Malta and international press digest

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

The Times carries a picture of Barack Obama ahead of today’s inauguration ceremony. The newspaper leads with an EU projection that economic growth will slow significantly in Malta this year. It also follows the trial by jury of a man accused of his former girlfriend’s murder.

The Malta Independent also features Obama and the significance of his inauguration.

l-orizzont says Malta remains at the bottom of the EU scoreboard on the number of students in post-secondary education. It also publishes the list of Labour candidates for the European Parliament elections.

In-Nazzjon also looks ahead at the Obama inauguration. It also reports on the consultation on higher education.

The Press in Britain

Under the heading “Magical Spell that will open new American era”, The Guardian concentrates on what Barack Obama's inauguration will mean for the United States.

According to the Financial Times, Chancellor Alistair Darling is battling to avoid nationalising the Royal Bank of Scotland and inheriting its balance sheet after the lender suffered a 67 per cent plunge in its share price.

The Scotsman reports RBS bosses have been ordered to slash costs by 10 to 20 percent across the board, triggering fresh fears of massive job losses.

The Daily Mirror quotes Prime Minister Gordon Brown urging Britons to carry on doing business and not live in fear of economic collapse.

The Daily Express accuses the Prime Minister of dragging the UK to the brink of bankruptcy.

The Times reports thousands of children supposedly educated at home are at risk of abuse, neglect, forced marriage, sexual exploitation or domestic servitude.

The Independent says Giorgio Armani has accused his rivals Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana of stealing one of his designs.

The Sun reports prisoners in jails such as Wormwood Scrubs are set to get their own radio station.

The Daily Mail says cancer patients are to be able to apply for free NHS prescriptions.

And elsewhere…

European financial media quote the European Union's executive predicting the bloc is heading for a deep and protracted recession. The European Commission forecasts the 27-nation economy to contract by 1.8 per cent this year. And the picture is marginally worse for those countries which use the euro, where unemployment is expected to climb to just over 10 percent by 2010.

The Washington Times reports that security is being tightened ahead of the inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th president of the United States later today. More than one million people are expected to watch the swearing-in of the country's first black president.

A BBC survey has found that there is growing optimism that Barack Obama's presidency will lead to improved relations between the US and the rest of the world. Overall, some 67 per cent who responded were optimistic of better relations, with just 5 per cent predicting a deterioration.

The Jerusalem Post says Israel hopes to pull all its troops out of the Gaza Strip by the time Barack Obama is inaugurated as US president. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has said that Israel is keen on getting out of Gaza as soon as possible.

Berliner Zeitung says Germany has proposed a five-point plan for the European Union to help keep the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. The plan envisages the EU funding medical supplies, training security forces, providing damage assessment and a possible role at Gaza's border crossings with Israel.

The International Herald Tribune says Russia has reportedly begun pumping gas to Europe via Ukraine, marking the end of a dispute that has caused shortages in many European countries.

Moscow Times reports a Russian human rights lawyer, renowned for his work on abuses in Chechnya, has been shot dead by a masked gunman in Moscow. The 34-year-old lawyer had been fighting the early release of the Russian officer convicted in that case, which prompted protests in Chechnya last month.

La Tribune de Geneve says that the Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at US President Bush last December claims he was tortured in detention at a Baghdad prison, which are grounds for seeking asylum in Switzerland. Muntazer al-Zaidi has been held in detention in Iraq awaiting trial since the act, which is regarded as a deep insult in the Arab world.

Tages Anzeiger reports that a German woman missing for 12 years has been found living in woods near Bern, in Switzerland. She had nothing more than an umbrella and tarpaulin for shelter.

USA Today says a new study suggests American women are less able than men to suppress their hunger – a discovery that may help explain the higher obesity rate for females.

Sydney Morning Herald reports two Burmese fishermen have survived for almost a month in shark-infested waters by floating on a large ice box after their fishing boat sank. The men, in their 20s, were spotted by an Australian coastal patrol aircraft and winched to safety by a helicopter. Their fishing boat sank in heavy seas off the north coast of Australia 25 days ago, with the loss of 18 lives. The survivors had no safety equipment and no means of communication.