Press digest

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

The Times says that following talks between the Prime Minister and architect Renzo Piano, the theatre on the opera house site will remain roofless but changes will be made to the facade of the block of flats overlooking Freedom Square. The area of the Valletta terminus will be rehabilitated. In another story, The Times says 11 trade unions will hold a protest over the utility tariffs on February 11.

The unions' protest is the main story of l-orizzont, which, in another story, asks if the City Gate project will be contained in the projected €80 million.

The Malta Independent says the City Gate project will be started in April. It also highlights measures against child exploitation announced yesterday by Justice and Home Affairs Minister Carm Mifsud Bonnici.

The two stories also make the front page of In-Nazzjon along with a story on the opening of Carnival events.

The overseas press

Athens News reports that Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou has criticised the EU's response to the country's financial crisis as "too timid and too slow". He told cabinet members at a televised meeting in Athens that the EU lacked coordination and undermined Greece's credibility. At a summit in Brussels on Thursday, the EU offered Greece its backing but gave no details of any plans to help.

The Financial Times quotes British Opposition leader David Cameron saying that if he won this year's election Britain would never join the euro area as long as he was prime minister. In a speech to the Scottish Conservative Party conference in Perth, Cameron said Britain's deficit and debt were bad enough without "the straitjacket of the euro". Prime Minister Gordon Brown said on Thursday said that not being part of the euro gave Britain more flexibility.

USA Today reports a woman opened fire in a biology faculty meeting at the University of Alabama's Huntsville campus, killing three people and injuring three others, two of them critically. The shooter was caught outside the Shelby Center, a science building, without incident.

The Caribbean New Agency quotes Haiti's President Rene Preval vowing that his country would "not die" but would live on. He spoke at an emotional ceremony in Port-au-Prince during a day of national mourning held a month after the earthquake struck. At least 217,000 people died in the devastating earthquake on 12 January, which also left about 300,000 injured and one million homeless.

The International Herald Tribune reports the European Union and NATO have joined President Barack Obama in congratulating Viktor Yanukovich on his election in Ukraine - although his presidential challenger Yulia Tymoshenko has yet to concede defeat. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown called the election "a vigorous display of democracy" and said Britain would continue to back Ukrainian aspirations to join the European Union.

The New York Times says former U.S. President Bill Clinton was back to work on Haiti relief and doing 'very well" on Friday a day after a successful heart procedure to open a blocked artery to his heart that caused him chest discomfort. He described surgery as "miraculous" and said he had been awake during the procedure.

The Irish Independent reports a teenage shoplifter has been ordered by a judge to do sewing, cooking, take part in literacy classes and outdoor pursuits, including canoeing and trekking, for the next six months. The judge told the 17-year-old girl, who stole pair of jeans, that it was an "historic day" as it was the first time the Dublin Children's Court had made a "day centre order", which compels an eligible defendant to take part in a range of activities to divert them from crime.

The 21^st edition of the Winter Olympic Games opened in Vancouver under a black cloud after 21-year-old Georgian luge competitor Nodar Kumaritashvili was killed in a horrific training crash at the Whistler Sliding Centre. The Vancouver Sun a full-capacity crowd of 60,000 packed the BC Place Stadium to see teams of 82 nations march past. The Georgian flag was carried at half mast as a sign of mourning.

Britian's The Daily Mirror devotes most of ts front page to a picture showing shamed Chelsea and former England football captain John Terry kissing his wife Toni as the couple appears to have patched things up after his alleged affair with lingerie model Vanessa Perroncel. Together with their twin girls, they relaxed around a pool in Dubai. Perroncel is the ex-partner of Terry's England team-mate Wayne Bridge.