The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press:
The Times reports that Air Malta is to slash its overseas posts. It also says that a ruling by the Appeals Court has opened the door wider for free treatment abroad.
The Malta Independent reports that the government is considering a gas pipeline from Sicily. It also says that the Finance Minister has met a prospective bidder for the Selmun Palace Hotel.
In-Nazzjon leads with comments by Finance Minister Tonio Fenech that investment in energy is aimed at keeping Malta as an attractive investment destination.
l-orizzont reports that Selmun Palace Hotel workers expressed their anger on the steps of Castille yesterday. They held a second protest over their sacking.
The overseas press
Greek trade unions have started a two-day general strike in protest at the parliamentary vote tomorrow to introduce tough austerity measures. Kathimerini says huge crowds of protesters were expected on the streets of Athens, with many services set to grind to a halt. These include air land and seas transport. Doctors, ambulance drivers, journalists and even state-funded actors were also taking part. The unions were angry that the government's austerity programme would impose taxes on those earning the minimum wage, following months of other cuts which have seen unemployment rise to more than 16 per cent.
Ethnos quotes Prime Minister Georges Papandreou in Parliament yesterday urging political parties to back his government’s $28-billion package, saying it was the only chance for Greece to get back on its feet. If the government lost, the EU and IMF could withhold €12 billion of loans and Greece could run out of money in weeks.
Meanwhile, La Tribune reports President Sarkozy has said French banks were ready to offer new 30-year loans to Greece when its current debts fall due. He said other European countries whose banks had lent money to Greece were considering the same model to help prevent a default. A Greek default would have grave consequences on all 17 countries that use the euro and rock markets worldwide.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao has arrived in Berlin for wide-ranging talks with the German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Börzen Zeitung says among the topics was the crisis which has hit the eurozone. Before his trip to Europe began last week, Wen explained to his government that solving Europe's debt crisis would be of great interest to China. The country’s foreign exchange reserves, at over €2 billion, were the largest in the world. One fourth of these were in euros. According to official Chinese statements, China has already bought up debt from euro countries for billions of euros since April alone.
Meanwhile, the Financial Times reports Britain and China have announced that they had signed new bilateral trade deals worth €1.4 billion. Although talks were dominated by the country's commitment to boosting trade, British Prime Minister David Cameron also approached the issue of human rights in China but Wen responded by asserting that no country should engage in "finger-pointing".
Al Arabiya says Libyan rebels, human rights groups, Nato and numerous governments around the world have welcomed the decision by the International Criminal Court in The Hague to issue warrants for Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, his son, Saif al-Islam, and the regime's director of intelligence, Abdullah al-Senussi. The three have been charged with crimes against humanity, committed against opponents of the regime since mid-February of this year. Libyan officials rejected the court’s authority before the decision was read out.
Al-Quds reports the West Bank Palestinian leadership has formally decided to press ahead with efforts next September to win UN recognition of a state in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem. The move was a reflection of Palestinian frustration with stalemated peace talks with Israel. Recognition of a Palestinian state by the UN General Assembly would carry considerable diplomatic weight but no legal clout as only the UN Security Council can add a nation to the world body. The US government has repeatedly expressed its opposition to the move, while stopping short of saying it would veto such a resolution. Israel has condemned the Palestinian UN initiative, saying that it undermines efforts to reach a negotiated solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict.
Wall Street Journal says the governor of Afghanistan’s Central Bank, Abdul Qadeer Fitrat, has resigned saying he was being prevented from holding a proper investigation into the embezzlement of some half a billion US dollars. Speaking from the United States, Fitrat said he thought his life was in danger because of his enquiries into a corruption scandal which brought down the privately-owned Kabul Bank.
The New York Times says a jury in the United States has found the former governor of Illinois, Rod Blagojevich, guilty on 17 of 20 charges Monday, including trying to sell President Obama’s old Senate seat and other corruption charges. However, he was found not guilty of a separate charge of soliciting bribes.
Moscow Times reports that a former senior Russian intelligence officer Alexander Poteyev has been convicted of betraying the names of 10 "sleeper agents" expelled from the US last year. Some of the 10 spies, including pin-up spy Anna Chapman, were found to be using fake Irish identities. Poteyev was found guilty in his absence of treason and desertion and was sentenced to 25 years in jail. He left Russia shortly before the "deep cover" agents were exposed, and was believed to be living in the United States.
Sydney Morning Herald says tobacco giant Philip Morris has launched legal action against the Australian government over plans to replace company logos on cigarette packets with grisly images of cancerous mouths, sickly children and bulging, blinded eyes. The government believed the new rules would make the packages less attractive to smokers and turn Australia into the world’s toughest country on tobacco advertising. But several outraged cigarette makers have threatened lawsuits, arguing the move illegally diminishes the value of their trademarks.