The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press:
The Times reports how the GWU has warned of action unless the government guarantees Air Malta jobs. It also reports that the Church donated €180,000 to the ‘No’ campaign.
The Malta Independent features the call by the MHRA for urgent decisions on Air Malta.
In-Nazzjon says a Spanish company - Mapfre – has concluded talks to take a majority stake in Middlesea Insurance.
l-orizzont leads with the GWU call for the government to assure Air Malta workers about their jobs.
The overseas press
Deutsche Welle reports that heads of the 27 European Union member-states begin a two-day meeting in Brussels with plans for a second emergency loan package for Greece at the top of the agenda. German Chancellor Angela Merkel welcomed the Greek parliament's vote of confidence in Prime Minister George Papandreou, saying eurozone nations offering help to Greece wanted the Mediterranean country's conservative opposition to rally behind Papandreou and support the budget cuts. The meeting is also expected to reach a deal to end EU accession talks with Croatia.
Fuji TV says a magnitude-6.7 earthquake that rattled north-east Japan triggered a tsunami warning. However, the Japan Meteorological Agency cancelled it about an hour later. According to the US Geological Survey, the earthquake was offshore Honshu island, and some 325 miles north east of Tokyo. The quake was 19.9 miles deep. It was the same area of the Pacific where a massive magnitude 9 quake hit on March 11, heralding the deadly tsunami. At least 23,000 people were killed or left missing in those disasters, which destroyed hundreds of Japanese homes, offices and factories.
Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi has accused Nato states of murder, two days after members of the family of a close aide were killed in an air strike. In an audio message broadcast on state JamahariyaTV late on Wednesday, he described those who carried out the bombardment as "criminals" and "barbarians". Nato has said it regretted any civilian deaths, but that the targeted residence was a “command and control centre”.
Meanwhile, Corriere della Sera quotes Italy's foreign minister calling for an immediate halt to hostilities in Libya. Franco Frattini said a ceasefire was necessary to allow humanitarian aid to be delivered to the war-torn country. He also urged Nato to provide more details of its aerial campaign and precise guidelines on “dramatic errors involving civilians”. But Nato's Secretary General, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, said the alliance's air campaign was protecting civilians and would continue.
Voice of America announces that President Barack Obama has confirmed that 33,000 troops are to be withdrawn from Afghanistan by autumn next year. In a speech at the White House outlining US plans, Obama said his administration was able to remove troops because al Qaeda was under more pressure than it had been at any point since the attacks on the US on September 11, 2001, that led to the invasion of Afghanistan later that year. The president said the US would continue to participate in initiatives aimed at uniting the Afghan people and strengthening security within the country.
Pravda quotes Mikhail Kasyanov, a former prime minister and one of Russia’s opposition coalition leaders saying the Russia's Justice Ministry had denied them right to register as a political party. The decision means the liberal Party of People's Freedom would be unable to take part in the parliamentary election in December. Kasyanov said the elections could not be regarded as free. The coalition party was formed last month to unite Russia's previously splintered opposition
Prominent Chinese artist Ai Wei Wei has confirmed that he had been released on bail from police custody, nearly three months after his arrest in a Chinese government crackdown on dissidents. He told the German daily tabloid Bild, “I am fine, I am back home and I am free,” the artist. As for the details of his imprisonment, which outraged the international community, and his release, Ai said only: "I cannot speak. Please understand." According to China's official Xinhua news agency, Wei Wei was released on bail due to “his good attitude in confessing his crimes”, his willingness to repay the taxes he owed and medical grounds.
Gulf Daily News reports that Bahrain has sentenced eight Shia pro-democracy activists to life imprisonment for “plotting to overthrow the government”. They were among 21 opposition figures tried by a special security court. Others got sentences of up to 15 years. Bahrain's mainly Shia protesters have been calling for democratic reforms and more rights for the country's Shia majority in the Sunni-ruled kingdom.
Sydney Morning Herald says the staff at an Australian library were left stunned after a Charles Darwin book was returned 122 years late. The stamp inside the first edition copy of the “Insectivorous Plants” revealed it had originally been borrowed on January 30, 1889, before being lost to a private collection for 50 years. When it was eventually passed on to a local university, the book was returned to its rightful owners. The book would now be preserved within the library.