Press digest

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

The Sunday Times says ST workers are facing a do or die situation. It also reports that a boat which sank after being hit by a yacht has been lifted from the sea off Marsamxett.

The Malta Independent on Sunday says autogas will soon be offered at the pumps.

MaltaToday says that 59% of Maltese are in favour of divorce, according to a survey. It also reports that the trade department is continuing to oppose the granting of a licence for a return of the trade fair to Naxxar.

It-Torca complains of sewage overflows in the sea off Ic-Cumnija near Anchor Bay which is undermining investment in the nearby sewage treatment plant.

Il-Mument leads with positive results in Matsec exams. It also reports that childcare centres have been praised by the audit office.

KullHadd focuses on the growning national debt. It also says that the confrontation between Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando and the PM got worse when the former mentioned January as a date when the divorce law would be discussed. It also reports that a female Moroccan prisoner escaped while under escort in Floriana on Wednesday.

Illum says some 24,000 electricity vouchers issued to low income households were not being exchanged in the past few years. It also discusses who will succeed Geitu Mercieca in the GWU.

The overseas press

Al-Ayyam reports that EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton today starts a visit to Gaza for talks focusing on Israel's blockade and the possibility of a trial EU mission to monitor the opening of a crossing between Israel and the Gaza Strip near the Egyptian border. She has urged Israel to alter its policy of blockading the Hamas-ruled territory, saying the EU was committed to Palestinian statehood and to improving the situation in Gaza.

Ta Nea says two large forest fires, the first of the summer season, are burning near Athens, aided by gale-force winds of up to 40 miles an hour. The most serious of the two fires broke out on Saturday 28 miles north-east of Athens. Dozens of fire engines, 12 planes and four helicopters were fighting the fire. No casualties have as yet been reported.

USA Today says testing of BP's newly capped Gulf of Mexico oil well is to continue for a further 24 hours. The US official in charge of the spill clean-up, Admiral Thad Allen, said the "integrity test" would not stop until this afternoon. The new cap has managed to stop the flow of oil for the first time since the well exploded three months ago.

Asia Times reports it took 15 hours to extinguish a fire that ravaged through a busy Chinese port in the northern city of Dalian. An explosion took place while a Liberian tanker was unloading oil and the blaze raged among tanks at the port. More than 2,000 firefighters worked overnight to control flames that shot 30 metres into the air.

Le Journal du Dimanche says the French government has vowed to restore order after rioting in the eastern city of Grenoble over a shooting by police. The rioting started after a memorial service for a 27-year-old man, who had died in a shootout with police after allegedly holding up a casino and robbing €20,000.

Albania's Gazeta Tema reports that 14 people died and 12 others were injured, many of them seriously, when a bus fell off a cliff 140 kilometres north of Tirana. President Bamir Topi and Prime Minister Sali Berisha visited the injured at the Tirana hospital and promised urgent assistance. The government has declared today a day of national mourning, with flags flying at half-mast.

La Tribune de Genève leads with film director Roman Polanski' first public appearance since being freed from house arrest when he attended a performance by his wife at the Montreaux Jazz Festival. The 76-year-old film director of "The Pianist" and "Chinatown" had been awaiting the legal outcome of a US request to have him extradited for having unlawful sexual intercourse with a 13-year-old girl in 1977. US prosecutors have vowed to pursue his extradition on sex charges.

Il Tempo says Rome's Borghese Gallery and three Roman churches stayed open all night to let Caravaggio fans admire his works on the 400th anniversary of the Italian Baroque artist's death. Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio was active in Rome, Naples, Malta, and Sicily between 1593 and 1610, often having to flee cities and leave works because of his tempestuous nature that led him to kill at least one man. Meanwhile L'Osservatore Romano announced that a new work by Caravaggio - The Martyrdom of St Lawrence - has been discovered in Rome.

German consumer protection minister Ilse Aigner has sharply criticised Facebook's privacy policy and accused the social networking site of breaching the law. She told German news weekly Focus the company must stop saving personal data, like phone numbers, gathering personal information of people who never agreed to share it.

Business India reports the Bombay High Court has ruled that Hindu gods cannot deal in stocks and shares. Two judges rejected a petition from a private religious trust to open accounts in the names of five deities, saying trading in shares on the stock market required certain skills and expertise and to expect this from deities would not be proper

Expressen says divers have discovered what is thought to be the world's oldest drinkable champagne in a shipwreck in the Baltic Sea between Finland and Sweden. Diving instructor Christian Ekstrom said the champagne, believed to be from the 1780s, "tasted fantastic". About 30 bottles are believed to remain in the wreckage. Swedish wine expert Carl-Jan Granqvist said each bottle could bring as much as $US50,000 (€38,650) if the corks are intact and the age and authenticity can be proven. Samples have been sent to champagne laboratories in France for testing.