Malta and international press digest

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

The Sunday Times says uncertified water is being sold as potable water. It also carries comments by former Foreign Minister Michael Frendo who says he would have had to resign had then ambassador to Ireland Richard Muscat not stepped down when his son was (falsely) accused of sexual assault.

The Malta Independent on Sunday says Obama's African ancestors may have been influenced by a Maltese adventurer, who was their first contact with the West, according to a new book. It also reports that Malta has had the strongest rate of broadband growth in the EU; and a Maltese-registered vessel may have been used by the terrorists in Mumbai.

MaltaToday says ministers are getting a €240 increase while the people get just €4 weekly. It also reports that PN general secretary Paul Borg Olivier mistakenly sent an e-mail to MLP general secretary Jason Micallef instead of Parliamentary Secretary Jason Azzopardi. In another story, it says Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici stopped Joseph Muscat from changing the Labour Party statute where it speaks of the party as being socialist-democratic. Muscat had wanted that to be social democratic.

It-Torca focuses on the extraordinary general conference of the Labour Party, which ends today. It also reports on prostitution from the garage of an abandoned villa at Ta' Xbiex. In another story is says that Finance Minister Tonio Fenech is refusing to put money into the people’s money to boost the economy.

Il-Mument says the government will build a school every year from 2005. It also reports that Piazza Tigne’ is to be completed in a year’s time.

Illum says economist Edward Scicluna and former Sea Malta chairman Marlene Mizzi are to be on the MLP ticket for the European Parliament elections. It also reports that a security investigation is under way after a boy found himself in a restricted zone at the airport.

KullHadd says a report shows that the University plans to steeply increase the tariffs it charges for its part-time courses. It also reports that a Maltese has been caught up in the turmoil at Mumbai.

The Press in Britain…

According to The Sunday Telegraph, the death toll from four days of carnage in Mumbai could reach 300 as the bodies of 22 other victims were removed from the Taj Mahal Hotel.

The Observer says tensions are now rising in the region after the Indian Foreign Minister said that "some elements in Pakistan" were responsible for the assault. Meanwhile, President Zardari has warned India against any "over-reaction" and vowed the "strictest" action if Pakistani involvement was proved.

Star on Sunday reveals that a 'mastermind' of the Mumbai gang was in Birmingham the day before the attacks.

The Sunday Times says Scotland Yard is 'at war', after mounting criticism over the arrest of a Tory immigration spokesman Damian Green, following alleged leaks to the media.

The Independent on Sunday reveals that the Commons offices of senior Conservatives are regularly swept for bugging devices.

The People says the Nursing and Midwifery Council is to tell its members not to call patients "love" or "dearie". It says elderly people should be treated "respectfully" and be asked how they prefer to be addressed. New guidlines cover a wide range of topics such as communication, personal hygiene and privacy.

The Mail on Sunday carries a full-page picture of Faith and Hope Williams, the conjoined twins born to a British couple, and who some doctors believed would never be born. Their mother, Laura, had been advised to have an abortion, but last Wednesday she made medical history by becoming the world's youngest mother of Siamese twins at just 18 years of age.

And elsewhere:

Lagos’ The Guardian says authorities in the Nigerian city of Jos have extended a curfew following days of clashes between ethnic and religious groups.

Bangkok Post reports a grenade explosion has wounded 30 anti-government protestors occupying the Thai prime minister's office. This follows earlier violence when riot police fled their checkpoint near Bangkok's international airport after being attacked by protesters occupying the main terminal. Some 100,000 tourists are stranded at the airport.

Al Ahram reports that OPEC producers have opted to leave crude oil output unchanged after yesterday's meeting in Cairo. The decision comes as oil prices reached three-year lows as demand continued to drop following the global economic crisis. Members agreed to take further action at a December meeting in Algeria.

As Romanians go the polls today, Adevarul quotes opinion polls showing centrist Prime Minister Calin Tariceanu, who led the former hard-line communist state into the European Union last year, lagging well behind the leftist Social Democrats and the right-wing Liberal Democrats.

Trabajadores leads with the first beatification ceremony in Cuba of 19th Century friar, Jose Olallo, known as the "poor people's priest". The unannounced arrival of President Raul Castro was greeted with applause, a sign of the growing rapprochement between the communist state and the Church. The ceremony in Camaguey was broadcast on state television.

Sonntags Zeitung reports WHO health experts’ warning of an increase in diabetes patients because of rising obesity levels.

Kabul Weekly says air strikes have killed 53 militants in Afghanistan, including a wanted Taliban commander who tried to hide from soldiers under a woman's burka.

California Chronicle reports that three members of the same family drowned after being swept out to sea while photographing the surf from a rocky outcrop on the California coast.

El Universal says the governor of the Mexican state of Coahuila has proposed restoring the death penalty to execute kidnappers who kill their victims.

L’Avenire reports that two British security guards who jumped overboard as Somali pirates seized a tanker have been picked up by Nato.

Aviation Daily says the shuttle Endeavour has left the international space station, ending a 12-day visit to give it better living quarters for bigger crews. It is expected to land later today.

Weekend Avisen announces the death of Joern Utzon, the architect who designed the world-famous Sydney Opera House in Australia. He was 90.

Etemad Melli says Iran’s Supreme Court has upheld the stoning death sentence against woman convicted of adultery in the southern city of Shiraz.