italy, where transport strikes left buses and trains stranded. Police in riot gear clashed with students in Milan, while in Palermo, protesters hurled eggs and smoke bombs at a bank. They also threw stones at police who hit back with pepper spray and charged demonstrators who were trying to occupy another bank.
Kathimerini reports that in Athens, masked youths threw firebombs at police outside parliament. Police responded with tear gas and stun grenades, temporarily halting the demonstration of around 30,000 people. No injuries or arrests have been reported. Greeks rallied to mark the 38th anniversary of the day in 1973 when military tanks quashed a student rebellion at the Athens Polytechnic.
Ta Nea quotes the head of a European Union task force saying Greece is losing out on about €60 billion in uncollected taxes. Horst Reichenbach said that, as much as €8 billion would be immediately collectible and could help Athens cut its massive budget deficit. However, Mr Reichenbach says about €30 billionn of the outstanding taxes are caught up in lengthy legal disputes that can take seven to 12 years to resolve.
As the protests were taking place, El Pais reports that Spain looked as though it could become the next victim of the economic crisis in the eurozone as the cost of state borrowing soared to a dangerous new high. Ten-year bond yields jumped to a record high of 6.8 per cent – w ith seven per cent seen as the territory for a financial bailout. The gap between French and German bonds was wider than ever, with concerns growing that France could lose its triple-A credit rating. Investors have shied away from buying debt in countries in the eurozone because of the potential risks associated with nations such as Italy, Spain and France.
Across the Atlantic, hundreds of demonstrators gathered in New York's Wall Street financial district, with some trying to stop workers getting into their offices. The New York Times says riot police clashed with demonstrators, arresting more than 50 protesters. Trouble began near the stock exchange, where crowds gathered to mark the start two months ago of a campaign for economic equality by the Occupy Wall Street Movement.
The Irish Times reports that President Michael D. Higgins has asked for his salary to be cut by 23.5per cent, reducing it in the region of a €250,000. This reflects government plans to introduce legislation to reduce the President's salary from the current level of €325,000.
The Washington Post says that the authorities in the United States have charged a man, accused of firing two shots at the White house last week, with attempting to assassinate President Obama. The man, Oscar Ortega-Hernandez, 21, of Idaho, remains in federal custody and is to be prosecuted in Washington DC.
Three people have been confirmed dead and another 50 people were injured, eight seriously, after a fire ripped through a Sydney nursing home. The Sydney Morning Herald reports homicide detectives have taken over the scene, after emergency crews had to crawl through the blazing building to evacuate up to 100 residents. The cause of the fire was not immediately known.
The Irish Independent says the parish priest of Ahascaragh in Co Galway has accepted undisclosed damages from the Irish TV network, RTE, after the broadcaster admitted "grossly defaming him". A “Prime Time Investigates” programme aired last May falsely claimed that Fr Kevin Reynolds had raped a minor, fathered her child and then abandoned her. RTE apologised in the High Court.
Al Wifaq reports that 11 people sentenced to death for terrorist activity in Iraq have been executed. The Iraqi Justice Ministry said that among them was a woman and a Tunisian accused of exploding a bomb at the Askari shrine, one of Shia Islam's holiest sites. The Askari bombing in 2006 caused no casualties but the retaliatory violence killed more than 1,000 people on the first day alone.
Metro says Buckingham Palace would not confirm or deny a US mgazine report that Kate Middletone, the Duchess of Cambridge and wife of Prince William, was expecting their first child. According to In Touch, a well-informed royal source confirmed she was six weeks pregnant. The magazine says if it’s a boy, he would be named Edward, Philip or Michael; Alice or Rose if it’s a girl.