Press digest

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

The Times reports that the focus on Air Malta has turned to staff and fleet numbers. The newspaper also quotes a consultant psychiatrist claiming that Maltese hospitals discriminate against drug abusers in terms of the care they are given.

The Malta Independent leads with the launching of the sexual health policy.

In-Nazzjon also leads with the sexual health policy. It also reports on the San Anton gardens vandalism and the first meeting of the Air Malta Steering Committee.

l-orizzont says an industrial tribunal found that a GWU shop steward was unfairly dismissed by ST Microelectronics. The company was ordered to pay €4,000. It also says that teachers and students are targeted in the sexual health policy.

The overseas press

The Washington Times reports the Obama administration has condemned as “irresponsible” the expected release of classified diplomatic cables by the whistleblowing website WikiLeaks and warned it would endanger “lives and interests”. US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton has personally contacted foreign governments likely to be mentioned in the official documents, thought to include private, candid assessments of foreign leaders and governments and could erode trust in the US as a diplomatic partner.

The Irish Examiner says tens of thousands of people are expected to take to the streets of Dublin this morning in protest against the planned cuts announced by Prime Minister Brian Cowen in his four-year recovery plan which raises taxes and cuts public spending. Mr Cowen’s already slim majority was yesterday reduced to two seats after his ruling party Fianna Fail was defeated in a bye-election in Donegal. The blow comes amid growing public anger over the collapse of the country's economy.

The EU Observer reports Lisbon, Madrid and the European Commission have strongly rejected reports that the two Iberian countries needed an international bailout. The denial came as Portugal passed its 2011 budget, which aims to reduce the country's deficit from a projected 7.3 per cent this year to 4.6 per cent in 2011. Lisbon plans to cut public sector wages, raise VAT and other taxes and curb public spending.

USA Today says President Obama has received 12 stitches in his lip after being injured during a basketball game when he was accidentally struck by an opponent’s elbow. Mr Obama had travelled to Fort McNair with a group of family and friends for an early morning game of basketball.

Abrar reports two earthquakes have struck Iran, but there were no reports of casualties. The first had a magnitude of of 5.6 and hit a mountainous area south of the country. The second quake, with a magnitude of 3.9, hit a nearby area about an hour later. It caused minor damage to some houses in a village close by.

The San Diego Union-Tribune says the US authorities have seized a huge haul of marijuana after the discovery of a cross-border. The 2,200-feet tunnel runs from the kitchen of a home in Tijuana, Mexico, to two warehouses in San Diego’s Otay Mesa industrial district.

According to Teheran Times, the Iranian President's 33-year-old Peugeot 504 will go under the hammer at an auction. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who drove the car while he was mayor of Tehran, has announced he would sell the battered vehicle in the hope of raising money for a charity providing affordable housing to the poor.

Metro announces the results of a University of Manchester survey which reveals that a woman's lips are the sexiest part of her bodies – especially if she's wearing red lipstick. The average man spends 54 per cent of the first 10 seconds of a meeting with a new woman entranced by her mouth. Makeup increases men's attraction further, with lipstick adding to blokes' fascination for women's lips. Men spend 6.7 seconds of the first 10 staring at women with pink lipstick, while red lips attracted 7.3 seconds.More than 50 males took part in the facial fixation study.