Malta and international press digest

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

The Sunday Times quotes informed sources saying water and electricity bills are to be reduced by at least 20 percent in the coming days. It also reports that pipes covered with cancerous asbestos have been found in the corridors of Boffa Hospital.

The Malta Independent on Sunday says EU Justice Commissioner Jacques Barrot is seeking urgent help for Malta over migration. It also reports that the EU is stopping excessive deficit procedures against Malta. In another story, it also says the Social Affairs Committee is 'ready for the challenge' of illegal immigration including overseeing conditions in detention centres.

MaltaToday says the Labour Party could be facing a €1 million bill stemming from charges for its court proceedings to demand the refund of VAT charged on vehicle registration tax. Each case has to be filed individually. Over 17,000 have applied to join the case. The newspaper also says that Razzett tal-Hbiberija is refusing to disclose the salary of its CEO.

KullHadd alleges there is discrimination among cancer patients, saying some patients are given free medicines for particular types of cancer, while victims of other forms of cancer are not. It also asks if there is calciopoli in Malta and says an investigation is under way after an anonymous letter alleged 20 cases of corruption in local football.

Illum claims Labour MEP Glenn Bedingfield ‘disrupted’ a prize day at Vittoriosa school. The prize day was postponed because the MEP is holding another activity in the school in the same day as the event.

It-Torca says Maltese doctors are closely following potential cancer cure developments. It also accuses the PN of being double-faced, having wanted union protests against the utility bills under Labour in 1998, but not now.

Il-Mument says a senior IBM official has, in the Financial Times, described Malta as a shining example of a country preparing itself well to be in a good position once the recession passes. The newspaper also discusses what the consequences would be should Malta adopt Dr Muscat’s advice to veto EU procedures to press its case on migration

The Press in Britain

The Mail on Sunday reports Employment minister Tony McNulty claimed £60,000 in expenses for a property that was his parents' and not his.

A government minister tells The Observer that at least three former Royal Bank of Scotland directors may have been threatened with the sack for asking probing questions about the bank's financial affairs.

The Sunday Times reports that Lord Myners, the man tasked by the Government with clamping down on corporate tax avoidance, has himself set up a business in the tax haven of Bermuda.

The Daily Star Sunday reports that a postman who refused to serve customers who did not speak English has been forced out of his job by extremists. According to the Sunday Express, a top liver doctor is calling for a ban on alcohol sales in towns where heavy drinking is a risk to health.

The People reports that Jade Goody has slipped into a coma as she loses her battle with cancer.

The News of the World claims an MP cheated on his wife in his Commons Parliamentary office.

The mother of footballer Paul Gascoigne tells the Sunday Mirror she blames his ex-wife Sheryl for her son's problems.

The Independent on Sunday sports a jubilant picture of Irish rugby players as Ireland ended a 61-year wait for Grand Slam glory and landed their first Six Nations title after dethroning Wales in a dramatic climax. Celebrations across the country continued to the early hours of this morning.

And elsewhere…

Pravda leads with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s criticism of the EU leaders’ approval of a new partnership with six former Soviet states. Speaking at the annual Brussels Forum Lavrov suggested that the 27-member bloc was seeking to extend its own sphere of influence. The plan increases EU aid to Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine and possibly Belarus by €600 million.

Noviny says preliminary partial results from Slovakia's presidential election showed President Ivan Gasparovic leading the race with 46 percent, followed by opposition lawmaker Iveta Radicova with 37 percent.

Magyar Nemzet reports that Hungarian Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany is stepping down. He made the unexpected announcement at a congress of his Nationalist Party in Budapest saying a new government and a new prime minister were needed to pull the country out of its worse financial crisis in over 20 years.

Ettelaat says Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has dismissed overtures from President Barak Obama, saying Tehran does not see any change in US policy under its new administration. Speaking to tens of thousands of people in Mashhad, Khamenei asked how Obama could congratulate Iranians on the new year and accuse the country of supporting terrorism and seeking nuclear weapons in the same message.

The Washington Times reports US President Barack Obama has defended Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, who has come under fire for failing to block large bonuses paid out to employees of insurer AIG which has received 100 billion dollars in government aid. In a TV interview, Obama said he would reject his resignation if it were to be tendered.

Jornal do Angola reports two people were killed and at least eight injured in a deadly stampede as crowds tried to enter a stadium in Luanda to hear the Pope's address. Earlier in the day at a private Mass, the Pope condemned the growing practice of witchcraft in Angola.

According to Il Mattino, more than 100,000 people took to the streets of Naples to commemorate the victims of organised crime and demand an end to its stranglehold on southern Italy. Four mafia groups in Italy are together held responsible for 900 deaths in recent decades.

Alberta Views reports police officers had to intervene in downtown Calgary to separate anti-racist activists from clashing with members of the white supremacist group the Aryan Guard.

Corriere della Sera says Italy has approved rules for labelling Prosecco, putting the sparkling wine on a growing list of protected delicacies to shield their markets from imitations.

Delray Forum says a judge in the US has delayed handing down a sentence to an Irish priest who pleaded guilty to stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from his Florida church. Fr. John Skehan, aged 81, could be sentenced to up to 30 years in prison for embezzling large sums of money from the church in Delray Beach during his 40 years as a priest there. The judge said he could not reach a decision on sentencing because there was too much to weigh and said he would issue a written sentence next week.