Press digest

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

The Sunday Times says that Mayors are also getting a pay rise since their honoraria is linked to that of MPs. It also reports on the shooting of a woman yesterday.

The Malta Independent said the elderly in Sliema are living in fear after a series of suspected muggings.

MaltaToday reports how Evarist Bartolo has criticised Eddie Fenech Adami’s opposition to divorce. It also says there is outrage over the raise being given to MPs.

Illum says David Gatt in implying that he has been framed.

It-Torca also says that the Mayors are to have a raise. It says the people want MPs on their side.

Il-Mument reports that the Labour Party is in panic over the David Gatt case. In another case, it says that according to old US cables, Lorry Sant was seen as favourite to take over from Dom Mintoff in the 1970s.

KullHadd reports comments by Eddie Fenech Adami that Lawrence Gonzi is not holding the reins as much as he should.

The overseas press

Like most Swedish national media, Svenska Dagbladet leads with the two explosions which killed a man and injured two other people in a busy shopping area in central Stockholm. Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt described the attack as a "terrorist" action. In a Twitter message he said it could have been “truly catastrophic...". According to SVT television, the only person to die in the attack was the bomber. TT news agency said it had received an email warning ahead of the explosions, linked to Sweden's contingent of 500 soldiers with Nato in Afghanistan.

The New York Times says 46-year-old Mark Madoff, the son of convicted US fraudster Bernard Madoff, has apparently hanged himself in his New York home – exactly two years to the day his father was arrested. Along with his brother Andrew, Mark Madoff was under investigation but had not faced any criminal charges arising from the Ponzi scheme that led to their father's jailing. Both worked on a trading desk at the firm.

Il Tempo reports a huge crowd rallied in Rome against Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi as confidence votes on the conservative government loomed in Parliament. Pier Luigi Bersani, a leader of Italy's centre-left opposition, the Democratic Party, drew cheers as he addressed the crowd of 100,000 supporters who had marched for hours through the city. Bersani is demanding that Berlusconi leave power.

El Pais says a small crowd of demonstrators gathered outside the British Embassy in Madrid to protest at the detention of the founder of the WikiLeaks website and the closing of the site's Swiss bank account. Other protests were held in Barcelona, Valencia and Seville.

The Observer reports student protester Alfie Meadows underwent three hours of surgery after it was alleged he was hit over the head by a police baton during the violence in London on Thursday. In another development, the police have denied the attack on the car being used by Prince Charles and his wife Camilla during the week was down to a breakdown in radio communications.

Koha Ditore says Kosovo will today hold its first elections since declaring independence from Serbia with two former coalition partners locking horns. The economy and corruption are the major factors among voters.

Corriere della Sera reports Amanda Knox, the young American convicted of killing British student Meredith Kercher in Italy, has insisted both she and her ex-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito were the innocent victims of a "huge mistake” and deserved to be free. Knox was jailed for 26 years in 2009 for the murder. In this appeal, Knox's lawyers are questioning forensic evidence used against her.

Environment Today says more than 190 countries have struck an agreement at the latest round of UN climate talks in Mexico that put efforts to secure a new international deal to tackle global warming back on track, including a new fund to help poor nations. The agreement comprises a "Green Climate Fund," reaffirms a goal of raising €76 billion in aid by 2020 and has measures to protect tropical forests and new ways to share new clean energy technologies.

The San Diego Union Tribune reports a 71-year-old terminally ill man has been sentenced to 21 years for rolling his wheelchair into a San Diego bank and holding it up with a replica gun. Anthony Lawrence told the judge he robbed the Chase bank because he felt hopeless after being diagnosed with a myriad of medical problems. His defence lawyer told the court Lawrence wanted to get caught so he would not have to live on the streets.

Australia’s The Daily Telegraph reports Jason Allen Tattersall was "a bit upset" upon learning his ex-girlfriend had slept with another man while he was in prison. But his act of revenge, in which he bashed a teenager with a baseball bat and tattooed the word "dog" on his forehead, has landed him back in jail, where he'll stay for at least the next 11 years.