The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press:
The Times reports that Brussels is unsure that Malta’s low deficit will last. It also reports that a fresh call for tenders has been issued for the Dock 1 project after the contractor was dismissed. The government is seeking the €1m in bank guarantees from the contractor.
The Malta Independent leads with the rescue of 73 migrants yesterday.
In-Nazzjon says there has been an increase in blood donations, but demand remains high as well.
l-orizzont asks if there is dragging of feet over Air Malta’s proposed sale of Selmun Palace Hotel.
The overseas press:
Britain’s The Guardian reports that financial markets were hastily making preparations for a Greek exit from the euro after a day of political and economic turmoil ended with Europe's policy elite admitting for the first time that it might prove impossible to keep the single currency intact. Shares, oil, and the euro were all sold heavily on Monday in anticipation that anti-austerity parties would garner support in a second Greek election likely to be held next month – bringing the row between Greece and its European creditors to a climax. Bloomberg says Asian stocks, oil and copper fell and the euro weakened to a four-month low as Moody’s Investors Service downgraded 26 Italian banks ahead of an economic report that may show Europe’s economy shrank for the first time since 2009.
According to Reuters, President Karolos Papoulias of Greece will today ask politicians, deadlocked since a parliamentary vote nine days ago, to stand aside and let a government of technocrats steer the nation away from bankruptcy. Leftist parties, which oppose the tough conditions that Athens agreed to in return for a $130 billion rescue package financed by the EU and the IMF, have already rejected the proposal. Stronger, angrier and in no mood to compromise, they look set to force a new election they reckon they could win.
The BBC says Luxembourg Prime Minister and chairman of eurozone finance ministers, Jean Claude Junker, has reaffirmed the group’s commitment of keeping Greece within the eurozone. He said this desire was “unshakeable” and absolutely no one at the meeting of finance ministers in Brussels had discussed Athens leaving the eurozone. But he also said Greece must continue to restructure its economy despite most voters having just rejected those policies.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said the defeat of her party in the North Rhine-Westphalia state was a bitter pill to swallow but insisted this would have no bearing on the outcome of next year's federal election. She told Deutsche Welle that her centre-right coalition government would stay the course. On Sunday, her Christian Democratic Union, saw its popularity slip from 35 per cent to 26.3 per cent – the party's worst-ever election result in the state. The Social Democrats, led by Premier Hannelore Kraft, took 39.1 per cent of the vote, while their coalition partners, the Greens took 11.3 per cent – giving them a comfortable majority in the legislature in Düsseldorf, after having served as a minority government since the 2010 election.
The Wall Street Journal reports that one of the most powerful women on Wall Street was leaving JP Morgan in the wake of massive trading losses which could cost the bank more than $3 billion. JP Morgan said chief investment officer Ina Drew, who was among the highest-paid executives at the bank, has decided to "retire from the firm" after the blunder on risky derivatives trading which has already cost $2 billion. The fallout from the huge loss at America's biggest bank was being felt in political as well as banking circles. President Obama has said the trading loss illustrated the need for Wall Street reform, saying that the same kind of error at a less stable bank might have required government intervention.
al bawaba says Syrian forces have launched a military assault on the central Homs town of Rastan, where rebel fighters were still holding out against the government. At least 23 soldiers and four rebel fighters were among those killed. Since the Syrian uprising began, more than 12,000 people, the majority of them civilians, have died. On the diplomatic front, the European Union has imposed a 15th round of sanctions on Syria. The new sanctions mean 128 people and 43 firms or utilities were now targeted by an assets freeze and travel ban for backing the regime's 14-month campaign of relentless repression.
The New York Times quotes the Russian ambassador to the UN, Vitaly Churkin, warning Kosovo against allowing the training of Syrian opposition rebels on its territory. Kosovo's Foreign Minister Enveer Hoxhaj admitted there had been "some diplomatic contacts" with the Syrian opposition but denied any training was planned.
The New York Post says UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon has fractured his wrist after falling while playing football in the UN diplomats spring soccer tournament over the weekend. The 67-year-old UN leader, who was expected to have his arm in plaster for the next six weeks, apologised for his appearance when he met Panama's foreign minister Roberto Henriquez in his only public appointment on Monday. He joked that the fracture would not stop him writing or shaking hands.
Corriere della Sera says thieves in Milan made off with €10 million worth of jewels snatched from the car of a member of a prominent jewellery family. Late on Sunday, Rosa Maria Buccellati, 52, was returning from a trade fair when her car was rammed from behind. Following what appears to be a staged accident, a man opened the back door of her BMW and grabbed the case containing the valuables while she was distracted by his accomplice.
The Times reports British civil servants have been told they could work from home for seven weeks during the London Olympics, prompting incredulity from ministers, MPs and business leaders. Tens of thousands of civil servants based in Central London would be allowed to work from home from July 21 – six days before the opening ceremony. Flexible working arrangements would remain for the 15 days between the Olympic Games and the Paralympics, ending on September 9 after the second closing ceremony. Business groups expressed deep dismay at the plans.
Il Tirreno says a 61-year-old Livorno man has died after being repeatedly stabbed in the groin and abdomen by his wife in a jealous rage after he admitted he had spent Saturday night with another woman. The man was admitted to hospital on Sunday in a critical condition and operated upon after the frenzied attack by his 57-year-old wife late Saturday. She only called an ambulance late on Sunday when her husband's condition had worsened.The woman, who is originally from Germany, faces murder charges.