Press digest

The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press yesterday.

The Times leads with a warning by the Prime Minister that the economy would not be viable if Malta did not meet its climate change targets in five years' time.

The Malta Independent highlights suggestions made yesterday by Anglu Xuereb on the regeneration of Valletta and Floriana through better access and easier parking.

In-Nazzjon says Gino Cauchi is set to lose his position as marketing executive at Super One.

l-orizzont quotes GWU General Secretary Tony Zarb saying next week's union congress would discuss the problems facing Maltese workers and pensioners. It also reports findings by the National Statistics Office that the elderly were in a greater risk of poverty than other sectors of the population. In a third story, it reports that according to a report by the Auditor-General, Wastserv failed to pay €36,000 in VAT on an international contract.

The Press in Britain...

The Independent carries a full page picture of a weeping survivor as Samoa and Indonesia both reel from natural disasters.

The death toll and devastation in the Indonesian earthquake is the lead story in the Metro.

The Guardian reports a desperate hunt is on for the living as the Sumatra quake toll mounts.

The Daily Mirror leads with the tragic story of a UK couple's two-year-old who was swept out to sea to his death by the tsunami in Samoa.

Following the paper's decision to pledge its support for the Tories, The Sun now wheels out disillusioned voters, including Afghan war veterans and victims of crime, who say why Labour has also lost their vote.

The Times reports the government is planning wide-ranging cuts in capital projects, including defence procurement orders, to reduce Britain's budget deficit.

The Daily Mail says the government plans to ban drinking in the street to tackle the binge culture.

The Scotsman says the most far-reaching reform of Scotland's civil justice system in nearly two centuries has been proposed in a review of the court system.

The Financial Times reports that BAE is facing legal action by the Serious Fraud Office over dealings in countries including South Africa and Tanzania.

The Daily Express claims scientists have discovered a drug that can reverse the ageing process in the human body, making muscles younger and stronger.

The Daily Telegraph reports doctors allowed a young woman to kill herself because of a "living will" that meant they could be prosecuted if they tried to save her.

According to the Daily Star, glamour girl Katie Price, aka Jordan, will lift lid on her marriage to Peter Andre in a new book.

And elsewhere...

Jakarta Post reports a major 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck Indonesia's Sumatra island today, south of the site of an earlier powerful quake that left more than 1,000 feared dead. The quake hit on land at 8:52am (3.52am Malta time), more than 150km from the epicentre of a 7.6-magnitude quake that struck off the island's western coast yesterday.

Samoa News says the death toll from the massive tsunami triggered by a powerful earthquake in Samoa and American Samoa has reached 119 as rescuers began to reach the area and reveal the full devastation. Villages have been flattened as four tsunami waves, five to eight metres high, roared ashore on American Samoa, reaching up to a mile inland. Dozens are still missing.

According to Asia Observer, one of the most destructive storms in years has extended its deadly path across Southeast Asia, crushing homes in Cambodia and Vietnam after submerging much of the Philippine capital Manila. The death toll climbed to 331 and is still rising.

Times of India quotes weather experts warning India was facing its worst drought in nearly 40 years because of a once-in-a-generation shortfall in summer rains.

The Irish Times quotes Prime Minister Brian Cowen ruling out a third referendum on the Lisbon Treaty if voters again reject the controversial charter.

Pravda quotes an EU report concluding that the brief but bloody war between Georgia and Russia was started by an "unjustifiable" Georgian attack on the breakaway South Ossetia region.

The International Herald Tribune announces that 22 people connected with an international child pornography ring were arrested after simultaneous raids carried out in Austria, Bulgaria, Germany, Switzerland, Spain, Canada and the United States. Austrian police charged just under 200 men last March in a similar investigation.

According to business magazine Forbes, the top 400 richest people in the US have lost a collective $300 billion (€205 billion) in the last 12 months. Among those taking a financial hit in the period were Microsoft founder Bill Gates and philanthropic businessman Warren Buffett. They saw their personal wealth shrink by $7 billion (€4.8 billion) and $10 billion (€6.8 billion) respectively. Gates, with an estimated fortune of $50 billion (€34.15 billion), still tops the Forbes 400 list, with Buffett coming in second with $40 billion (€27.3 billion).

Times of India says 31 people have been killed, 20 rescued and 21 others are still missing after a boat carrying tourists capsized on a reservoir in southern India. The boat capsized after the tourists rushed to one side as they spotted some elephants in a wildlife sanctuary, tilting the vessel over.

New Strait Times reports that beauty queen Miss Singapore World has given up her crown after it emerged that she had stolen seven credit cards last year while working at a medical clinic, buying goods including lingerie, gold anklets and phones worth €4,400.