Malta and international press digest

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

The Times says a number of trade unions are to challenge the government over the utility tariffs, arguing that government figures on the number of people who will benefit from reductions is wrong. They say the figures were based on accounts, not actual households. In another story, The Times says objections are being made to payments requested for the renewal of driving licences.

In-Nazzjon says Malta is requesting EU financial assistance to help it link up with the European power grid through an undersea cable. The request has been made in the context of EU-wide talks on energy security.

The Malta Independent also leads with the request for EU assistance for the undersea cable. It also reports how yachting giant Campers and Nicholsons have moved their headquarters to Malta.

l-orizzont says dockyard workers who took up early retirement schemes have still not been paid. It also reports Labour leader Joseph Muscat saying his party will propose people who could be appointed President.

Malta Today Midweek also reports on the unions’ position on the utility tariffs.

The Press in Britain…

The wife of a British man who went to a Swiss clinic where he was legally helped to commit suicide, writes in The Independent, explaining why she wanted to see her husband die.

The Daily Mirror looks at the issues surrounding Sky's decision to screen the death, asking whether this was an insight into the issue of euthanasia or just as cynical attempt to boost ratings.

The Times and The Scotsman cover a related case, that of Daniel James, the paralysed rugby player whose parents took him to the same clinic in Zurich to die. They report the couple would not face prosecution in the UK. Both parents had asked him not to go through with the assisted suicide.

The Daily Mail and The Guardian quote senior defence sources saying Britain's six-year occupation of southern Iraq will begin drawing to a close in March, and the last troops will leave Basra by June.

The Daily Express reports that rock bottom interest rates have forced mortgage costs down to their lowest level in two years.

According to the Financial Times, Chancellor Alistair Darling is considering an extension of taxpayer guarantees to cover business lending.

The Daily Star claims a Muslim preacher sparked a Holy War when he called for Christmas to be banned, branding it “evil”.

The Daily Record reports fake designer handbags and other dodgy goods worth £3.6m have been seized in a raid by customs officials.

The Herald says the daughter of the man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing revealed she is training to be a lawyer to fight miscarriages of justice.

And elsewhere…

The International Herald Tribune quotes European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso warning Europe’s leaders that they face a credibility test at the EU summit in Brussels. He called for a united front amid emerging rifts on all three key summit issues – climate change, the financial crisis and the fate of the Lisbon Treaty.

Die Welt announces that German cruise operator Hapag-Lloyd will disembark hundreds of passengers on a round-the-world cruise before reaching Somalia and fly them to Dubai to avoid pirates. Passengers will rejoin the vessel in Oman. Pirates have recently started trying to take cruise vessels.

Kathemerini reports Greek anti-government protesters are mobilising to shut down businesses, transport and public services across the country. Today’s nationwide general strike follows a wave of violence which has gripped the nation since police shot a 15-year-old boy on Saturday. Opposition socialists called for the conservative government to quit as riot police battled protesters outside Greece's parliament and in Athens suburbs.

Die Zeit says a German court has sentenced a Lebanese man to life imprisonment for planting bombs on two trains in western Germany in July 2006. The bombs failed to explode. Prosecutors said the failed attacks would have caused mass carnage had they succeeded.

According to The Irish Times, Ireland's food scare crisis has spread, as cancer-linked chemicals were also found in beef. Three cattle herds had shown illegal levels of dioxins, the substance which led to a domestic and international recall of Irish pork products on the weekend.

The Washington Times quotes US President-elect Barack Obama saying he is saddened by allegations that Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich tried to trade favours for his Senate seat. Obama's comments come after Blagojevich was arrested on corruption charges, with both Illinois Republicans and Democrats calling for his resignation.

The British Medical Journal quotes a new WHO report saying that cancer will overtake heart disease as the world’s top killer by 2010. Cancer diagnoses around the world have steadily been rising and are expected to hit 12 million this year while global cancer deaths are expected to reach seven million. Rising tobacco use in developing countries will be a huge reason for the shift.

Meanwhile, The Illinois Globe reports that two major studies by US scientists have thrown into question the ability of vitamin supplements and antioxidant minerals, such as selenium, to protect against cancer. Dr Peter Gann, from the University of Illinois in Chicago, described the findings as "disappointing news".

The New Internationalist quotes the Save the Children Fund reporting that the fight against malnutrition is losing steam. Each year 3.5 million children die of hunger. Experts predict rising food prices will aggravate the situation and if trends continue, by 2015 there could be more malnourished children in Africa than today.

USA Today quotes Oprah Winfrey saying she has "fallen off the wagon" of healthy living and her weight has ballooned to 200lb, with an "obese" body mass index of 31.8.

The Times of India says an Indian woman claiming to be about 70 has given birth to her first child, a girl, by Caesarean section last month. It is impossible to verify whether Rajo Devi is the world’s oldest mother as she has no official documents to record her age. The baby was conceived through in vitro fertilization. Mrs Devi and her 72-year-old husband have been married for the past 55 years and had no previous children.