Press digest

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

The Times says the MV Arctic Sea has arrived in Malta, ending the saga of its hijacking. It also reports that a Gozo Channel boatswain is to be charged for having false certificates. It also carries a warning that power tariffs will rise as oil prices continue their upward trend.

The Malta Independent leads with the EU summit meeting and says agreement has been reached on a Czech opt-out on the charter of human rights. It also reports that the MV Arctic Sea has been handed over to its Finnish owners by the Russian Navy.

In-Nazzjon also leads with the EU agreement on the Czech opt-out. In another story, it says a PriceClub director was found liable for a €760,000 VAT bill.

l-orizzont says Malta is near the bottom of an international list on the observance of rights for gays and lesbians. It also says that former diplomat Ives DeBarro did not deny the substance of comments made in UK documents about his contacts with the British government in 1971.

The Press in Britain...

The Guardian reports Tony Blair's hopes of becoming the first president of the EU are fading as he fails to win the backing of France of Germany.

The Times says that thousands of polling stations could be closed because the Justice Ministry needs to save millions of pounds from its budget.

The Financial Times reports the American Bureau of Economic Analysis suggests that US output expanded at an annual rate of 3.5 per cent in the third quarter.

The Daily Telegraph says is Labour MP Tony McNulty has been allowed to keep almost £60,000 he claimed in expenses for a house where his elderly parents lived just eight miles from the main home he shares with his wife.

The Daily Mail reports how nursery worker Vanessa George has begun to name the children she is charged with sexually assaulting.

The Independent has a story that Tory peer Michael Ashcroft is caught in the middle of a legal and political storm in the Central American haven of Belize, where many of his businesses are based.

The Daily Express reports that a study has found millions of Britons are risking high blood pressure by consuming snacks that contain a common sweetener.

The Daily Mirror leads with the jailing of Premier League football star Marlon King for 18 months for groping a woman's bottom and then breaking her nose when she rejected his advances.

And elsewhere...

EU Observer says on the first day of an important two-day EU summit being held in Brussels,EU leaders have agreed to allow the Czech Republic to opt out of a part of the EU's reform treaty, removing one of the last barriers to ratification. The deal will give the Czechs an opt-out from a human rights charter attached to the treaty.

Corriere della Sera reports Italy's magistrates have staged courtroom protests across the country over premier Silvio Berlusconi's latest attack on prosecutors and judges

Abrar says Iran has welcomed the proposal by the UN's nuclear watchdog to enrich its uranium abroad, but it has further delayed giving a clear response on whether it will accept the agreement with France, Russia and the United States.

El Mundo reports that preparatory excavation work has begun on a remote Andalusian hillside believed to be the site of an unmarked grave that contains the remains of Spain's most famous 20th century writer and poet, Federico Garcia Lorca.

Komsomolskaya Pravda reports that a Russian woman has been jailed for stabbing her younger lover - having already served two jail terms for killing her first husband and another lover.

California Chronicle says the family of a woman who died while taking part in a radio station water-drinking contest to win a popular Nintendo video game console has been awarded more than $16.5 million €11.12 million).

Il Giorno reports that Italian prosecutors have released a video of a mafia-style murder in Naples met with indifference by bystanders, hoping it would help break a wall of silence over the identity of the killer.

Asia Observer says Malaysia conservative Islamic party has urged Muslim men to marry single mothers as additional wives instead of "young virgin girls". Muslim men in Malaysia are allowed to marry up to four women.

Sydney Morning Herald reports a 24-year-old Satanist has pleaded guilty to the aggravated sexual assault of a 15-year-old girl and to using the internet to solicit and transmit naked pictures of young girls.

Ahead of the inaugural Abu Dhabi Grand Prix this weekend around the all-new, spectacular Yas Marina street circuit, Arabian Business has revealed the salary list of the drivers in Formula One. Raikkonen tops the list with €30.3 million followed by Lewis Hamilton (€12 million) and Fernando Alonso (€10 million).