Press digest

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

The Times leads with the appointment of the first EU president. It also carries a picture of the mist over Malta yesterday. In another story it quotes engineers discounting sabotage as the cause of the blackout earlier this week.

The Malta Independent takes up the same two themes. It also says a grandmother was accused of defiling her grandson.

In-Nazzjon too reports on the top EU appointments. It also reports that crime was consistently down over the past five years, and Malta came first in an EU survey of e-government services.

l-orizzont says it was lack of maintenance which caused the power outage. In another story it says the GWU has called for quarterly reports to the MCESD by the government.

The Press in Britain...

The Daily Express reports that the new European president, Belgium's Prime Minister Herman Van Rompuy, will get a salary of £320,000 (c. €358,000), making him the world's highest paid leader. Mr Van Rompuy beat Tony Blair to the position.

The Guardian says the decision to hand Mr Van Rompuy the job came after a special summit dinner on Wednesday night.

The same subject is reported on in the Daily Mail, whih covers the appointment of Baroness Ashton as EU foreign secretary, describing her as a "virtually unknown Labour crony".

The Financial Times also describes the two politicians as "relative unknowns". The paper says the appointments, created by an EU reform treaty that takes effect on December 1, were designed to improve the EU's decision-making process.

The Daily Telegraph reports that the MP who heads the committee responsible for policing MPs' expenses, David Curry, has stood down after it revealed he claimed £30,000 for a second home his wife had banned him from.

The Independent says people suffering from a form of incurable blindness could become the first patients in the world to benefit from a new and controversial transplant operation using stem cells derived from spare human embryos left over from IVF treatment.

The Daily Star says model Katie Price, aka Jordan, is threatening to quit the I'm A Celebrity jungle.

The Daily Mirror reports football fans around the world are calling for France to replay their World Cup qualifying match against Ireland following the infamous 'Hand of Gaul' incident. Irish football bosses have launched an official complaint with Fifa following Thierry Henry's handball, which helped give France the winning goal.

The Republic of Ireland's pleas to have their World Cup clash with France replayed are likely to fall on deaf ears. The Irish Times quotes a FIFA source saying: "There is no way the game can be replayed. FIFA's rules are absolutely clear. Law five states that a referee's decision on points of fact are final. That is the end of it. You cannot replay the match on this basis."

And The Sun claims the French economy will get a £1 billion boost thanks to Les Bleus reaching the World Cup finals.

And elsewhere...

Most European newspapers lead with the appointment of Belgium Preme Minister Herman Van Rompuy by EU leades in Brussels as the bloc's first full-time president.

The International Herald Tribune says the US and five other world powers - Britain, China, France, Russia and Germany - will meet in Brussels later today to discuss what measures can be taken to punish Tehran for its refusal to halt its nuclear enrichment programme.

The Washington Times reports a US congressional advisory panel has said that Chinese spies are aggressively stealing American secrets to use in building up Beijing's military and economic strength.

Afghan Times quotes President Hamid Karzai promising to root out his government's endemic corruption in an inauguration speech made under intense pressure to shed the cronyism and graft that marked his first term.

USA Today says air travellers in the US scrambled to revise their travel plans after a computer glitch caused widespread cancellations and delays for the second time in 15 months.

Peru's La Republica announces four people have been arrested on suspicion of killing some 60 people to sell their fat and other human tissue to Italian co-conspirators for cosmetic use in Europe.

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette says a police officer who used a stun gun on an unruly 10-year-old girl after he said her mother gave him permission has been suspended - not for using the weapon but for not having a video camera attached when he used it.

Variety reports US TV star Oprah Winfrey is due to announce that her talk show will end in 2011 after its 25th season on the air.

Berliner Morgenpost reveals German police have arrested several people suspected of operating a soccer match-fixing ring that targeted top-flight soccer fixtures in Europe. Arrests were made in several European countries.