The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press.
The Times reports on Joseph Muscat's assurance that EU funds for Malta are not at risk. It also reports how the new humble pope is endearing himself with the people.
The Malta Independent says the PM is seeking to make new friends and maintain new ones during the EU summit. It also says EU leaders are walking a tightrope between austerity and growth.
In-Nazzjon says the Government made an unconstitutional move when it requested the resignation of the members of the Broadcasting Authority. The call was later withdrawn.
l-orizzont reports comments by Joseph Muscat that EU funds are not in danger because of the European Parliament’s decision to reject the EU Budget.
The overseas press
European Voice says EU leaders have acknowledged that the tough response to the financial crisis had its limits but gave little suggestion that the EU's austerity-centred policies would change. After their summit in Brussels they emphasised the need for job creation, particularly for the young, and insisted that there should be “short-term targeted measures” to boost growth. However, they said that there could be no abandonment of the tough fiscal discipline that has been implemented since the start of the eurozone crisis.
According to Le Monde, President François Hollande of France said that a lack of flexibility in budget rules led to unemployment and that the priority now was growth. At the end of the European Socialist Party meeting, before arriving at the European Council, Hollande noted that a growth pact had been signed last June and that it should now be implemented to affect 2013 as much as possible.
Deutsche Welle quotes Chancellor Angela Merkel saying Germany would proceed “very cautiously” on calls by the UK and France to ease a weapons embargo on Syria to help opposition fighters, while condemning the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for committing “repeated bloodbaths” in two years of conflict. France and the UK have called on the other 25 EU member states to scrap a European arms embargo on Syria after it expires at the end of May. Hollande said yesterday France would arm the opposition after the embargo expiration even if other EU countries support extending it.
Associated Press reports that on his first day as shepherd of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics, Pope Francis picked up his luggage at a Vatican hotel, personally thanked each member of the staff and even paid his own bill. Then, at his first Mass, he delivered a short, unscripted homily – in Italian, not the Latin of his predecessor – holding the cardinals who elected him responsible for keeping the Church strong. At gatherings of Latin American bishops, then-Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio was often a star speaker about economic inequities in a profit-driven world. He also has used the forums to warn fellow church leaders about drifting from core Catholic values and teachings.
Avvenire quotes Vatican spokesman Padre Federico Lombardi saying Pope Francis had part of a lung removed “many, many years ago”, adding that he still enjoyed good health. As a boy, Jorge Mario Bergaglio suffered from pneumonia and had part of his right lung removed in a painful operation from which it took him months to recover, according to Francesca Ambrogetti's 2010 biography of Francis, “El Jesuita” (The Jesuit). When he was 22, he joined the Jesuit order and hoped to become a missionary but was turned down because of his health.
The Jerusalem Post reveals Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reached an agreement to form a new coalition government, nearly two months of winning the general election. The new coalition includes two new rising stars in Israeli politics who have vowed to end a controversial system of draft exemptions and generous welfare subsidies granted to tens of thousands of ultra-Orthodox seminary students.
In a Thursday interview with Israeli television, President Obama said the US could prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, adding that he would keep all options open in the absence of a diplomatic solution. He also acknowledged the differences he has had with Netanyahu, but said the foundation of bilateral ties was strong, as was his commitment to Israel's security.
Rapid treatment after HIV infection may be enough to “functionally cure” about a tenth of those diagnosed early. The BBC quotes researchers in France saying they had been analysing 14 people who stopped therapy, but have since shown no signs of the virus resurging. It followed reports of a baby girl being effectively cured after very early treatment in the US.
Mail & Guardian reports some 28 percent of South African schoolgirls are HIV positive compared to only four percent of boys. Revealing the statistics, Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi condemned the trend of young girls’ involvement with “sugar daddies”. He also said that 94,000 South African schoolgirls, some aged as young as 10, fell pregnant in 2011.
France 24 says the European Court of Human Rights has declared that a French court violated a man’s freedom of expression when it convicted him of insulting Nicolas Sarkozy by turning the then-president’s own words against him. During a 2008 visit by Sarkozy to western France, Herve Eon waved a placard that read “casse-toi pauvre con” (Get lost, you sad prick). That exact expression was used by the president himself months earlier while he was glad-handing a crowd. Eon was convicted of insulting the president and received a suspended penalty of €30 in fines. But the European court said today the conviction violated his right to free expression and could have a chilling effect on satirical commentary.