Press digest

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

The Times says that according to an expert, divorce proceedings could give a voice to children. It adds however that children should not be involved in quarrels between their parents.

The Malta Independent leads with the energy decisions during the EU heads of government meeting.

In-Nazzjon says Labour has been accused of political opportunism in the issue over the transfer of the Valletta Sunday market. It also reports on the evolving situation in Egypt.

l-orizzont says Dar Malta, the Maltese representation in Brussels, has been criticised over the engagement of temporary workers and the non-payment of taxes, according to a Belgian newspaper.

The overseas nespapers

Al Jazeera reports that hundreds of thousands of protesters have remained gathered in Cairo's Tahrir Square during the night, in defiance of a 7 pm to 6 am curfew that has not been observed since it was first enforced last week. Egypt’s state television has been reporting that the situation in Cairo is currently quiet and calm. There were also demonstrations in Egypt's second city, Alexandria, and in the towns of Suez, Port Said, Rafah, Ismailiya, Zagazig, al-Mahalla al-Kubra, Aswan, Asyut and Giza.

The Egyptian Gazette says that during the peaceful protest by some 100,000 demonstrators – including many women and children – Defence Minister Mohamed Hussein Tantawi visited Tahrir Square, the first member of the government to do so. He talked with the protesters and military commanders.

Egyptian Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq told the BBC that it would be impractical for the president to go. He insisted Mr Mubarak's declaration that he would not seek re-election in September was tantamount to him standing down. Mr Shafiq separately told al-Arabiya TV that it was unlikely Mr Mubarak would hand over power to his new Vice-President, Omar Suleiman, because the president was needed "for legislative reasons".

Al-Ahram reports an Egyptian reporter shot during clashes earlier this week has died of his wounds – the first reported journalist death in the 11 days of turmoil surrounding Egypt’s wave of anti-government protests. Ahmed Mohammed Mahmoud, 36, worked as a reporter for Al-Taawun, one of a number of newspapers put out by the Al-Ahram publishing house.

Al Masry Al Youm, the country's largest independent newspaper, reports that Egyptian security forcers have broken into the headquarters of the Muslim Brotherhood's website and arrested 12 journalists there. Al Jazeera says they have also arrested its Cairo bureau chief and another Al Jazeera journalist in the capital.

EU News says European leaders meeting in Brussels have urged Egyptian authorities to protect reporters covering the country’s crisis. The call came as a Swedish TV journalist was reported in serious condition after being stabbed. The Committee to Protect Journalists, a New York-based media watchdog, said it had recorded 24 detentions of journalists, 21 assaults and five cases in which equipment was detained over a 24-hour period.

A poll by Yediot Aharonot, Israel's biggest selling daily, revealed that 65 per cent of Israelis believed an end to Mr Mubarak's rule would be "negative". Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has also poured cold water on expectations of any warming of the "cold peace" which has existed between Israel and Egypt since the Camp David peace treaty was signed in 1979.

According to Süddeutsche Zeitung, a third of all Catholic theology professors at universities in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, have called for reforms to the Catholic Church, inclusing an end to compulsory celibacy. They also called for women to be allowed into the priesthood and for the Catholic laity to have more say in the selection of bishops. The 144 theologians said they wanted to start an open dialogue about the future of the Catholic Church.

Az-Zaman quotes Iraq's Prime Minister saying he would return half of his annual salary to the public treasury in what observers saw as a symbolic gesture that appeared calculated to insulate him from the anti-government unrest spreading across the Middle East. It was a stunning statement for Nouri al-Maliki, who has resisted disclosing his pay in the five years he has led Iraq. He described it as an effort to narrow the gap between the nation's rich and poor.

USA Today reports that the husband of the US congresswoman injured in an Arizona gun attack was to lead one of the final space shuttle missions in April. Gabrielle Giffords' husband Mark Kelly would resume training as Endeavour's commander on Monday. Mr Kelly said he made the decision because his wife's condition had improved "very fast". Ms Giffords is having rehabilitation therapy in Houston after being shot in the head in January.

Metro says British Prime Minister David Cameron has warned visitors to Downing Street to look out for nits after two of his children came home from school with head lice. Mr Cameron told journalists arriving for a briefing that if they found their heads were itching, it was down to his daughter Nancy, seven, and son Arthur, four. “If you find them when you get home, I apologise. Let me know and I’ll send you a comb and some ointment,” he was reported as saying.