The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press:
The Times says asphalt price hikes may hit street building.
The Malta Independent leads with the May Day activities by the PN and the PL yesterday.
Malta Today quotes Eddie Fenech Adami saying that the sooner they call Debono’s bluff, the better. He said that he was always against any form of appeasement as it does not solve any problems.
In-Nazzjon features remarks by the prime minister that 20,000 new jobs in four years mean more money in the people’s pockets.
l-orizzont leads with yesterday’s May Day festivities by the Labour Party in Valletta and a ‘guarantee’ by Joseph Muscat to youths. It also reports how the diesel price has gone up again.
The overseas press
As global population grows from seven billion in 2011 to 11 billion or more by 2050, a new report by a British-based scientific group says the world faces deepening challenges in the 21st century from an expanding population and limited resources. The Irish Enquirer quotes the report saying developed countries would need to reduce their consumption if resources were going to be found to bring the world’s 1.3 billion poorest people out of extreme poverty. More funding was needed for family planning programmes as well as education.
MSNBC reports President Barack Obama has pledged to “finish the job and end the Afghan war”. Addressing the US public live from a military base in Afghanista, on the anniversary of Osama bin Laden's death, he thanked US troops and hailed plans to combat operations. Obama arrived in Afghanistan on a surprise visit to sign an agreement on future Afghan-US ties with President Hamid Karzai, ahead of a Nato summit. At the signing, Mr Obama said it was "a historic moment" for both nations.
Ohio Post says five men have been arrested in an FBI sting operation over an alleged plot to blow up a four-lane bridge south of Cleveland. Ohio. Officials say three of the men are self-described anarchists and have been charged with conspiracy and attempting to use explosives to damage property.
Protesters across the world hit the streets on May Day to rally against austerity measures and call for higher wages and more jobs. Euronews says workers turned out in droves in Greece, France and Spain – the latest focus of a debt nightmare that has already forced three eurozone countries to seek financial bailouts. According to Pravda, around 100,000 people in Moscow – including President Dmitry Medvedev and President-elect Vladimir Putin – took part in the main May Day march through the city centre. Many banners and placards criticised the Russian opposition movement. Asia Today says unions demanded wage increases as they transformed the day from one celebrating workers’ rights to one of international protest. Daily News reports marches turned violent in Oakland, where protesters pounded on bank windows and went face-to-face with a police line, and in Seattle, where protesters dressed in black smashed windows and police pepper-sprayed some in the crowds. Fifteen were arrested in New York, for disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. The police said several demonstrators were caught carrying hammers but there was little vandalism.
Le Parisien says French far-right leader Marine Le Pen, who recorded her party's best-ever vote when third in the first round of the French presidential election, has told a rally in Paris that she would spoil her ballot paper rather than vote for either President Nicolas Sarkozy or his Socialist rival Frrançois Hollande in Sunday's ballot. Sarkozy needs most of the 18 per cent of Le Pen’s if he is to overtake Hollande. At his own outdoor rally in central Paris, Sarkozy fired back, saying he would fight “to the last second of the last minute because I love France”. Hollande has a six-to-10-point opinion poll lead
Most British nationals lead with the findings of a report by the House of Commons’ Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee that News Corporation chairman Rupert Murdoch was “not fit” to run a major company. The Financial Times reports that the committee said Murdoch, along with his son James, should “ultimately be prepared to take responsibility” over the phone-hacking scandal. But they were both cleared of misleading Parliament. The behaviour of News International and certain witnesses in this affair demonstrated contempt for that system in the most blatant fashion.
The New York Times reports that a court has decreed that hotel maid’s lawsuit claiming that former French presidential contender Dominique Strauss-Kahn sexually assaulted her could proceed to trial. The maid says Strauss-Kahn tried to rape her in his Manhattan hotel suite in May last year. Strauss-Kahn has denied doing anything violent during the encounter. Prosecutors dropped related criminal charges last year.
Aftenposten reports Norwegian world champion swimmer Alexander Dale Oen has died of a suspected heart attack in Arizona at the age of 26. Dale Oen became a national hero last year when he won the 100 metres breaststroke at the world championships in Shanghai One of his country's best hopes for a medal at this year's London Olympics, Dale Oen was attending an altitude training camp when he died.
London has been named as the world's best tourist destination. The Press Association says millions of travellers who have left reviews on the tripadvisor website helped the city jump from eighth place last year – to overtake New York, Rome and Paris. London was praised for its great hotels, West End shows, shopping and free attractions like parks and museums.
Fox News reports that a mother and her son in the US have been killed in separate car accidents just hours apart in the state of Wisconsin. Mary Moore, 45, died after she was struck by a vehicle on a street just after midnight on Sunday. Meanwhile separately, a friend was rushing her son – 22-year-old Thomas Olson – to the hospital to see her, when he struck three parked cars and overturned. The son was killed in the crash. The driver of the car the son was travelling in has been arrested on suspicion of drunk-driving.