Press digest

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

The Times says that Sedqa is calling for random breathalyser tests to clamp down on drink-driving. It also says a surge in visas for Ukrainians has raised police eyebrows.

The Malta Independent says Malta is monitoring moves in the UK to grant voting rights to prisoners.

In-Nazzjon quotes the Prime Minister saying that truth has prevailed in the power station issue.

l-orizzont also leads with the power station issue, quoting the leader of the opposition calling on the Prime Minister to allow the PAC to question witnesses, if the government has nothing to hide.

The overseas press

France 24 reports the euro traded slightly higher in Tokyo this morning after Ireland's bailout was officially announced overnight, standing at 1.3265 dollars in early trading, compared with 1.3247 in US markets on Friday afternoon.

The Irish Times says that opposition politicians claimed the bail-out deal negotiated by the Irish government amounted to a national sell-out that would leave the country crippled with debt. Labour Party leader Eamon Gilmore said the potential 5.8 per cent rate of interest to be paid on the IMF/EU loans did not represent a fair bargain.

Whistle-blower website WikiLeaks has released more than 250,000 diplomatic cables, providing frank opinions about foreign leaders and other sensitive information from the US State Department. According to The New York Times – which along with German news magazine Der Spiegel and the newspapers Le Monde (France), El Pais (Spain) and The Guardian (UK) received the information in advance – the documents "provide an unprecedented look at backroom bargaining by embassies around the world, brutally candid views of foreign leaders and frank assessments of nuclear and terrorist threats".

The Washington Times reports the Pentagon has condemned the release as a "reckless" dump of classified documents that endangered lives and was against the law. The White House said the leak of the diplomatic cables could compromise private discussions with foreign governments and may put at risk the lives of named individuals living "under oppressive regimes".

Sky News quotes US Republican congressman Peter King, the ranking member of the House of Representatives' Homeland Security Committee, urging the US attorney general to prosecute Julian Assange, the Australian founder of the whistle-blower website for espionage.

Reuters say WikiLeaks had reported earlier on Sunday that its website was under attack, but said later that media outlets would publish some of the classified documents it had released even if the group's website crashed.

According to radio broadcaster SF1, Swiss voters have approved a plan to automatically deport foreigners found guilty of committing serious crimes or benefit fraud. Some 52.9 percent backed the proposal by the far-right Swiss People's Party.

Le Matin says nearly all of the major candidates in Haiti's presidential election have called for the country's election to be scrapped amid allegations of fraud and reports that large numbers of voters were turned away from polling stations throughout the nation. Twelve of the 18 candidates have called on their supporters to demonstrate against the government and the country's Provisional Electoral Council.

O Globo reports police in Rio de Janeiro have claimed victory in the Alemao shantytown after launching an operation aimed at pushing members of a drug gang out of the area. But about 600 gang members are believed to remain in Alemao, a grouping of a dozen slums in the north of the city where tens of thousands of people live.

Times of India says group of male commuters travelling in a women-only carriage on New Delhi's metro system were made to pay a fine of 250 rupees €4.00) while angry women slapped some of them and forced them to do sit-ups. At least one carriage is reserved for women on every metro train in the Indian capital, where female residents and tourists have complained about sexual harassment on public transport for decades.