Press digest

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

The Times quotes the Mayor of Zejtun warning that the GRTU wants a cartel in waste collection. The GRTU said it was only against cheap labour.

The Malta Independent says the Prime Minister was disappointed by the Opposition's reaction to the Whistleblower Act. It also quotes Opposition leader Joseph Muscat questioning the legality of Arms Ltd warning letter to defaulters.

In-Nazzjon reports the Prime Minister saying that the past week was a ‘golden one' with government achievements.

l-orizzont says the Prime Minister tried to ridicule the GWU for taking part in a protest in Brussels against austerity measures. It also says that John Dalli is reacting to criticism from within the PN.

The overseas press

The Daily Telegraph says Britain has followed the US in upgrading its travel advice for Europe following a series of terror alerts. The Foreign British Office warned that there was a "high threat" of attacks in countries including France and Germany. The move came shortly after the State Department issued guidance urging Americans to be vigilant when visiting Europe, highlighting the "potential for terrorists to attack public transportation systems and other tourist infrastructure".

Germany has marked 20 years as a reunified nation, with tens of thousands attending festivities in the city of Bremen. Berlin Zeitung said the event celebrated the country's increasing sense of national pride while stressing the importance of integrating immigrants. The post-Second World War division ended on October 3, 1990 - less than 11 months after communist East Germany opened the Berlin Wall amid pressure from massive protests.

Dnevni reports Bosnians turned out in larger numbers than expected for the presidential and parliamentary elections likely to determine the divided state's ability to build stronger central institutions and integrate with the European Union. Turnout was 54.9 per cent, with little difference between the Balkan country's two largely autonomous entities - the Serb Republic and Muslim-Croat Federation. Partial results indicate that Bakir Izetbegovic has won the Muslim seat in the joint federal presidency.

According to Al Thawra, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem has called on Turkey to mediate any new indirect peace talks with Israel. He said any new indirect negotiations with Israel should resume where they left off. Ankara mediated several rounds of indirect negotiations between Israel and Syria in 2008. There as no immediate comment from Turkey.

Meanwhile, the Financial Times says US Middle East envoy George Mitchell has said that both Israel and the Palestinians want to avoid a collapse of the nascent peace process despite a Palestinian threat to shun the talks over settlement expansion.

Pakistan's Dawn reports that six people have been killed and 27 tankers were set on fire in an attack on a fuel deport, close to Islamabad, supplying Nato troops in Afghanistan. It was the second attack since Friday when the Pakistani authprities closed one of the main routes used by Nato supply trucks into Afghanistan.

L'Avvenire and L'Osservatore Romano have condemned Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi after videos emerged of him telling a blasphemous joke and ridiculing the Holocaust. The joke was filmed and posted on the website of Italian newspaper La Repubblica. In the same clip the sex scandal-hit leader can be heard saying he "collects a story and a girl a day". The Vatican described the jokes as "deplorable". But Berlusconi was unrepentant and said the jokes were "just a laugh ... made in private, not offensive and not a sin".

The Times of India says the Prince Charles joined India's President Pratibha Patil at an opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games in Delhi to welcomed over 6,000 athletes and officials from 71 countries. The spectacular cultural show of flair, imagination and excitement, watched by a global audience of millions, heralded 11 days of competitive action.

The Hollywood Reporter reports James Cameron's blockbuster Titanic, the second-biggest earner in film history, would be released in 3D in April 2012, a hundred years after the mammoth passenger steamship plunged into the icy waters of the Atlantic Ocean. Converting Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet's tragic love story into 3D is estimated at $10 to $15 million (€7.25 to €10.9 million).

Ansa news agency says a 36-year-old Italian motorist plunged to his death after stopping at the side of the road to urinate without realizing in the darkness that he was on viaduct nine meters above the ground. His companion said that when he had not returned after a few minutes, she got out of the car to see what happened and heard him groaning in the darkness. The woman alerted authorities but he was dead when they arrived.

Metro reports US Coca Cola chiefs, said to be "disgusted" by the scandal surrounding the 24-year-old England and Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney, have canned plans to feature the footballer's face on the side of millions of drinks. Worried by the seedy stories alleging that Rooney slept with prostitutes while his wife Coleen was pregnant, they ordered that the campaign to be scrapped. Rooney earns £600,000 a year in sponsorship from Coca Cola and also has other lucrative contracts with Nike, EA Sports and Tiger Beer.