The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press.
The Times of Malta reports how the sister of the President's daughter-in-law was offered a grant to fund her Master's course in eating disorders management by the Community Chest Fund. The offer was reportedly turned down.
The Malta Independent reports on the nominations submitted yesterday for the PN leadership posts.
MaltaToday says Mario de Marco was unsure about whether to stand for the PN deputy leadership elections.
l-orizzont says more than 63,000 were at risk of poverty in 2001, including half of single parents.
In-Nazzjon focuses on the nominations for the PN leadership posts, saying the process of renewal is continuing. It also reports on the appointment of the shadow cabinet.
The overseas press
Gruesome video footage of a Syrian rebel leader taking a bite from the heart of a government soldier as revenge for atrocities committed by the government has sparked international condemnation. ABC reports the US-based Human Rights Watch said the video showed the rebel then urging his followers to do the same to Alawites – the Muslim sect that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad belongs to. UN Human Rights Commissioner Navi Pillay called it a “truly atrocious act”. She has urged the UN Security Council to refer the conflict in Syria to the International Criminal Court so all sides guilty of war crimes can be prosecuted.
The Independent says European inspectors have raided the offices of major oil companies BP, Shell and Statoil in a cross-border investigation into possible manipulation of petrol prices at the expense of consumers. The European Commission said it had begun an investigation, without naming any of the companies involved. BP, Shell and Statoil subsequently said that their offices were subject to investigation, as was the London offices of the Platts agency that compiles benchmark oil industry prices. The Daily Telegraph claims that “petrol prices (had been) rigged for a decade”.
The BBC reports the European Council has agreed that an extra €7.3 billon be added to the EU's budget for 2013 under a compromise reached between member states in Brussels. Several EU member-states had objected to the European Commission's original request for €11.2 billion to settle unpaid bills. Nonetheless, under the qualified majority voting system, the Council has gathered enough support to ensure the extra funding will be passed when it holds a formal vote in a few weeks' time.
Europe's ongoing economic crisis and lasting currency woes are beginning to rapidly erode faith among Europeans in the EU project. Der Spiegel says that is the result of a new survey carried out in eight EU member states which concludes that “The European Union is the new sick man of Europe”. It shows that in just one year, the share of Europeans who view the European Union project favourably plummeted from 60 percent in 2012 to just 45 percent this year. Furthermore, only in Germany does a majority continue to support granting more power to Brussels in an effort to combat the ongoing crisis.
AFP reports Fitch has raised Greece's long-term credit rating by one notch to “B minus”, thus removing it from being at risk of default. The credit agency quotes progress in balancing the country's finances and improving its trade competitiveness for its decision. It said the outlook was stable.
The Washington Post says US Attorney General Eric Holder has defended the Justice Department's secret examination of Associated Press phone records, saying it was justified as part of an investigation into a grave national security leak. The US government's wide-ranging information gathering from the news cooperative has led to prominent Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill, along with press freedom groups, expressing outrage.
Russia has expelled a US diplomat it claims was caught disguised in a blonde wig while trying to recruit a Russian agent in Moscow. Pravda reports Russia’s security services claimed a third secretary at the US Embassy in Moscow was a CIA officer. It said he was carrying special technical equipment, disguises, written instructions and a large sum of money when he was detained.
USA Today says the Philadelphia abortion doctor convicted of killing three babies born alive at his rogue clinic dodged a possible death sentence after a deal with prosecutors. Dr Kermit Gosnell, 72, waived his right to appeal in exchange for a sentence of life without parole.
France 24 reports a French prosecutor on Tuesday called for the founder of a firm whose faulty breast implants sparked a global health scare to be given a four-year prison sentence on fraud charges. In closing arguments at the month-long trial in Marseille, prosecutor Jacques Dallest also called for PIP founder Jean-Claude Mas to pay a €100,000 fine and to be banned from working in medical services or from running a company. The defence begins its closing arguments today.
The Times says police and social workers have apologised for not protecting vulnerable schoolgirls who were sexually abused and exploited by a paedophile ring in the UK. The admissions of failure, which saw the girls being drugged and raped when they were supposed to be in the care of the authorities, came as seven men were found guilty of a catalogue of offences including rape, trafficking and organising prostitution over eight years involving girls as young as 11 in the Oxford area. Two other defendants were cleared.
La Nazione reports investigators have opened a probe into the archaeological damage caused by the Costa Concordia cruise liner that ram aground off the coast of Tuscany and killed 32 people. The ship is resting on top of two ruins from 200 BC and its impact has destroyed a third site that dates back to 600 BC. The investigation is the third case into the liner, adding to one for manslaughter and another for environmental damage.
According to Il Corriere dell Sud, police in Calabria caught a man leaving house arrest to go back to jail because he was fed up of living with his wife. The 34-year-old, arrested last month for driving without a license and refusing to take a drugs test, was nabbed outside his home in Crotone with his suitcase packed, ready to return to prison. He told police he had just had a row with his wife.