Malta and international press digest

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

The Times reports that many people were still sold petrol at higher prices yesterday. It also reports a fight in Birzebbuga which saw two teenage girls injured, one seriously after having been hit in the head with a bottle late on Sunday.

The Malta Independent reports how Malta has been accepted in the US Visa Waiver Programme.

l-orizzont leads with the GWU dispute with Malta Shipyards over the dismissal of 148 workers. It claims that in terms of an agreement, foreign workers should have been dismissed first.

In-Nazzjon carries a description from the victims of the shooting incident at Mqabba last Saturday.

The Press in Britain…

The Daily Express reveals Britons are taking vacations in countries outside the Eurozone because of the currency's strength against the pound.

The Financial Times says investors were warned the alleged fraudster Bernard Madoff could abscond with millions of pounds of assets.

Quoting figures from a new opinion poll, The Independent claims Gordon Brown has lost his 'bounce' as voters revolt over taxes.

The Daily Telegraph says retailers are planning a 48-hour discount bonanza in a desperate bid to increase sales.

The Guardian claims government buildings emit more carbon dioxide each year than Kenya's entire carbon footprint.

The Times reports the appointment of Britain's top policeman has been brought forward after Met Police anti-terror chief Bob Quick apologised "unreservedly" to the Conservatives over claims they tried to undermine a Whitehall leaks inquiry.

According to the Daily Mail, as many as four out of every 10 crimes are not being investigated by police.

The Mirror champions a mother who has finally had a baby boy - after giving birth to nine girls.

The Daily Star discloses all judges from Strictly Come Dancing have been given the sack over claims the final was fixed.

And elsewhere:

Pravda reports that Russian gas giant Gazprom has warned European customers of a potential shortage in gas supplies as it threatens to cut off gas to Kiev unless Ukraine's Naftogaz company pays debts of some €1.8 billion. Ukraine is a major transit country for Russian gas exports destined for the European Union.

EU Observer quotes German Defence Minister Franz Josef Jung saying a European Union anti-pirate flotilla off the coast of Somalia is a combat operation with a robust mandate. He said that they were authorised to use force to seize ships taken by Somali pirates.

Asia Observer says Toyota, one of the world's most profitable companies, is forecasting its first annual loss in more than 70 years. Plummeting sales and a surging yen brought on the gloomy prediction of an operating loss of ¥150 billion or nearly €1.2 billion, for the period ending in March next year. Japan's exports to the US, the European Union and China were all down dramatically.

Berliner Morgenpost says Germany is considering granting asylum to freed inmates from the US-military prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Of the around 250 inmates being held at Guantanamo, 60 have been cleared for release.

The New York Post reports that a federal jury in the US state of New Jersey has convicted five men of conspiracy to kill US soldiers in a planned attack on an army base.

The New York Times reports that the UN Security Council has unanimously renewed the mandate of the UN peace force in Democratic Republic of Congo for another year. Fighting between government troops and rebel forces has displaced more than a quarter of a million people.

De Standaard says Belgium's King Albert has accepted the resignation of the government led by Prime Minister Yves LetermeThe five coalition parties are now trying to find a successor to head an interim government until June 2009, when parliamentary elections could be held.

Khaleej Times reports a British man convicted of having sex on a Dubai beach has been rearrested while he prepared to board a flight back to the UK. Vince Acors, 34, was detained and returned to jail because his flight confirmation details were allegedly "not in order".

Il Tempo quotes figures issued by the Italian statistics office which shows that the conditions of families in Italy has worsened and already at the end of 2007, before the latest credit crunch, many were finding hard to buy food, medicines and clothes. Worse hit were pensioners, single-parent families especially separated mothers or widows and families with three or more children.

Helsinki Sanormat says the police have arrested a presumed car thief through the DNA of a dead mosquito found on one of the seats of the car, found some 20 kilometres away from the place it was stolen last June. The DNA of the human blood sucked by the mosquito matched that of a man already on the Helsinki police database. The courts have now to decide whether to accept the DNA results. The man denies stealing the car, saying that he was in the car after asking its driver for a lift.