The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press:
The Sunday Times reports that rebel MPs are refusing to guarantee support to the government.
The Malta Independent reports how Richard Cachia Caruana is pressing criminal charges against Joe Mizzi.
MaltaToday quotes Franco Debono and JPO saying that the President would be right to question if the prime minister commands a majority in Parliament . Italso says that according to an election opinion poll, the swing from the PN to the Pl has widened to nine points. .
It-Torca claims Dr Gonzi is being pressed to hold a general election. It also says that the government is not abiding by contractual obligations in the Cospicua project.
Il-Mument leads with the PN statement that Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando had not supplied the party Executive with the required details regarding his case against Richard Cachia Caruana, It also says that Labour councillors in Cospicua want to move a no confidence motion on Labour Mayor Joe Scerri.
Illum says there is open war in the PN and Nationalists are losing hope of serving out the whole term.
KullHadd quotes Jesmond Mugliett saying he found last Thursday’s decision by the PN Executive as ‘strange’.
The overseas press
Eurogroup head Jean-Claude Juncker has said he did not expect Germany's Constitutional Court to block the new euro zone's European Stability Mechanism (ESM) bailout fund. He told Der Spiegel he believed judges were aware of the need for a verdict before a new round of crisis meetings in September when decisions would be taken on Greece's €130 billion bailout. The court agreed on Tuesday to examine complaints lodged against the ESM and financial markets have been unsettled by the prospect of it taking up to three months before it comes to a decision.
French President François Hollande has promised to make employment and growth his top priorities, despite the country's stagnant economic climate. France 24 says that in his first major interview since his May election victory, French President François Hollande sought to portray himself as the man who will put the French economy back on track, improve competitiveness and make employment his "top priority". In Saturday's traditional Bastille Day interview, Hollande said Peugeot’s plan to slash 8,000 jobs, which caused a massive outcry when announced last Thursday, was “unacceptable”, adding that the state would intervene to renegotiate the plan.
El Universal says Mexican police are searching for an armed gang that attacked a Christian youth camp outside Mexico City. Prosecutors said the gang subjected the campers to an ordeal lasting several hours. Seven girls were raped and other youths were beaten before the attackers escaped in stolen vehicles.
Al Jazeera reports that UN observers, who yesterday visited the scene of an attack earlier this week on the western Syrian village of Tremseh, said it seemed to have targeted mainly army defectors and anti-government activists. They said the troops had used heavy weapons such as artillery in the attack, described by the opposition as a "massacre". The Tremseh attack has triggered a global outcry against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon calling for "decisive" action to stop the bloodshed.
The Egyptian Independent says US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton has described her first talks with Egypt’s new president in Cairo as “constructive”. She urged Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood to start a dialogue with military leaders to preserve the country’s transition to democracy. During her two day visit, Clinton is also scheduled to meet with Marshal Hussein Tantawi, Chief of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, and representatives of civil society, including Copts and activists of women's rights.
Ethiopian Community Television reports the presidents of Sudan and South Sudan have held their first private talks since their countries came close to a conflict earlier this year. The meeting between Omar al-Bashir and Salva Kiir took place during an African Union summit in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa.
Meanwhile, Oman Observer quotes African leaders telling the summit that the conflict in Mali was one of the most serious challenges facing the continent. Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara said terrorists groups were attempting to create a sanctuary in Mali. The vast desert north of Mali has been taken over by Al Qaeda-linked radicals in the aftermath of a March military coup in the capital Bamako in the south, raising fears of a new regional haven for extremists.
Afghan Post says a suicide bomber has blown himself up in a wedding hall in northern Afghanistan, killing at least 23 people including a prominent warlord-turned-politician and three Afghan security force officials, and wounding 60 others. Ahmad Khan Samangani, an ethnic Uzbek and anti-Soviet guerilla leader in the 1980s who later became a member of parliament, was welcoming guests to his daughter’s wedding when the explosion occurred. President Hamid Karzai condemned the attack. No one has yet claimed responsibility for the blast.
Mail & Guardian reports that the driver of a farm truck carrying fruit-pickers that was hit by a coal train has been charged with the murder of 25 workers who died in the accident in South Africa. The police said investigations suggested negligence by the 32-year-old driver as the train approached a level. At least 25 others were injured as the truck was dragged 200 metres along the tracks.