Press digest

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

The Times leads with a speech by the President who called for the strengthening of families. It also reports that a magistrate rebuked migrants for fighting among themselves.

The Malta Independent features the President's speech and yesterday's enforcement action at Birzebbuga by Mepa, where illegal rooms were demolished. It also reports that the GRTU has called for development to be allowed Outside Development Zones for reasons of job creation.

MaltaToday says legislation on gambling has drawn anger from PN backbenchers.

In-Nazzjon says changes to the wardens system are to be introduced next year to turn the focus on education. It also highlights the President's speech on the family and reactions to the Church document on village feasts.

l-orizzont says the GWU is launching new services for members and their families. It also discusses the best and worse localities in as far as educational achievement is concerned. It says too few students from Cottonera are going to the university.

The Press in Britain...

The Guardian says the Conservatives took their biggest political gamble in a generation when Shadow Chancellor George Osborne set out his plans to cut public spending by £7 billion.

The Financial Times reports the announced series of measures would make Osborne "the most unpopular man in Britain within six weeks of an election".

The Daily Mail says Osborne took "a calculated risk that voters will reward honesty".

According to The Times, the Tory plans herald an age of austerity and "years of pain" for voters.

The Daily Mirror leads on a picture of Tory leader David Cameron apparently flouting his party chairman's ban on champagne at their annual conference.

The Independent launches a campaign demanding that the 'Big Six' power companies lower their prices as fuel bills become a "scandal".

The Daily Express reports that research by the Food Standards Agency has found that more than three-quarters of British chicken is contaminated with a potentially lethal bug.

Metro says two yobs picked the wrong fight when they targeted a pair of cross-dressing cage fighters on a night out.

The Daily Star has the latest on the death of Kevin McGee, the former husband of Little Britain star Matt Lucas, saying he blew £2 million on drugs and drink.

The Sun says the comedian paid for his ex to have treatment in a drug rehab clinic last year.

And elsewhere...

The Washington Times says President Obama has promised lawmakers to move with a sense of urgency on deciding whether to send more troops to Afghanistan, but warned his new war strategy would not please everyone.

The New York Times reports UN Security Council diplomats will hold closed-door consultations later today to consider whether to accept a Libyan request for a formal debate on a UN report that accuses Israel and Palestinian militants of war crimes during Israel's offensive in Gaza.

Al Jazeera reports that Israel's air force scrambled fighter jets after a small civilian aircraft accidentally flew into restricted airspace near the country's heavily guarded and secretive Dimona nuclear reactor.

Corriere della Sera says Italy's top court has begun reviewing a law that grants Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi immunity from prosecution while in office. It had enabled him to withdraw from a number of court cases, including one where he was accused of corruption.

The African reports Rwanda's former intelligence chief Idelphonse Nizeyimana, arrested in Uganda, has been extradited to Tanzania to face trial for his role in Rwanda's 1994 genocide.

The People's Daily has announced China's first swine flu death. A patient in the southwestern region of Tibet has died from the A H1 N1 virus, as concern rises about a winter outbreak.

The New Yorker quotes a report showing that since 2006, an estimated 2.1 million people - or 2,000 a day - have died as a direct or indirect result of armed violence. More than 700,000 resulted from armed conflicts, including those in Afghanistan, Somalia, Sudan, Sri Lanka and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

USA Today says Cambridge Hospital Breast Centre and Harvard Medical School researchers have reported that women who are in screening programmes have only a 4.7 per cent mortality while those not screened have a 56 per cent mortality rate.

Variety reports Elizabeth Taylor is to undergo surgery to repair a leaky heart valve. Announcing the procedure on Twitter, the 77-year-old called on supporters to pray for her.

Tages Anzeiger says the Swiss Justice Ministry has rejected an appeal from Roman Polanski to be released from prison pending his possible extradition to the United States. The Swiss government fears Polanski might flee if released from custody.

Al Ahram reports Egypt's top Islamic cleric is planning to bar students wearing the face veil from entering the schools of al-Azhar, Sunni Islam's premier institute of learning.

The International Herald Tribune quotes the World Monuments Fund saying Peru's Machu Picchu's ancient ruins, Antoni Gaudi's Sagrada Familia church in Barcelona and a New Orleans elementary school are among the cultural heritage sites threatened by neglect or overdevelopment. The fund's watch list for 2010 includes 93 sites in 47 countries.