Malta and international press digest

The pending announcement of the general election dominates the front pages.

The Sunday Times says that the Prime Minister will call on the President tomorrow at 9 a.m. to set the wheels in motion for a March 8 general election. The bishops have called for respect during the election campiagn.

The Malta Independent on Sunday also focuses on the election saying Dr Gonzi is under intense pressure as he prepares to name the day.

Maltatoday says its latest survey reveals that, over the past two months, Labour doubled its lead over the PN from three to six percentage points and Dr Sant is preferred to incumbent Dr Gonzi as Malta's next prime minister. It also reports that Dr Sant has told his shadow cabinet that if Labour is returned to power, minister will have to resign any previous business interests and cannot receive any remuneration from their previous activities.

il-mument says that while the electoral campaign has not even started, Labour are revealing their true intentions. It also says that Gozo is not on Labour's agenda.

Illum leads with the news that Richard Cachia Caruana, Dr Eddie Fenech Adami's former personal assistant, has returned with vehemence to party politics with meetings with a number of people to discuss the strategy which the PN will adopt at the next election.

it-torca‘s front lead claims it was Nationalist MP David Agius who told former PN stalwart Jo Said, at a meeting at a cafè in Attard, that there were "corrupt practices" in the party. It also reports that during a meeting with the prime minister, GWU Secretary General Tony Zarb said the union was ready to work with whoever afforded it respect.

KullHadd claims that a sum of €35,000 from the Good Causes Fund, which Parliamentary Secretary Tonio Fenech handed to a company responsible for Juventus visit to Malta, was against the rules regulating the same fund.

The Press in Britain...

The People reports that a former royal butler, 54-year-old Paul Kidd, has been charged with nine rapes involving boys.

The Daily Star Sunday tells how Portugal's top cop - in an interview with Portugal's Radio Renascenca to be broadcast later today - criticises officers for making Kate and Gerry McCann suspects in the disappearance of their daughter Madeleine.

The Sunday Express says Tory peer Lord Tebbit wants to tackle Britain's gun culture by teaching boys how to shoot.

The Mail on Sunday focuses on a husband-and-wife MP couple who have claimed £165,000 in Commons expenses for their £700,000 second home, six years after paying off a mortgage.

The Sunday Times claims Scotland Yard's anti- terrorist squad secretly bugged high-profile Labour Muslim MP Sadiq Khan twice while he visited a constituent in detention awaiting deportation to the US over the alleged running of a website raising funds for terrorists.

The Observer reports a Conservative government would aim to provide a maternity nurse for every new mother in her home for up to six hours a day for the first week after her baby's birth.

The Sunday Telegraph adds the Tories have also proposed new powers for the police and tax reductions to boost small businesses in an attempt to seize back the political initiative.

The Independent on Sunday an nounces the National Lottery operator Camelot faces a £1bn shortfall in the money it has pledged to give to good causes by the end of its licence.

The News of the World says Cristiano Ronaldo has netted an astonishing £44m contract.

The Sunday Mirror claims pop star Kylie Minogue is back with her ex-lover Olivier Martinez.

And elsewhere...

Gazeta Polska quotes Polish Defence Minister Radoslaw Sikorski saying Prime Minister Donald Tusk is unlikely to sign a deal with the United States on hosting a US anti-missile system when he visits Washington next month even though the two sides had reached an agreement in principle under which the US would provide aid to modernise Polish air defences in return for Warsaw hosting the missile shield. The US shield plan, which calls for associated radar stations in the Czech Republic to counter feared attacks by "rogue states" such as Iran, is strongly opposed by Russia.

In an interview with Bild am Sonntag, NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer has added pressure on Germany to increase its troops in Afganistan, saying the south could benefit from their presence. The NATO chief's comments come a day after Defence Minister Franz Josef Jung rejected a call by US Defence Secretary Robert Gates for Germany to deploy combat troops to the south.

Le Courrier des Balkans focuses on Serbia's vote for a new president today in an election widely billed as a battle between those who want closer ties with the West and those who want a return to Serbia's nationalist past. The pro-Russia candidate, Tomislav Nikolic, is the slight favourite to win the run-off against the pro-European incumbent Boris Tadic.

Pravda reports the official opening of the Russian presidential election campaign. Four candidates are standing, but President Vladimir Putin's preferred choice of successor, Dimitry Medvedev, is the clear favourite. The start of the campaign has been overshadowed by a dispute between the OSCE and Moscow over the deployment of foreign election observers.

Al-Fajr Al-Jadid reports Chad's rebel leader Mahamat Nouri has accepted a ceasefire with government forces following mediation by Libyan leader Moamer Gaddafi. The rebels stormed the Chadian capital, N'Djamena, yesterday and advanced on the palace of President Idriss Deby. The whereabouts of the president are not clear.

East African Standard says at least 47 people have been killed with machetes and poisoned arrows since former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan announced a peace plan to end the country's political crisis on Friday. Hundreds of homes have also been burned down.

The New Anatolian reports tens of thousands of people have taken to the streets of the Turkish capital, Ankara, to protest against the government's plan to allow women students to wear the Muslim headscarf at universities. Secular Turks are against an amendment to the constitution, expected to be approved by parliament next week.

Kathimerini says clashes have broken out on the streets of Athens after a far-right march got out of control. Police say members of Greece's far-right group, said to have links with European neo-Nazi groups, clashed with left-wing protesters and others described as anarchists. Four people, including two police officers, were injured.

Al Ahram reports Egypt will close its border with the Gaza Strip on Sunday. The announcement follows two days of talks in Cairo between Egyptian officials and representatives of the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

Le Journal du Dimanche gives prominence to the marriage between President Sarkozy and Carla Bruni in a ceremony at the Elysee Palace in Paris. Only a few close friends and family were in attendance. The two are said to have met in November, just weeks after Sarkozy had divorced his second wife, Cecilia.

Chicago Tribune reports five women have died after they were gunned down in a shooting at a clothing store in a mall in Tinley Park, Illinois. Authorities said no arrests had been made and the suspect had left the area, adding that they suspect robbery was the motive.