The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press.
The Times of Malta says a science guru, Chris Evans, wants the prime minister to apologise after reports of dismissal from his role at Malta Enterprise. He says he quit his role last year.
l-orizzont focuses on the Opposition’s walkout in parliament, quoting a comment by the prime minister that the case stemmed from “An unsubstantiated lie”.
In-Nazzjon says the Opposition exercised its right for freedom of expression in Parliament. It also highlights how a circular had been issued to deny stipends to O level revision students.
The Malta Independent says the Arriva bendy buses safety report has not been presented to Transport Malta.
The overseas press
President Obama has sent Wall Street a blunt warning that it should be very worried about the political crisis that has shut down the government and could trigger a US debt default. In an interview with CNBC – apparently designed to pressure Republicans by targeting the financial community moments after markets closed – Obama said he was “exasperated” by the budget impasse in Congress.
Fox News says talks at the White House, grouping top Democratic and Republicans leaders, appeared to make little progress in ending the shutdown, which enters into a third day. Republican House Speaker John Boehner complained that Democrats would not negotiate to end the stalemate. Senate Democratic Majority leader Harry Reid left the White House talks, which lasted just over an hour, complaining Boehner would not shift his insistence on using the budget crisis to try to dismantle or gut Obama's signature healthcare law.
Ansa quotes Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta saying the coalition government's survival on of a make-or-break confidence motion had left it “stronger and more united”, adding “snap polls would have been a mistake”.
AGI says the Council of Europe committee on migration has rejected Italian policies, saying Italy had not demonstrated an ability to properly manage ongoing migration flows. It said that every measure taken by Italy in recent years to manage migration flows had been “wrong or counterproductive”. Meanwhile, 130 other illegal immigrants made it to Sicily.
Ekho Moskvy radio confirms an armed group broke into Russia's embassy grounds in Libya's capital on Wednesday but was then dispersed by guards. A Libyan official quoted by the Associated Press news agency said the attackers climbed over the embassy walls from three directions, firing into the air, and broke down the metal entrance gate and pulled down the Russian flag. Shots fired had left five people wounded.
Fox News says a jury has rejected a lawsuit brought by Michael Jackson's mother claiming AEG Live was negligent in hiring Conrad Murray, the doctor who killed Jackson with an overdose of a hospital anesthetic the singer used as a sleep aid.
Metro reports a French court has fined Ryanair €8 million for breaking local employment laws. The court found the low-cost airline acted illegally when it employed staff on Irish contracts at its former Marseille operating centre between 2006 and 2010. Ryanair was ordered to pay a €200,000 fine, €4 million of backdated social charges, €3 million in pension contributions, as well as €450,000 in unemployment charges. A company spokesman said the firm would be lodging an appeal.
Doctors in China have been left stunned after discovering a two-year-old boy was carrying an undeveloped foetus inside his stomach. Xinhua says the pregnant toddler had to undergo an operation to “give birth” to his own parasitic twin after doctors discovered the foetus, which measured 20 cms and had also formed a spine, fingers and toes. The parasitic twin would have killed the child, if it had been left untreated.
The Baltimore Sun reports the death of American author Tom Clancy – whose name is inseparable from an entire genre of tech-savvy military and espionage thrillers that he almost single-handedly popularised.
La Gazzetta dello Sport announces that an Italian Soccer Federation tribunal increased a ban on Lazio captain Stefano Mauri to nine months after finding him guilty of failing to report attempted match-fixing.