Malta and international press digest

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

The Times says Nationalist Mp Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando yesterday attacked plans for the underground extension of St John’s Co-Cathedral Museum, saying the funds could be better used on other priorities. It also reports that a judge has denied being in conflict with the code of ethics for the judiciary.

The Malta Independent also leads with Dr Pullicino Orlando’s remarks and also reports that the Maltese health system has slipped in rankings for customer service.

l-orizzont says 20 trade unions will take part in this evening’s manifestation in Valletta, and 25 workers have been laid off by Trelleborg.

In-Nazzjon says a major Portuguese maritime company will set up a branch in Malta. It also reports that 265 former dockyard workers have already found a new job.

The Press in Britain…

The Guardian says Prime Minister Gordon Brown has called on major countries to cut taxes and provide a fiscal stimulus to prevent the global economy sliding deeper into recession.

The Herald leads with Mr Brown's call for the world's wealthier nations to cut taxes quickly and collectively in order to head off the global economic crisis.

The Financial Times carries a photograph of five of the world's most successful hedge fund managers, who blamed the world financial crisis on the "system itself" at a US congressional committee hearing yesterday.

The Daily Telegraph quotes a survey showing car buyers are enjoying the best deals they have seen in years with record discounts of £2,000 from the price of the average new.

The Daily Express says that almost 11,000 jobs were lost in a matter of hours yesterday after BT announced 10,000 redundancies, while British Leyland and Friends Provident also wielded the axe. The paper predicts that two million Britons could be out of work by Christmas.

The Times has learnt that a scheme proposed by Prime Minister Gordon Brown to make everyone an organ donor unless they actively opt out will be rejected by scientists.

The Daily Mail leads with the case of Baby P, the 17-month-old child tortured and killed last August after social services missed opportunities to protect him. The paper says that four ministers were warned six months before Baby P's death that Haringey social services were 'out of control'.

The Independent says the woman who blew the whistle on the case of Baby P claims Government ministers ignored her plea for an investigation into Haringey's failing social services department.

The Sun also leads with Baby P, saying his childminder Ann Walker repeatedly warned social services about his pitiful condition, but that they failed to act.

And elsewhere…

The European edition of the Wall Street Journal reports that Germany's economy has slipped into a recession. In the three months ending in September, Europe's biggest economy contracted by half a percentage point.

USA Today quotes President-elect Barack Obama saying he hoped to fulfil “the simple hopes and common dreams of all Americans” as he announced his resignation from the US Senate.

Canada’s National Post says the police have arrested the main suspect in the 1980 bombing of a synagogue in Paris that killed four people and injured 20 others.

Al-Quds reports a United Nations aid agency saying it has run out of food supplies for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. Israel has blocked all deliveries of goods into Gaza for the past several days, saying the move came in response to rocket attacks by Palestinian militants.

Der Kurier says the 73-year old Austrian man who held his daughter imprisoned in a cellar for 24 years has been charged with murdering one of the seven children he had with her. Josef Fritzl also faces charges of slavery, rape, deprivation of liberty and incest. His trial is expected to start next March.

Meanwhile, Die Presse says that authorities in Innsbruck have recovered four preserved human foetuses from the home of a 68-year-old woman who recently died.

El Tiempo reports that one person has been killed in rioting over the collapse of pyramid schemes in Colombia which cost investors millions.

Montreal Gazette says an obese inmate has been granted early parole because a Canadian prison could not accommodate his 30st 10lb (195kg) frame.