The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press:
The Times reports how soldiers dealt blows to a migrant who died last year.
The Malta Independent leads with yesterday’s anti-racism protest and says the detention system is the cause of problems in migration.
l-orizzont says Karmenu Vella unmasked Richard Cachia Caruana in a statement yesterday. RCC
In-Nazzjon leads with the announcement, yesterday, that a gaming company is to double its workforce.
The overseas press
El Pais reports that Spanish riot police clashed with tens of thousands of coal miners and public sector workers on the streets of Madrid on Wednesday, as the government announced fresh austerity measures, totaling €65 billion over the next 30 months to contain the budget and manage Spain's deep economic crisis. Police fired rubber bullets at the demonstrators, who had marched to the Industry Ministry, throwing rocks and firecrackers at police and tearing down a part of the metal fence surrounding the building.
The Financial Times says HSBC is to apologise to US lawmakers for failing to have appropriate controls in place to ensure it did not facilitate the financing of terrorism and other criminal activities, transgressions that analysts estimate may cost it up to $1bn in fines. The papers says that in an internal memo to staff ahead of the British bank’s scheduled appearance in front of the US Senate’s investigative panel on July 17, Stuart Gulliver, chief executive, wrote that between 2004 and 2010, the bank’s anti-money laundering controls should have been stronger and more effective, and admitted they had failed to spot and deal with unacceptable behaviour. He said it was “right that we be held accountable and that we take responsibility for fixing what went wrong”.
Syria's ambassador to Iraq, Nawaf al-Fares, has issued an exclusive statement to Al Jazeera confirming that he had defected in protest at the military crackdown by President Assad's forces.. Fares, who also resigned from the Syrian Baath party, called upon the military to join the ranks of the Syrian revolution and urged all Syrians to come together and be patient in front of what he called “attempts by the regime” to divide them. Fares is the first senior Syrian diplomat to abandon the Assad government. Last week a Syrian general from a powerful family close to President Assad also defected.
CNN reports that western nations at the UN Security Council are threatening sanctions against the Syrian government if it failed to stop violence against its citizens. This would be part of a resolution renewing the mandate of the UN mission in Syria which expires next week. Russia has already opposed the idea and proposed a resolution that did not contain any threat of sanctions against Syria or action against Assad. France dismissed the proposal as "below the expectations of most of the international community".
Al Ahram quotes Egypt's new President Mohammed Mursi saying he would seek talks with political forces and the judiciary to resolve the growing power struggle between military leaders and the Islamist-dominated parliament. Mursi says he would respect a court ruling that overturned his decree to convene the parliament, in defiance of an earlier military decision to dissolve the assembly and call fresh elections. He said he was committed to the law and the constitution and keen to prevent any confrontation with military or judicial authorities.
Football’s governing body Fifa has released documents saying its former president, Joao Havelange, and his former son-in-law, Ricardo Teixeira, received illegal payments. Tribune de Genève reports the court documents said that between 1992 and 2000, the two men took almost 22 million Swiss Francs, now about 18 million euros, in payments from Fifa’s former marketing partner ISL. Switzerland's supreme court ordered the release of the documents identifying which senior officials took millions of dollars in payments from ISL. They are the only two Fifa officials named in the report.
The BBC has learnt that the British army was putting an extra 3,500 soldiers on standby to provide security for the Olympic Games, starting in just over two weeks. The original contractor is understood to be struggling to supply the 10,000 guards needed.
According to a report in Corriere della Sera, Silvio Berlusconi wants to be Italian prime minister again and is preparing to present his candidacy for the 2013 elections. The newspaper said Berlusconi had based his decision on opinion polls which showed his People of Freedom (PDL) party could win up to 30 per cent with him as its head, instead of current leader Angelino Alfano, a former justice minister. Even Alfano is backing the decision, saying he is one of the people encouraging Mr Berlusconi to make a comeback.
Jack remains the most popular name for baby boys in Ireland, marking five years at the top spot. The Irish Enquirer quotes new figures from the Central Statistics Office showing that Emily hit number one for baby girls' names for the first time last year. A total of 38,223 boys and 36,427 girls were born in Ireland in 2011. This was 326 less than 2010 but the yearly total of 74,650 was still more than 20 per cent higher than a decade ago.
Australia’s ABC reports that a Muslim women's rights group has condemned a Melbourne mosque's advice that polygamy was better than divorce. The advice was given to a troubled married woman who had sought help through the mosque's Facebook page. The Muslim Women's Centre for Human Rights believes polygamy is rare among Australian Muslims. However, it called on governments to do more to stamp out the practice where it did exist.