Press digest

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

The Times says Malta is to lend €108.6m to the IMF to help it counter the international economic crisis.

The Malta Independent reports that a woman has forgiven a man who is alleged to have killed her mother and also stabbed her. It also reports that a man was jailed for 14 years for importing drugs.

In-Nazzjon says Jason Micallef has been angered by comments by Stefan Zrinzo Azzopardi. It also reports an €11m investment by Playmobil.

l-orizzont reports how Mr Justice Joseph Galea Debono overturned a magistrates' court decision, saying relapsers cannot be given a suspended sentence. It also says that Frontex was a ‘failure' according to a French minister.

The Press in Britain...

The Daily Mail says Tory leader David Cameron came under fire for saying the policy of printing money will trigger inflation and would be stopped if the Tories win the election.

The Scotsman reports that the SNP's hopes to hold a vote on a split from the UK received a boost as Liberal Democrats plan to review their policy on the issue.

The Daily Express quotes a French politician being held on remand saying Britain's jails compared to a luxury holiday resort.

The Daily Telegraph reports that immigration rules have been quietly relaxed to help the government clear a backlog of asylum cases.

According to The Times, Sharon Shoesmith, the former children's services chief who lost her job over the Baby P tragedy, sent a text message to an Ofsted inspector urging her to include "anything positive" about Haringey children's services.

The Guardian says Argos joined a growing band of retailers making plans to desert Royal Mail over plans for a national strike.

And the Daily Mirror reports that terrified postmen threatened to stop delivering mail to a couple over fears of being attacked by their cat.

The Independent says scientists claim to have made a dramatic breakthrough in understanding the cause of chronic fatigue syndrome, or ME.

The Financial Times reports the Government is probing whether Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds are pricing loans to small and medium-sized businesses at artificially high levels.

The Daily Record says Spice Geri brought credit crunch chic to the red carpet - by recycling a seven-year-old dress.

And elsewhere...

The Washington Times reports the US House of Representatives has passed a $US680-billion-dollar (€461 billion) defence authorisation Bill that includes funds to train Afghan security forces and more mine-resistant troop carriers.

Afghan Times says a suicide car bomber has detonated his vehicle outside the Indian Embassy in Afghanistan's capital, killing 17 people and wounding nearly 80.

L'Osservatore Romano reports Pope Benedict has met Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at the Vatican and the two spoke for 15 minutes in private. As they sat down at the pope's desk, the pontiff asked Mr Abbas about his meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on September 22.

Meanwhile, The Jerusalem Post quotes Israel's Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman saying there was no chance of reaching a final accord with the Palestinians any time soon, casting doubts over the latest effort to get peace talks moving again.

Gazeta Polska says Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has fired the head of the anti-corruption office and the ministers of the interior and justice have tendered their resignations over a gambling scandal that has already claimed the sports minister's job.

Le Parisien reports that French Culture Minister Frederic Mitterrand won't resign over the admission that he paid Asian boys for sex while on holiday. Both far-right and left politicians have joined in a campaign criticising Mitterrand and it now risks throwing the government into a crisis.

Il Tempo quotes Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi saying he will go on TV and appear in courtrooms to prove that corruption and tax fraud charges in two trials against him are false. The trials in Milan are set to resume after a top Italian court overturned a law granting him immunity from prosecution while in office.

Pravda says a Moscow court has begun hearings in a libel action brought by the grandson of Josef Stalin against the Russian independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta, claiming 10 million rubles (€230,000) compensation. He contests its claims in an April 22 article that Stalin personally signed execution orders for several thousand Soviet and foreign citizens.

Asia Observer says 800 pairs of shoes donated by former Philippines first lady Imelda Marcos were rescued from floods that devastated the country. The flamboyant widow left behind 1,220 pairs of shoes in the presidential palace after a popular revolt toppled her husband, Ferdinand Marcos, in 1986.

The New Yorker reveals a group of New York chefs have been eating smaller portions and working out in the gym to lose weight and raise up to €170,000 to fight childhood hunger.

Variety reports that Andrew Lloyd Weber has announced the sequel to his hugely successful musical The Phantom of the Opera will have its world premiere in London next March.