Press digest

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

The Times says that the EU plan to extend maternity leave has been defeated.

The Malta Independent leads with the new criteria for entry into Church schools.

In-Nazzjon reports that the police have sought public help to track down a wanted man.

l-orizzont says it was Austin Gatt who insisted that the power station extension should be oil-firing.

The overseas press

EU Observer reports that the EU Parliament's proposal to increase maternity leave from 14 to 20 weeks has been rejected by member states. They also dismissed an increase to 18 weeks as proposed by the European Commission. According to statistics, Malta, Sweden and Germany are the only European countries with the minimum leave of 14 weeks.

The Wall Street Journal says a five-hour meeting of the eurozone finance ministers in Brussels has concluded that the existing rescue fund for debt-saddled countries is sufficient. An EU summit is scheduled for next week where EU leaders are expected to agree on a permanent eurozone rescue mechanism. The current fund expires in 2013.

Meanwhile, Cesky Noviny quotes Czech Prime Minister Petr Necas saying he would not hurry to join the eurozone. He said it would be "a political and economic blunder" to adopt Europe's currency at the moment. Neither has he any plans to introduce the euro during his government's current term which ends in 2014. The Czech Republic joined the EU in May 2004, but most of its citizens oppose the single currency

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, who on Monday was named Europe's top finance minister by the Financial Times, has warned that the risk of an anti-euro political party emerging in Germany should be taken seriously. Since the bailout for heavily indebted Greece, the euro has become unpopular among Germans. Schaeuble also rejected a two-tiered eurozone of more stable and less stable states.

Tribune de Genève reports that diplomats from the UN Security Council and Germany have met with Iran to discuss its nuclear programme without any sign of a breakthrough. Four rounds of United Nations sanctions have not been able to pressure Tehran's leaders to halt uranium enrichment, which Iran says was purely for peaceful purposes. Over the weekend, Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili said Iran's right to seek nuclear technology was "non-negotiable."

The Washington Post says the US, Japan and South Korea have agreed that North Korea must improve its relationship with the South before talks about Pyongyang’s nuclear programme could resume. The agreement came at a foreign minister’s meeting in Washington.

Le Parisien says a court in Pontoise, near Paris, has found Continental Airlines and a mechanic guilty of involuntary manslaughter for their role in the deadly crash of a Concorde jet 10 years ago, fining the airline €200,000. Continental Airlines has criticized the verdict, calling it "absurd" and clearly aimed at shifting blame from Air France and French aviation authorities. The crash killed all 109 people on board as well as four hotel workers on the ground.

The Guardian reports that the WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, whose publication of secret diplomatic reports has angered Washington, was expected to talk to British Police after they received a warrat for his arrest. Assange, who was believed to be in hiding somewhere in England, was wanted for questioning in Sweden in connection with rape allegations, which he denied. On Monday, Switzerland froze Assange’s bank accounts.

The latest documents released by WikiLeaks, oubished in The New York Times, reveal that Nato has been drawing up plans to defend the Baltic states in the event of Russian aggression. One US document says Nato had agreed to expand its military plan protecting Poland to cover the Baltic states as well.

The Washington Times says the US has called on the president of the Ivory Coast, Laurent Gbagbo, to accept that he had lost the recent election and had over to his opponent Alassane Ouattara. A White House official said President Obama regarded Ouattara as the legitimate winner of the election run-off.

El Universal reports that unidentified attackers have set fire to a kindergarten in the Mexican city of Ciudad Juarez, apparently after its owners refused to pay extortion money. The fire happened overnight, so no children were injured. Some teachers in the city have reported being threatened with attacks unless they hand over half their Christmas bonuses.

The Lancet pubishes the results of an Oxford University study which showed a small daily dose of aspirin substantially reduces death rates from a range of common cancers, including cancer. Aspirin was already known to cut the risk of heart attack and stroke among those at increased risk. Experts say the findings show aspirin's benefits often outweighed its associated risk of causing bleeding.