Press digest

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

The Times reports how Malta has become a Harbour of Refuge with 6,000 evacuated workers due to have arrived overnight. It also reports that the EU has agreed to impose sanctions on Libya.

The Malta Independent says the weather is at last permitting evacuation by sea.

In-Nazzjon says there is chaos in Libyawhile l-orizzont says Libya is on the verge of civil war. L-orizzont also says that nurses on standby because of the Libya crisis are being paid just 11c per hour.

The overseas press

The UN Security Council will meet later today to consider sanctions against Libya The New York Times reports Britain and France have drafted a resolution at the UN Security Council calling for an arms embargo and a freeze on the assets of Col. Gaddafi and other government leaders. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said it was time for concrete action, warning that any delay would add to the death toll of more than a thousand. Libyan ambassador Mohammed Shalgham pleaded with the Council to act against the "atrocities" being committed by Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, whom he compared to Khmer Rouge despot Pol Pot, Soviet leader Joseph Stalin and Nazi leader Adolf Hitler.

Ban's comments echoed those of the UN's top human rights official Navi Pillay, who had addressed a special session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. Tribune de Genève says she also spoke of alarming reports of mass killings, torture and arbitrary arrests.

The International Herald Tribune reports that the United States has closed its embassy in Libya said it would impose its own sanctions in addition to coordinated action with other countries. The White House said Gaddafi’s legitimacy had been "reduced to zero".

Berliner Zeitung says Germany's Foreign Ministry said EU members had also agreed on a raft of sanctions against the North African country. The measures were to include an arms embargo and a ban on all goods that could be used for repressive purposes. An assets freeze and a travel ban on Gaddafi and his family were also under consideration. A formal decision was to be taken early next week.

Al Jazeera reports that in a speech broadcast via television to thousands of supporters in Tripoli's central Green Square, Gaddafi urged his followers to fight anti-government protesters as violence erupted once more in the capital. He called for retaliation against Libya’s enemies and promised to arm the whole population. Gaddafi threatened to "burn all of Libya" if his people continue to turn against him. Later, his son Saif al-Islam Gaddafi claimed security forces were holding back in battles with rebels – whome he referred to as "terrorists" – in western Libya and that he hoped there would be a ceasefire in place by today.

Al Arabiya quotes witnesses in Tripoli saying pro-government militiamen open fire on crowds which took to the streets after Friday prayers. There has also been more fighting in strategic towns close to Tripoli where government forces have been trying to dislodge opposition supporters. The government troops were facing stiff opposition in Misrata and Zawija.

LiveLeak quotes Libyan sources saying Gaddafi was barricaded in the Bab al-Azizya compound in Tripoli, and was being protected by four military brigades. Reports have emerged that he was increasingly using foreign mercenaries to support his violent crackdown. The International Federation for Human Rights, citing Libyan exile groups, estimated there to be around 6,000 foreign fighters, 3,000 of them in Tripoli. Most were said to be from other African states such as Mali, Nigeria and Zimbabwe.

There have also been big street protests across the Arab world. The BBC says in Iraq at least 11 people were killed in clashes with the security forces. In Tunisia, tens of thousand of people rallied against the transitional government set up to replace the ousted President Ben Ali. Crowds also packed Tahrir Square in Cairo and there were big demonstrations in Bahrain and Yemen.

The counting of votes following Ireland’s general election will get under way at 10.00 am Malta time in 35 count centres. The Irish Independent says turnout was believed to be close to 70 per cent – significantly higher than the 62 per cent of 2007. Trends should become clear in the early afternoon. It will take two days to count all the votes but indications are that the new government would be led by the main opposition party, Fine Gael.

Le Parisien announces that the French fashion house Dior has suspended its designer John Galliano following allegations that he assaulted a couple in a Paris bar and used ant-Semitic insults. Galliano, who is British, was arrested after the incident in the Marais district which has a large Jewish population. Sources close to the police said Galliano's blood alcohol levels were excessive.

China Times says a young Taiwanese couple has been accused of letting their baby girl starve to death because they were obsessed with playing games online and forgot to feed her regularly. The one-year-old weighed only four kilos, or half the average size of a girl her age. They face up to two years in prison for manslaughter.

The Times of India reports that police and health authorities were investigating reports that 12 pregnant women died after being given contaminated intravenous fluid at a government hospital in north-western India. Police said they have filed cases against the manufacturer and distributors of the tainted IV fluid after the young women died over the past 10 days at the hospital in Rajasthan state.

Metro says a restaurant in London reckons it has come up with the most organic ice cream yet – made from breast milk. Ice cream makers, based in Covent Garden, have named the £14 dish 'Baby Gaga'. The company advertised for women to provide breast milk which was then blended with Madagascan vanilla pods and lemon zest, and churned into ice cream.