Malta and international press digest

The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press:

The Times says the government is to revise the new circulation tax where it applies to diesel cars. The newspaper also says the police have questioned four people in connection with the fatal hit and run incident last Saturday.

The Malta Independent quotes the Prime Minister saying the budget reflects a need for change in energy culture. It also says that Alitalia cancelled some flights yesterday because of pilots’ industrial action.

l-orizzont quotes GWU general secretary Tony Zarb saying workers’ place tomorrow is at the unions’ protest in Valletta. He also said that another company wants to lay off workers.

In-Nazzjon says the Prime Minister yesterday appealed for courage and a change of culture.

The Press in Britain…

The Daily Telegraph leads with the Bank of England's warning that Britain faces a "white-collar recession", with the middle classes hit by falling living standards and unemployment as the economy suffers its worst year since 1980.

The Financial Times says the pound fell to a new low against the Euro yesterday after the Bank of England’s bleakest assessment of the UK economy for more than 15 years.

The Times reports the British economy faces its toughest year for almost three decades.

The Guardian says the City is bracing itself for the base rate of interest to be cut to one per cent in the new year.

The Independent says that in his pre-Budget Report, Chancellor Alistair Darling predicts a harsh recession that will be over by 2010 but tax rises will be needed afterwards.

And elsewhere…

Börzen-Zeitung reports that, in a bid to restore market confidence, the EU has proposed tougher new rules for credit rating agencies

Wall Street Journal leads with US Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson’s comments that the $700bn rescue package had helped stabilise the US economic system.

The New York Times quotes UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon calling on global leaders to consider the world's poor at this weekend's financial crisis summit in Washington.

Aftenposten reports that British and Russian warships have rescued a Danish vessel after it came under attack from Somali pirates.

Le New York Post says the Security Council is close to approving the deployment of 3,000 more peacekeeping troops for war-torn areas of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Le Matin reports that nine people were injured when another school collapsed in the Haitian capital Port-Au-Prince.

Frankfurter Neue Presse says a German court has cleared the way to extradite a Rwandan official to France, a move that threatens to exacerbate a diplomatic dispute between Germany and Rwanda.

L’Echo reports that the EU's antitrust body has imposed a fine of €1.4 billion for price-fixing, to a car-glass cartel for "cheating the car industry".

De Morgen says the European Court has stripped Lego brick of its trademark status following an appeal by rival maker Mega Brands, which markets Mega Bloks.

Corriere della Sera reports that Italy’s notoriously under-productive civil servants are being targeted by a government campaign to improve their work rate.

Today says the mother of a seven-year-old girl has received up to 43 years in prison for doing nothing as the abused and malnourished child lay dying.