The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press:
The Times says trade unions and employers have accepted the cost of living increase planned for the Budget, but want changes in the formula for the future. It also reports on the conferment of an honoris causa on Joseph Calleja.
The Malta Independent says that Gonzi and Muscat battled it out on Xarbank last night. It also reports on the arguments over reconciliation between the PN and Franco Debono.
In-Nazzjon also leads with yesterday’s debate, saying Joseph Muscat said nothing new, while the prime minister spoke on the people’s priorities.
l-orizzont focuses on yesterday’s debate and says no one believes the prime minister any longer.
The overseas press
In an interview with Süddeutsche Zeitung, European Commissioner for Financial Planning and Budget Janusz Lewandowski has called on Britain to declare whether it intended to remain part of the bloc in the long term. Lewandowski said the increase in the EU Budget was essential because the EU had many more responsibilities in view of the bloc’s expansion and the resulting costs. His draft budget for the seven years beginning in 2014 comes in at around one trillion euros – a five percent increase from the previous seven-year period. However, critics have argued that with national governments in the eurozone in particular being forced to implement austerity measures, it is the wrong time for the EU to be demanding more money.
USA Today says Syrian rebels have been urged to uphold the international rules of war after a gruesome video emerged purportedly showing opposition fighters executing captured government troops. The footage appears to show Syrian rebels beating around 10 soldiers before lining them up on the ground and executing them with automatic rifles. The United Nations says if verified, the killings would constitute a war crime.
Fox News reports that the New York marathon – one of America’s major sporting events expected to draw some 45,000 runners – has been cancelled after a fierce backlash against plans to hold the race so soon after the city was ravaged by Hurricane Sandy. The storm has killed at least 90 people in the north-eastern, almost half of them in New York, while almost four million homes and businesses are still without fuel and electricity.
The Wall Street Journal says both candidates in the US presidential election have sought to gain political advantage from the latest employment figures which showed the creation of 171,000 jobs in October but the unemployment rate climbed 0.1 percent to reach 7.9 percent. President Obama said there was evidence of real progress on the economy but Mitt Romney said it was still at a virtual standstill. Tuesday's election is seen to be a neck and neck race, with neither candidate enjoying a comfortable margin in pre-election polls.
Virginia Globe reports two members of an Internet piracy group have been sentenced to 53 months imprisonment after they admitted charges of conspiracy to commit criminal copyright infringement stemming from unauthorized online distribution of first-run films. They were also ordered to pay $457,000 (€445,000) in restitution. Both were indicted for their roles in a ring that sought to copy and release to the Internet copies of movies only showing in theatres.
President Putin, whose image of physical vigour has been key to his success, has cancelled several foreign trips in recent weeks and has rarely left his suburban residence outside Moscow. His absence has prompted speculation over the state of his health. Despite denials from the Kremlin, the rumours are growing that the all-action President has been laid low by injury. A respected Russian newspaper, Vedomosti, has claimed that a publicity stunt in which Putin tried to lead cranes on their migratory paths in a motorised hang-glider aggravated an old back injury.
France 24 says Paris's world famous Louvre museum has denied accusations by that it was exhibiting tiles stolen from Turkey hundreds of years ago. Turkey's Radikal newspaper said they were "stolen" from the Piyale Pasha mosque designed by Ottoman imperial architect Mimar Sinan for the vizier and grand admiral Piyale Mehmed Pasha and built between 1565 and 1573. Louvre authorities told AFP there had been no official demand from Ankara to return the tiles, adding they had been acquired legally.
Metro says a car believed to be the oldest surviving Vauxhall has been sold for £94,460 (€118,000) at an auction. The 1903 two-seater was snapped up by a UK buyer at Bonhams in London for almost £15,000 (€19,000) more than its guide price.
The bank account of the Jerusalem church built on the site where Jesus Christ was crucified has been frozen as the result of a long-standing dispute with an Israeli water company. Greek Orthodox priest Isidoros Fakitsas told the Associated Press that the move has made it impossible for the Church of the Holy Sepulchre to pay bills and the salaries of some 500 priests and monks, 2,000 teachers and the running costs of over 30 Christian schools that the church runs in the Palestinian territories and Jordan. For decades, the church was exempt by the different leaderships which ruled over Jerusalem's Old City from paying water bills until a few years ago when the Israeli water company began pressing it to pay up.