Press digest

The following are the top stories in the local and international press today.

The local media give prominence to the Labour leader’s reply to the Prime Minister declining the latter’s request for a simple yes/no question in the divorce referendum.

The Sunday Times also reports on the death of a Polish priest in a Maltese mission school in Tunisia saying that the school had received a threat before the priest was killed.

The Malta Independent on Sunday reports on the arrival of Maltese record breaker Thomas Cremona and Foreign Affairs Minister Tonio Borg’s meetings with the new government in Tunisia

Malta Today says the Prime Minister told MPs he needed time for studies to confirm the negative impact of divorce. A survey carried by the newspaper shows that the people’s trust in Maltese political leaders was at its lowest ever.

It-Torca says that the government has not yet said how it had come to the conclusion that the number of workers at Air Malta had to go down.

Kullhadd says that correspondence between the newspaper and Office of the Prime Minister was leaked to columnist Daphne Caruana Galizia

Il-Mument says there has been a drop in criminality. In another story it says that Labour MP Evarist Bartolo was in the centre of attacks within the PL.

Illum reports on the allegation by Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando and Evarist Bartolo that they suspected their telephones were being tapped. A survey carried out by the newspaper shows that John Bundy and Reno Bugeja were the most respected presenters by the Maltese.

The international press

Anti-government protests have again flared across the Middle East in a wave of unrest that threatens to destabilise the entire region. As calls for regime change grow louder across Bahrain, Libya, Algeria, Yemen and Djibouti, some leaders are calling for dialogue, while others have ordered brutal crackdowns.

Here is a round-up of the key clashes across the region:

The Sunday Telegraph reports Libyan snipers esters, artillery and helicopter gunships were used against crowds of demonstrators, and thugs armed with hammers and swords attacked families in their homes as the Libyan regime sought to crush the uprising. Mourners leaving a funeral for protesters in the eastern city of Benghazi came under fire, killing at least 15 people and wounding many more. According to Alsumaria, the dead –which ranged between 15 and 200 – appeared to be in addition to the 84 people confirmed dead by Friday by New York Human Rights Watch, which said most of the victims died of gun wounds. The pro-government Al-Zahf al-Akhdar newspaper warned that the government would "violently and thunderously respond" to the protests, and said those opposing the regime risked "suicide".

Sky News says the British Foreign Office has advised against all but essential travel to the cities of Benghazi, Ajdabiya, Al-Bayda, Al-Marj, Derna and Tobruk in eastern Libya, where campaigners say dozens of people have been killed over the past three days. British and American officials have also said travellers should avoid travel to Bahrain.

Meanwhile, Khaleej Times reports that hundreds have returned to Bahrain's Pearl roundabout after both the army and police leave the anti-government protest site. Soon after Bahrain's Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad al Khalifa made a TV address, appealing for calm and political talks.

Yemen’s Al Motamar says riot police in the capital, Sanaa, shot dead a protester and injured five others when they opened fire on thousands marching in the tenth day of unrest rocking the country. Protesters began marching from the University of Sanaa to the Ministry of Justice until they were met by riot police and supporters of the president. The president's supporters, armed with clubs and knives, attacked the crowd and both sides threw stones while at one point police fired in the air to disperse the march.

According to Le Matin, in Algiers, police in riot gear crammed around 500 protesters into the courtyard of a residential block before they could reach May 1 Square in the city centre. The gathering, organised by the Co-ordination for Democratic Change in Algeria, had been intended to build on a similar protest a week ago.

La Nation says anti-government protestors in Djibouti clashed with security forces 24 hours after hundreds of demonstrators demanding the president step down hurled stones at riot police who fired back with tear gas. At least one policeman was killed, and sources said one protester had also been killed.

Abrar says the Iranian authorities have warned the opposition against staging demonstrations after calls were posted on websites for a rally on Sunday to commemorate two people killed during protests this week. The websites of opposition leaders Mirhossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karoubi had called for the nationwide rallies, which they also said were intended to show "decisive support to the pro-reform movement and its leaders".

In other news:

Al Ahram quotes a Suez Canal official saying two Iranian naval ships would sail through the Suez Canal to the Mediterranean on Monday, in what would be the first passage of Iranian naval ships through the canal since 1979. The vessels would arrive at the southern mouth of the canal in the Red Sea's Gulf of Suez later today. They would enter the canal in the northern convoy on Monday morning and complete the journey to the Mediterranean by evening. Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has described Iran's plan to send the ships through the canal en route to Syria as a "provocation."

Deutsche Welle says German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle is in Tehran to meet two German journalists released after four months in Iranian custody. Marcus Hellwig and Jens Koch, reporters for the German tabloid Bild am Sonntag, were arrested October 10 of last year in Tabriz. They had traveled there to conduct interviews with the son and lawyer of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, a woman sentenced to death by stoning on an adultery conviction. Tehran said Hellwig and Koch had no permission to conduct interviews in Iran, having entered the country on tourist visas.

Granma reports the Cuban government has freed a jailed dissident who refused to go into exile in Spain as a condition for release. Ivan Hernandez, a journalist who was one of 75 opponents of the government arrested in 2003, was released along with six other prisoners whose freedom was brokered by the Roman Catholic Church. He said he meant to continue working as an independent journalist.

Buganda Post says Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni was on course for re-election after 25 years in power as results continued to be announced from Friday's election. With results declared from more than half the polling stations, he had about 70 per cent of the vote while his nearest rival, Kizza Besigye, was on just 23 per cent.