Press digest

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

The Times leads with the investment in ST Microelectronics. It also features reactions to the court decision upholding the ban on the play Stitching.

The Malta Independent says Russian spies arrested in the US used Malta for their password. It also says victims of sex abuse by priests hope the court case could be concluded within months.

MaltaToday continues its series of stories on spending by the Office of the President and says funds allocated for this year will run out sooner.

In-Nazzjon's front story is also dominated by the new investment in ST Microelectronics, announced during a visit by the Prime Minister.

l-orizzont leads with the use of a 'Malta' password by Russian spies. It also says that the House of Representatives will today debate the Opposition no confidence motion in Education Minister Dolores Cristina.

The overseas press:

The International Herald Tribune reports that the United States and Russia both say they do not want the improvement in their relations spoilt by Washington's announcement that it had uncovered a long-established Russian spy ring. Ten suspects were arrested in the US on Sunday and an eleventh was detained yesterday ] in Cyprus. Meanwhile, Britain and Ireland are also investigating reports that fake British and Irish passports were used by members of the alleged Russian spy ring.

Börzen Zeitung quotes the results of a new poll which show that the majority of Germans want to scrap the euro and bring back the old currency. The survey showed 51 per cent of people in Europe's top economy wanted the deutschemark back, with 30 per cent wanting to keep the euro. Sentiment in favour of the euro, introduced in 2002, has suffered in Germany following an unpopular multi-billion-euro bailout for Greece.

Kathemerini reports that violent clashes broke out between demonstrators and police on the streets of Athens, as some 10,000 people took to streets to protest the austerity measures intended to address Greece's debt crisis. Transport, hospitals and media have all been affected.

ABC says strikes against austerity measures also caused transport havoc in Madrid and led to clashes between police and picketers in the Basque region. Traffic in the Spanish capital was reduced to chaos as all subway trains were cancelled after unions refused to comply with an agreed 50 per cent minimum service.

British nationals paint a gloomy picture of the economy with stories on huge job losses from budget cuts and a prediction of another housing market crash. The Guardian says it has leaked data showing Chancellor George Osborne's budget would cost 1.3 million jobs over the next five years while The Independent claims a decline in mortgage approvals and consumer confidence is threatening to crash the housing market.

Magyar Nemzet reports Hungary's governing party has chosen Pal Schmitt, a two-time Olympic fencing champion, to be the country's next president. Schmitt, who will take over from current President Laszlo Solyom on August 6 for a five-year term, told parliament in a speech before the vote that the Hungarian government had to be harmonious in order to overcome the country's problems.

Novaya Gazeta quotes Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman saying at a joint press conference with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov that he saw no chance of meeting international aspirations for Palestinian statehood within 18 months. Mr Lavrov said that the lack of progress in Israeli-Palestinian peace talks would encourage radicalisation among Palestinians and said he hoped the indirect talks would soon lead to direct negotiations.

Calcutta's Telegraph says senior Indian managers convicted over the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy have appealed against the verdicts and their two-year jail terms and fines.

The Irish Times says that the government was considering forcing major supermarket chains to publicise their accounts over allegations they are making excessive profits on food. In a deepening row over grocery prices, Prime Minister Brian Cowen bowed to pressure to re-examine legal loopholes that allowed retail giants to keep their Irish takings secret.

According to The Sydney Morning Herald, Australian doctors were being taught about cyber bullying and dangerous sex acts stemming from watching online pornography. Safety experts were travelling the country to teach medical professionals, who have an average age of 55, about the internet's potential effect on mental health.

Asian Times says a Cambodian court has charged a Buddhist monk for secretly filming hundreds of naked women as they bathed with holy water at a temple, and then sharing the clips. Net Khai, 37, faces up to a year in jail. He has already been stripped of his religious status.

The former boyfriend of Jennifer Capriati, Dale DaBone, told celebrity news web site TMZ that her recent drug overdose was linked to his return to work in the porn industry and her depression over being forced out of tennis by injuries. The 34-year-old former international tennis star was reportedly rushed to the hospital early Sunday from her 19th floor luxury condo in Riviera Beach, Florida, just north of West Palm Beach.Her father claims that an accidental overdose of prescription medication was to blame.