Malta and international press digest

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

The Times reports the Prime Minister saying that utility tariffs will be reduced in the coming weeks and that there are other options for the use of the Opera House site in Valletta.

The Malta Independent also leads on Dr Gonzi’s comments on the utility tariffs and says Opposition leader Joseph Muscat yesterday presented the Labour candidates for the European Parliament elections.

In-Nazzjon says the City Gate and Opera House project will combine the civic and cultural aspects of the city through a contemporary building respectful of the past. It was reporting on the visit to Malta by architect Renzo Piano. It also reports that the President has started a state visit to Poland. He is accompanied by a big business delegation.

l-orizzont says the Opposition is planning to move a motion in parliament to strike down the energy and water tariffs.

The Press in Britain

The Times reports Prime Minister Gordon Brown's promise to revive the economy by spending billions on building schools, hospitals and roads has suffered a major setback over the lack of private finance and the crippling effect of the recession.

The Guardian claims Chancellor Alistair Darling has accepted that a second emergency package of tax and spending measures may be needed in this spring's budget to claw the economy out of a deepening recession.

The Daily Telegraph says four Labour peers accused of offering to amend legislation for money will not be stripped of their peerages even if they are censured by an official investigation.

The Daily Mail continues that an official complaint accusing the lords of bribery will be made with Scotland Yard.

The Daily Express says scientists are to warn that obesity can be "caught" as easily as a common cold from other people's coughs, sneezes and dirty hands.

And elsewhere…

The International Herald Tribune reports Europe is picking up the pieces after a strong storm, dubbed Klaus by weather officials, swept over several regions on Saturday, causing the death of 18 people in Spain, France and Italy. Hundreds of thousands of homes in southern France and northern Spain are still without electricity. Barcelona is mourning four children killed when part of a sports facility collapsed on them as they sought shelter from high winds.

Al-Quds al-Arabi says EU foreign ministers have called on the Palestinians to set aside their differences and forge a consensus government in order to facilitate border crossings into the Gaza Strip and restart the Middle East peace process.

Meanwhile, The Jerusalem Post quotes Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert promising military personnel full legal backing in the event of foreign prosecution over alleged war crimes in Gaza. Defence Minister Ehud Barak described the Gaza operation as legitimate self defence under international law, following years of Hamas rocket attacks on southern Israel.

Corriere della Sera leads with the outrage sparked by Italian prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi for suggesting that Italy's women were so beautiful they needed military escorts to avoid being raped.

La Razon says early exit polls show that Bolivians have approved a new constitution granting more political power to President Evo Morales, who promised to hold early presidential and parliamentary polls in December. It would also allow a greater take on gas revenues.

Sri Lank’s Daily News quotes the country’s chief army commander saying that 95 percent of the war with the Tamil Tiger rebels has finished after his troops entered the town of Mullaitivu.

Addis Admass says Ethiopia has completed its month-long troop withdrawal from neighbouring Somalia. Ethiopian forces had invaded the country in late 2006 at the request of Somalia's UN-backed government to help kick out a hardline Islamist regime that was in power for six months. The insurgency has killed an estimated 16,000 civilians and displaced around 1 million.

The Times of India reports that the police have shot dead two suspected militants from Pakistan near New Delhi.

Le Courrier du Vietnam reports that at least 40 people, including seven girls and 27 women three of whom were pregnant, were killed when an small overloaded ferry sank in central Vietnam.

Times of Nigeria says a bus carrying a Nigerian football team collided with a vehicle transporting cattle, sending the vehicles into a ditch and killing 15 sportsmen. Seven other people injured.

El Universal reports that an 11-year-old Mexican boy has killed six young bulls in a single fight, apparently becoming the world's youngest matador to achieve the feat. Guinness World Records have still to verify the feat by Michelito Lagravere Peniche. The controversial spectacle was given a last minute go-ahead by the authorities despite pressure from child protection and anti-bullfighting campaign groups. Some 3,500 people, including many children, reportedly gathered to witness the fight at the ring in the eastern city of Merida in Yucatan state.