Press digest

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

The Times leads with comments by the Prime Minster that the economy has started the road back to growth. It also reports the assault against GRTU Vince Farrugia.

The Malta Independent also gives prominence to the assault on Vince Farrugia and Dr Gonzi's comments on the economy.

In-Nazzjon says the economy is showing positive signs. It also reports that Freedom Square will be closed next month for the City Gate works. It also claims that the assault on Vince Farrugia started after an SMS meant for the PL was sent to Vince Farrugia by mistake.

l-orizzont says a relative of Joseph Mizzi, the middleman for the granting of the power station contract, was last year appointed CEO of the LGA (Lotteries and Gaming Authority). It also says that cases before Magistrate Giovanni Griscti in court have been put off because a tape recorder has been out of order. In another story, it says the presence of rats has forced the closure of parts of the abattoir.

The overseas press

Börzen Zeitung reports German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Netherlands Prime Minister Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende have agreed on tougher sanctions against euro zone countries which face default on their finances. Merkel said that was the only way that agreements on fiscal stability would be properly respected. She congratulated the Greek government for having taken "serious and courageous" steps to emerge from financial turmoil.

The Wall Street Journal focuses on the impact on business in Greece following a nationwide general strike in which police fought running battles with youths. The country ground to a halt as workers went on yet another 24-hour nationwide strike and tens of thousands of people took to the streets to protest pay cuts, higher taxes and pension reforms in the biggest and angriest demonstrations so far against the austerity measures.

According to the Financial Times, British prime Minister Gordon Brown and French President Nicholas Sarkozy will today try to hammer out a compromise deal over European Union reforms that the US and UK believe could damage the hedge fund and private equity industries. The EU reiterates the directive was in line with a G20 decision to reinforce transparency in the financial system.

Aftonbladet says the Swedish parliament has passed a resolution by just one vote stating that the World War One massacre of more than a million Armenians and other minorities by the Ottomans was genocide. Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt, who affirmed his support for Turkey to enter the European Union, said that he regretted the decision.

Gazete Ankara reports that in response, Turkey announced the recall of its ambassador to Sweden for consultations, adding that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan was cancelling a visit to Sweden.

Kyiv Post says Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych has formed a new coalition and appointed a cabinet with ally Mykola Azarov at its head after the 450-member parliament approved his appointment. The new alliance is made up of 235 representatives, including Communist Party delegates. The events come a week after Yulia Tymoshenko was ousted from her post as Prime Minister.

According to Az-Zaman, early results from Iraq's election suggest a tight contest may be developing between Prime Minister Nouri Maliki and his main rival Iyad Allawi. Mr Maliki leads in two Shia provinces south of Baghdad while Mr Allawi is in the lead in two provinces to the north. Many votes are still to be counted and final results for all 18 provinces were not expected for a fortnight.

Haaretz says Israeli army prosecutors have charged two soldiers for using a young Palestinian boy to check for booby-traps during last year's fighting in Gaza. The two staff sergeants, were charged for forcing the boy to open bags they feared might be rigged with explosives. The Israeli army radio said the boy was nine years old.

El Mercurio reports that Sebastian Pinera was sworn in as president of Chile, minutes after it was hit by the largest aftershock since last month's devastating earthquake. The 6.9-magnitude tremor has its epicentre some 140km south of the city of Valparaiso, where the inauguration ceremony took place. In the capital, Santiago, buildings shook and people rushed out onto the streets, but no damage was reported.

Tribune de Genève says HSBC's Swiss wealth management unit, based in Geneva, became the first Swiss bank to confirm the theft of a CD containing information on 24,000 clients, mainly from France. HSBC did not say whether the disc had data from clients in other countries.

Metro reports that Ejup Ganic, a former Bosnian President arrested in London on war crime charges and sought by Serbia and Bosnia for extradition, was released on bail on Thursday. Ganic, 64, was accused that he shot wounded soldiers in a May 1992 attack on a retreating convoy of the Yugoslav People's Army He denies the charges.

The New York Daily News says an American accused of raping his five daughters was reportedly trying to keep his bloodline intact. Aswad Ayinde, 51, allegedly impregnated three of his daughters because he believed his bloodline was the only one that would survive an impending apocalypse. He was also accused of beating his children with boards and kicking them with a steel-capped boot to keep them from speaking of the atrocities being committed.

Minnesota Globe reports that the state's appeals court has upheld a one-year prison sentence for a man who drilled a hole in his bathroom wall and filmed his wife naked without her consent. The wife of Richard Perez contacted police in July 2006 after discovering video clips on their home computer of her climbing in and out of the bathtub. The estranged couple were in the process of getting a divorce. The court said a spouse has the right to privacy when alone in a shared bathroom and did not necessarily lose this right through marriage.