The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press:
The Times says BOV is faced with fresh claims by 40 investors who claimed they were misled.
The Malta Independent reports that the eurozone crisis means Europe is facing its most serious challenge in a generation. It also reports on the death of a young man who choked on cereal, saying Cospicua is in shock at the death of the ‘Maltese Nedved’
In-Nazzjon says €187 million have been given in assistance to SMEs.
l-orizzont gives prominence to what it describes as a ‘historic’ meeting between Malta’s three leading union groups.
The overseas press:
EU economic and monetary affairs commissioner Olli Rehn is today expected to cut his forecasts for economic growth in the 27-member states of the union as the debt crisis gripping the region threatens to spread. Sky News says Rehn is poised to issue his assessment of the euro's health only hours after France and Germany insisted that stricken Greece remained an “integral” part of the eurozone. Addressing the European Parliament on Wednesday Rehn said Greece's place was firmly within the single currency zone.
Börzen Zeitung reports that Rehn’s comments came as German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou held an emergency phone summit. In a joint statement after the phone conference, they issued statements insisting that Greece would remain and integral part of the eurozone.
The head of the Libyan National Transitional Council, Mustafa Abdul Jalil, has said that the country’s ousted leader Muammar Gaddafi was likely to carry out counter attacks on cities, oil fields and power plants across Libya and has appealed for weapons. Jalil told the BBC the remnants of Gaddafi’ regime still posed a serious threat as they had taken a large amount of money and all the gold from the Libyan central bank.
Gaddafi loyalists still control four areas, including Sirte on the Mediterranean coast, and Bani Walid, south-east of the capital Tripoli, as well as Jufra and Sabha. Jalil said many pro-Gaddafi forces had fled to Sabha in the southern desert. Gaddafi's fugitive spokesman, Moussa Ibrahim, speaking on a satellite phone, told the Reuters news agency that the 69-year-old leader was still in Libya, in good spirits and gathering his forces for a fightback. He said the regime had “thousands upon thousands of volunteers”.
Tribune de Genève quotes the International Committee of the Red Cross saying mass graves were being discovered in Libya on a weekly basis. The ICRC says 125 bodies had been found in 12 mass graves discovered around Tripoli. It has urged the Libyan authorities to prevent “improvised exhumations”.
O Globo announces the resignation of Brazil’s Tourism Minister Pedro Novais over allegations that he had misused public funds to employ a maid and a driver for his wife while he was a congressman. He denied wrongdoing, and said he stepped down to prepare his defence. He is the fourth minister to resign or be sacked over corruption allegations since President Dilma Rousseff took office in January.
El Tiempo reports that a Colombian court has sentenced former intelligence chief Jorge Noguera to 25 years in prison for collaborating with paramilitary death squads. He was found guilty of allowing right-wing paramilitaries to infiltrate the intelligence service and helping them murder an academic activist.
Metro says the “sell-by” date on food packaging in the UK is to be removed in a bid to cut £12-billion-worth of good food that is thrown away unnecessarily. Instead, packaging will only carry one of two phrases – “use by” or “best before”. Households in the UK throw away 8.3 million tons of food and drink every year – 60 per cent of which could be avoided. Families are wasting up to £50 a month throwing out food that is still edible.
The BBC reports that dolphin watchers in west Wales have spotted unusual behaviour as a female repeatedly tossed a newborn calf into the air. They say it is the first time such 'violent' behaviour has been seen by a mother in Cardigan Bay although males dolphins do sometimes kill the young. Dr Peter Evans, from the Sea Watch Foundation, said it might have been a case of a severe telling off, because the calf was wandering away from her. He added the youngster was unharmed.