The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press:
The Times leads with the Vince Farrugia assault case and reports how a witness for the prosecution admitted lying under oath. It also reports on Labour MP Adrian Vassallo’s attack on liberals yesterday and also says that the EU tide appears to have turned for Tonio Borg.
The Malta Independent says Tonio Borg faces tough questioning from MEPs today.
l-orizzont carries a big picture of Vince Farugia and says he wanted a member of the GRTU staff to lie in his favour.
In-Nazzjon leads with the inauguration of the €23m Gasco gas plant.
The overseas press
AFP reports that eurozone finance ministers, meeting in Brussels, clashed openly with the head of the International Monetary Fund on a key debt target in Greece's bailout programme. Speaking after the meeting dominated by Greece, Eurogroup head Jean-Claude Juncker said he believed the country's debt target of 120 percent of GDP should be put back two years to 2022. IMF head Christine Lagarde said she believed it should remain at 2020, the date set in Greece's €240-billion second bailout finally agreed earlier this year.
Meanwhile, the BBC says a draft document prepared for the eurozone finance ministers suggests that Greece should be given two more years to meet budget goals, but that this will add €32.6 billion to its bailout. Eurozone finance ministers also delayed a decision on whether to release the latest €31.5-billion tranche of bailout funds. They said they would meet again to discuss the issue on 20 November.
Il Mondo quotes Italian Premier Mario Monti saying on Monday that the European Union budget was "central" to spurring growth and development in Europe. Speaking in Paris, where he met with French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault, Monti said the two discussed the "contribution" their countries could make towards growth, which would be a focus at a special meeting of the European Council on November 22-23.
El Pais reports major Spanish banks have agreed to stop evicting defaulting home owners in an attempt to calm increasing unrest affecting thousands and which led to two recent suicides. Home owners unable to make monthly payments can be evicted but also remain liable to repay whatever is left on the mortgage after the repossession. More than 350,000 people have lost their homes in this way over the past four years, many because they have lost their jobs or seen their wages plummet due to the crisis.
Ansa says prosecutors in the southern Italian town of Trani have requested managers of Standard & Poor's and Fitch be indicted for alleged market tampering related to the international rating agencies' assessments. Prosecutors said earlier this year that they were investigating the possibility that "false, unfounded or imprudent judgements" had unduly affected markets. The agencies deny any wrongdoing.
Deutsche Welle says Germany, the US and Ireland have won seats on the UN Human Rights Council in a closely-contested election. Human rights groups like Amnesty International, Freedom House and Human Rights Watch voiced concern over more than half of the 18 members elected. Brazil, Kenya and Sierra Leone were listed as "questionable". Ethiopia, the Ivory Coast, Gabon, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, the United Arab Emirates and Venezuela were listed as completely unsuitable.
Al Ahram reports Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas sating the Palestinian Authority would present its bid for non-state UN membership on November 29, despite US and Israeli opposition. He was speaking in Cairo following talks with Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi and called for support from Arab states. US President Barack Obama told Abbas in a telephone conversation on Sunday that his administration opposes the Palestinian UN initiative, and Israeli officials have threatened punitive measures if the Palestinians go ahead with the bid.
The Syrian opposition says it has been promised western military support in return for forming a united front. The Guardian quotes British diplomats saying Friday’s donors' conference in London intended to consolidate the new rebel coalition. Neither the UK nor French governments are ruling out arming the opposition in the coming months in an attempt to break the deadlock in Syria. Earlier, the Arab League foreign ministers meeting in Cairo recognised the newly-formed Syrian opposition bloc as "legitimate" urging more opposition groups to join the coalition.
CIA Director David Petraeus was shocked to learn that his mistress was suspected of sending threatening emails warning another woman to stay away from him, former staff members and friends have told The Associated Press. Petraeus told these associates his relationship with the second woman, Tampa socialite Jill Kelley, was platonic, though his biographer-turned-lover Paula Broadwell apparently saw her as a romantic rival.
The Daily Star says a Saudi women’s rights activist has filed a lawsuit against the interior ministry over a decree banning women from obtaining driving licences in the ultra-conservative kingdom. Nassima al-Sadah is the third woman to file such a lawsuit this year over the rule which enforces a traditional ban on women driving in the Muslim desert nation. Saudi Arabia is the only country in the world that bans women from driving.
Asia Times reports Toyota is testing safety systems using cars that communicate with each other and with the roads they are on. The cars get information, such as pedestrians crossing the street or cars advancing from blind spots, from sensors and transmitters installed on streets. The company said the technology will be tested on some roads in Japan in 2014.
Seattle Post says a Tulsa man was arrested after police found his 18-month-old daughter locked in a metal dog cage, his naked 4-year old daughter outside on a cold afternoon and him asleep in a drug or alcohol "induced stupor". A neighbour alerted the police after finding the older child outside the family's home, as temperatures dropped to 4.5oC.