Press digest

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

The Times and the other newspapers feature yesterday’s MCESD meeting on their front pages. In other stories, it reports that priests accused of child abuse are insisting on a media ban.

The Malta Independent says the situation at the Emergency Ward has improved with more patients being transferred from Mater Dei Hospital to other facilities.

In-Nazzjon says a document before the parliamentary welfare committee shows that Joseph Muscat knew of the salary increases to ministers and MPs well before last month.

l-orizzont says that promises made in 2008 that the government would shoulder its social responsibilities and subsidise gas prices have not been kept.

The overseas press

Le Figaro reports President Nicolas Sarkozy has asked the country’s intelligence agency to investigate a possible Chinese link in an industrial espionage case that has shaken Renault. The French car manufacturer had earlier confirmed that it had suspended three of its top managers suspected of leaking secrets relating to the technology in the battery and the engine of electrical vehicles, for which Renault and its Japanese partner Nissan had invested at least €4 billion in research and development.

Deutsche Welle reports that tests on the firm at the centre of the dioxin scandal have revealed levels of the chemical 77 times the legal limit. Government officials accused the firm of having detected the problem as far back as March. German Agricultural Minister Ilse Aigner has called for stricter, EU-wide regulation on animal feed to better protect consumers and farmers. She said she had also spoken with EU Health Commissioner John Dalli by telephone on the matter.

El-Youm says fresh rioting has broken out in the Algerian capital and various other cities over rising food prices, housing shortages, and wider social and political grievances. Crowds of young protesters attacked government buildings and fought street battles with police. Government ministers called for calm and weekend football matches, seen as a potential catalyst for protests, were cancelled..

As southern Sudan prepares to vote in a referendum on independence on Sunday, President Omar al-Bashir has warned of instability and reduced opportunities for southerners living in the north if the region decided to break away. He told al-Jazeera TV that southerners still in the north after cessation would be treated as foreigners. Correspondents expect an overwhelming "yes" vote, which would see the world's newest country come into being.

Ha’aretz quotes Israeli military authorities saying an Israeli soldier has been accidentally killed and four others injured during an exchange of fire with Palestinian militants close to the Gaza border. Officials said it appeared a weapon had malfunctioned while soldiers were attempting to fire on the Palestinians, who had been trying to plant explosives underneath the security fence along the border.

El Mundo reports that Colombia has extradited a woman known as The Queen of the Amphetamines to the United States, where she would face charges of shipping large quantities of amphetamines to the US, Spain, and the Netherlands. Beatriz Elena Henao was on Interpol's list of its top 10 most wanted women. Police say her knowledge of English, German, Dutch and Spanish made it easy for her to sell the drugs abroad.

According to The Wall Street Journal, President Obama has cautiously hailed a "clear" trend of job growth, and called on businesses to boost investment. Touring an energy-efficient window manufacturer in Maryland, Mr Obama said the jobs report showed US unemployment rate dropped 0.4 points to 9.4 per cent in December, the largest one-month drop since 1998. Some 103,000 jobs were created last month.

Mareeg reports that men and women in the southern Somali town of Jowhar have been banned from shaking hands. Under the ban imposed by the Islamist group al-Shabab, men and women who are not related were also barred from walking together or chatting in public. Those who disobeyed the new rules would be flogged.

Il Carlino reports that a 75-year-old Italian woman has filed a paternity suit on a 100-year-old man and looked to finally prove she was indeed his daughter. DNA tests have shown "an extremely high probability" that the two are father and daughter. But the man's lawyers have challenged the methods used to obtain the sample from him in his nursing home and a judge is set to rule on April 30 if the man was correctly informed of what was happening when two mouth swabs, matching two from the woman, were taken.

Ansa reports that a fight between the current and former girlfriends of a businessmen in the northern Italian city of Bergamo spurred neighbours to call the police who found a marijuana crop in his bedroom. The businessman was arrested after police discovered some 25 1.5m-high marijuana plants, a halogen-lighting system and an aeration plant. Some 500g of dried marijuana were seized along with 600g of leaves awaiting treatment.

Minnesota Globe says Terry Allen Lester has been charged with attempting to give his ex-girlfriend a vibrator for Christmas, inside of which a bomb was hidden. Currently in police custody, he faces a maximum of 10 years in prison and a fine of $20,000 (€15,500) if convicted.