The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press.
The Times of Malta says there is anger among victims of crime for the amnesty granted to prisoners.
The Malta Independent focuses on the oil procurement scandal, reporting from court how George Farrugia paid more than €90,000 to Alfred Mallia, former head of the Enemalta Petroleum Division.
In-Nazzjon quotes PN deputy leader Beppe Fenech Adami saying the PN has to look ahead towards victory, while being mindful of the mistakes it had made.
l-orizzont focuses on abuses in the Animal Welfare Department, saying some workers got more in overtime than their salary.
The overseas press
The European Commission has said it disagreed sharply with an International Monetary Fund report that put much of the blame for the failure of Greece's first debt bailout on Europe, calling some of its findings “plainly wrong”. AFP quotes a Commission spokesman saying they fundamentally disagreed with the IMF's view that Greece's massive debt burden should have been restructured at the outset, instead of waiting until 2012. Athens has praised the IMF's acknowledgement of failings.
While the level of the Danube River continues to rise because of heavy rains in Central Europe and threatens to reach Hungary, EU Commissioner for Financial Programming and Budget Janusz Lewandowski has warned that the EU had no money left this year to help flood victims. “We are without resources… in 2013 it is not possible,” he told Bulgarian newspaper 24 Chasa, thus contradicting other EU officials who have pledged support for flood victims. At least 16 people have died in Central Europe so far as a result of the disaster, which hit Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Austria.
Gazete Oku reports Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said that the redevelopment of Gezi Park in Istanbul would go ahead despite nationwide protests sparked by the plans, blaming the unrest on "terror groups" and foreigners. At Istanbul airport he told a crowd of 10,000 supporters who were welcoming him home from a four-day North Africa tour, the protests bordered on illegality and must end immediately. But as he spoke, thousands of anti-government protesters were also rallying in Istanbul's Taksim Square. The unrest began as a local protest over a park in Istanbul but spiralled into nationwide demonstrations.
The Jerusalem Post quotes Israeli military sources saying the Syrian army had taken control of a UN-monitored crossing in the Golan Heights that had been overrun by rebel forces. Tanks and armoured vehicles were used in the fighting at Quneitra, near Israeli-held territory. Austria has said it will withdraw its peacekeepers from the Golan Heights because of the fighting. It comes a day after Syrian troops backed by Lebanese Hezbollah militants retook the key town of Qusair.
Huffington Post says Al Qaida’s leader has urged Sunni Muslims to spare no effort to join the battle in Syria, overthrow President Bashar Assad and set up Islamic rule in the country. Ayman al-Zawahri called on Sunnis everywhere to devote their lives, money and expertise to the fight and prevent a US-allied government from taking over in post-Assad Syria. The message came in a new audio recording posted yesterday on the Internet.
The Washington Post reports members of the US Congress and the White House have defended a top secret National Security Agency amd FBI programme that continues to collect data from millions of phone records, calling it “a critical tool in protecting the nation from terrorist threats”. The admission was made after the British newspaper The Guardian reported that the United States has been collecting the telephone records of millions of Americans under a top secret court order. Civil liberties supporters remained skeptical.
Russia's President Vladimir Putin and wife Lyudmila have confirmed that they had divorced. Vladimir Putin told Rossia-24 television after a ballet show at the Kremlin. that they practically never see each other. Lyudmila, who has been rarely seen in public in recent years, said their two children had grown up and her ex-husband was “drowned in work”. Their daughters, Maria and Yekaterina, have also remained shielded from public view.
The Times leads with the Duke of Edinburgh’s admission to hospital for an exploratory operation following abdominal investigations. He is expected to stay in the hospital for up to two weeks. The operation will take place today under general anaesthetic. Prince Philip will be 92 next Monday.
Irrawady quotes Burma’s Opposition Leader Aung San Suu Kyi declaring she wants to run in Burma's 2015 presidential election. Burma's constitution, however, bars anyone with spouses or children overseas from the office. Suu Kyi's two sons are British nationals. Addressing world leaders and heads of business at the World Economic Forum on East Asia, the Nobel Peace laureate called for the amendment of the military-drafted constitution which prevents her from leading the country.
Jakarta Post says that amid mounting protests from hardline Muslim groups, the Miss World organisers have replaced bikinis from this year’s pageant in Indonesia with beach sarongs. The 2013 competition is being hosted in the resort island of Bali and the capital, Jakarta, in September.