Press digest

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

The Times says the Prime Minister has said he sees Malta coming out of recession. It also recalls the controversy over the proposed building of a footbridge over Mriehel Bypass. The bridge was approved by Mepa in the wake of the double fatality in that street in 2005, but it never materialised.

The Malta Independent says the driver who is accused of the involuntary death of cyclist Cliff Micallef had consumed 12 shots of vodka before starting to drive, a court was told.

In-Nazzjon also reports the Prime Minister's comments on Malta emerging from recession. He was speaking at an EU summit in Brussels.

l-orizzont says the Sette Giugno monument has been abandoned in a yard after having been removed from Palace Square. It also says that the GWU had a meeting with the government on the privatisation of the shipyard.

The international press

Ekstra Bladet reports that developing nations at the UN climate conference in Copenhagen have rejected as "insignificant'' an EU pledge of €7.2 billion over three years to help them tackle global warming.

Meanwhile, Copenhagen News says an official UN draft climate deal has been put on the table at Copenhagen, saying rich countries would have to cut emissions by at least 25 per cent by 2020, and by at least 75 per cent by 2050. But developing countries including China, which is the world's largest emitter, would only have to cut emissions if they were directly paid to do so.

L'Osservatore Romano reports the Pope has said he was "deeply disturbed and distressed" by the sexual abuse of children by priests in Ireland and shared the betrayal and shame felt by Irish Catholics. After a meeting with Cardinal Sean Brady and Dublin Archbishop Diarmuid Martin in Rome te Pontiff now plans to write a pastoral letter to the Catholics of Ireland.

Adevarul says Romania's Constitutional Court has ordered a re-examination of 138,000 ballots declared void in last Sunday's presidential election. Candidate Mircea Geoana has claimed his Social Democratic Party has evidence of ballot stuffing, multiple voting, widespread vote-buying and has asked for new elections to be held. He lost by a margin of just 70,000 votes to incumbent President Traian Basescu.

Argentina's Clarín reports a former navy captain known as the "blond angel of death" has gone on trial with 16 other former police and military officers charged with crimes against humanity during Argentina's 1976-1983 "dirty war" against leftists. Alfredo Astiz, 57, is said to have infiltrated human rights groups whose members were later kidnapped.

The Guardian quotes former British Prime Minister Tony Blair saying he would have invaded Iraq even if it was known then that Saddam Hussein did not have weapons of mass destruction. He said other arguments would have been needed to justify the military action in 2003, but the threat posed by Saddam to the wider region meant it was right to remove him from power.

Cypriot Mail reports the police have questioned three people in connection with the disappearance of the corpse of the former President Tassos Papadopoulos a day before the first anniversary of his death. Papadopoulos was revered by many Greek Cypriots for rejecting a UN reunification blueprint in 2004. The island was divided in a Turkish invasion in 1974 after a brief Greek-inspired coup.

South Carolina Star says the wife of Governor Mark Sanford has announced she is filing for divorce, six months after Sanford travelled secretly to Argentina for what he later confessed was an extramarital affair.

Australia's The Daily Telegraph reports that wine has become cheaper than water and Coke, due to a grape glut, a surging dollar and fresh tastes. In previous years much of the oversupply had been exported.

USA Today says Tiger Woods has announced he would take an "indefinite break" from professional golf, acknowledging the disappointment and hurt his "infidelity" had caused his family.

The Sun reports pop legend Elton John is to sell off thousands of pieces of clothing, including outrageous outfits from his concerts. Proceeds of the sale will go towards the singer's AIDS charity.

Variety reports seven artists, including singer Michael Jackson, will receive a posthumous Grammy for lifetime achievement at an invitation-only event on January 30, the day before the Grammy Awards are handed out in Los Angeles. Jackson died at age 50 in June. The others honoured with the annual award are Canadian singer Leonard Cohen, blues musician David "Honeyboy" Edwards, country star Loretta Lynn, pianist Andre Previn, fluegelhorn player Clark Terry and the late singer Bobby Darin.

The Los Angeles Times says a court threw out a bid to suspend the medical licences of two doctors accused of illegally supplying late Playboy model Anna Nicole Smith with powerful drugs, saying there was no urgency. A 2007 autopsy found that Smith's death was due to a lethal cocktail of anti-anxiety medication, methadone, antibiotics and other prescription drugs.

The Boston Globe reports that a 98-year-old Massachusetts woman has been charged with second-degree murder for allegedly suffocating her 100-year-old nursing home roommate last September with a plastic bag over her head. The woman had frequently complained that her roommate had too many visitors. Authorities initially investigated the possibility of suicide, but eventually recommended a murder charge.