The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press:
The Times says no flood of divorce applications is expected next week, when the divorce law comes into force. According to lawyers, many couples are still considering the way forward.
The Malta Independent highlights President George Abela’s call for constitutional reform during his visit to the Broadcasting Authority.
In-Nazzjon reports on the 2,500 cataract operations being held in private hospitals and paid for by the government.
l-orizzont says farmers are being fined for having slaughtered animals without following regulations, years ago. However they are being asked to make a sworn declaration for the matter to be forgotten.
The overseas press
European leaders have expressed a collective sigh of relief after Germany kept alive hopes that the 17-nation euro currency could survive the sprawling debt crisis when lawmakers in Europe's largest economy voted overwhelmingly in favour of expanding the powers of the eurozone's bailout fund. Deutsche Welle reports the European Commission hailed Germany's decision to strengthen the fund, with a spokesman for Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn describing the bloc as "happy," as European politicians lined up to welcome the result. Under the new terms, the EFSF's lending capacity would be increased to €440 billion and it would have new powers to buy up bonds of shaky economies or lend to governments before they reach full-blown crisis. European stocks jumped as news of the vote, coupled with better-than-expected US economic data, reassured investors.
Le Monde says President Sarkozy will meet with Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou in Paris today to discuss the debt crisis. Papandreou met German hancellor Angela Merkel for similar talks Tuesday. Germany and France combined represent about half of the 17-nation eurozone's economic output. Greece was saved from default by an initial €110-billion-bailout in May last year before the EFSF was established to help any other countries in trouble. A planned second rescue package for Greece this year includes a voluntary participation by private bondholders, who agreed to write off about 20 percent on their Greek debt holdings.
Kathimerini reports that auditors from the European Union, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund resumed talks with officials in Athens to decide whether Greece would receive the next round of its bailout, worth some $8 billion. The auditors, known as the troika, are to assess the success of Athens' latest cost-cutting programme.
Ethnos says that as the troika began its talks, hundreds of demonstrators at the Finance Ministry, joined by public servants from the ministries of health, agriculture and justice, blocked the doors of government offices to protest the new wave of austerity measures. Workers who took over the Interior Ministry building hung a giant black banner from the balconies and draped the ministry’s gate with a Greek flag emblazoned with a “for sale” sign.
Bloomberg says the financial situation in Europe should become more stable in the future because of new rules endorsed by the European Parliament. MEPs in Strasbourg voted in favour of a new set of rules that would govern how eurozone states manage their economies in the years ahead. The rules enable the European Commission to take action with member countries if they breach budgetary and economic policies. Sanctions and fines can be imposed on countries that break the rules.
Al Bawaba reports that angry supporters of President Bashar Assad's regime hurled tomatoes and eggs at the American ambassador to Syria on Thursday as he entered the office of a leading opposition figure and then tried to break into the building, trapping him inside for three hours. The Washington Post says the Obama administration blamed the Syrian government for the attack in Damascus, saying it was part of an ongoing, orchestrated campaign to intimidate American diplomats in the country. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton condemned the attack as "wholly unjustified."
Khaleej Times reports that Bahrain’s special security court has sentenced a protester to death for killing a policeman, and jailed doctors and nurses who treated injured protesters during the uprising earlier this year. The tribunal sentenced 13 medical professionals each to 15 years in prison. In addition, two doctors were sentenced to 10 years each while five other medics convicted today got shorter prison terms of five years each.
Ansa says an Italian defense lawyer has argued that Amanda Knox was an innocent girl "crucified" in the media and wrongly convicted of killing her roommate. Urging an appeals court not to be afraid to correct a mistake, Carlo Dalla Vedova told the court that Knox had been the victim of a "tragic judicial case" and had spent more than 1,000 days behind bars as a result. The highly anticipated verdict in the appeals case is expected Monday.
Christian News quotes the lawyer of an Iranian pastor sentenced to death for apostasy (renunciation of a religion) saying he was hopeful an appeals court would acquit him. Mohammad Ali Dadkhah says he believed in a “95 per cent chance” of acquittal for 32-year-old Youcef Nadarkhani, who turned to Christianity when he was 19 and later became a pastor in the northern Iranian city of Rasht. He was convicted of apostasy in 2010 and remains in prison in Rasht. Neither Iranian law nor clerics have ever stipulated the death penalty as punishment for converting from Islam to Christianity.
Reality TV star and model Holly Madison has insured her breasts for $1 million with Lloyd's of London. Madison, 31, told People magazine she took out the policy to protect herself and others in her Las Vegas production, Peepshow. "If anything happened to my boobs, I'd be out for a few months and I'd probably be out a million dollars," she told People. "I thought I'd cover my assets." Madison has said she had plastic surgery in 2001 that took her from an A-cup size to a larger D-cup.