Press digest

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

The Times says the wage rise due to be announced in the Budget is expected to be €4.66.

The Malta Independent says a preliminary report on a permanent link between Malta and Gozo is expected by the end of the month. It also quotes comments by Joseph Muscat that targets are necessary for education investment.

In-Nazzjon says that the number of women in full time employment rose by  2,600 in the past year.

l-orizzont reports that many of the military aircraft which landed in Malta over the past months did not have an emergency.

The overseas press

Al Ahram announces that the authorities in Egypt have imposed a curfew in the centre of Cairo and called a Cabinet meeting later today, after at least 23 people were killed in clashes between security forces and members of the minority Coptic Christian community. Thousands of Copts were protesting against the burning of a church in the south of Egypt last week which they blamed on Muslim extremists. Prime Minister Essam Sharaf said he had contacted security and church authorities to contain the situation. Protesters also took to the streets in Alexandria, Egypt's second city.

Forces from Libya’s National Transitional Council have taken control of a key target in Sirte, the last major stronghold of pro-Gaddafi forces. Al Jazeera says NTC fighters have taken control of a vast convention centre from where Gaddafi loyalists had been mounting stiff resistance.

Deutsche Welle reports Germany and France would unveil a comprehensive package for eurozone’s debt crisis. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy said the aim was to address the problems of Greece and propose way of  recapitalising weakened banks. The plan would be presented during the next meeting of the world's 20 largest industrial economies, the G20, in the southern French city of Cannes at the beginning of November.

France 24 reports that François Hollande has won a clear lead in the first round of the French left's presidential primary Sunday with 39 per cent of the vote in the French Socialist primary – a new format created to choose the party candidate in the 2012 presidential election. Voter turnout was a stunning 1.5 million. Martine Aubry won 30 percent and anti-globalist Arnaud Montebourg on 17 percent. If no candidates won more than 50 percent, the top two would compete in a run-off in a week's time to decide who faces right-wing incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy in next April's presidential race.

Trybuna says Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the leader of Poland’s Law and Justice party has conceded defeat in the general election after exit polls indicated that the ruling centre-right Civic Platform Party of Prime Minister Donald Tusk was comfortably ahead. Tusk's party, and its current coalition partner, the Peasants' Party, have won enough seats for a second term. If confirmed, it makes Tusk's party the first to win two consecutive terms since the fall of communism.

Al Thawra quotes Syria's foreign minister Walid al-Moallem warning the international community not to recognise a new council formed by the opposition, saying it was “illegitimate”. At the same time, he criticised European countries where Syrian missions have recently been attacked by protesters, warning that if those nations did not abide by international agreements Syria would retaliate the same way. The creation of the broad-based council was announced last week in Turkey.

British Defence Secretary Liam Fox has apologised for the nature of his working relationship with a former flatmate but insisted that Adam Werritty did not have access to any classified information at the Ministry of Defence. The Daily Mail described Dr Fox's apology as 'humiliating' as he struggled to save his political career. The Daily Telegraph reveals that Dr Fox put Werritty on the public payroll as a parliamentary researcher.

The media around the world published films and pictures of former Beatle Paul McCartney American heiress Nancy Shevell after their wedding ceremony in London As they were greeted by thousands of well wishers, he said he felt “absolutely wonderful”. This was Sir Paul’s third wedding.

Britain’s Daily Mail says many traditional filler toys – including party blowers, magnetic fishing games, toy lipsticks, whistles and recorders – are being banned because they do not conform to regulations imposed by Brussels. The stringent regulations, which also ban children under the age of eight from blowing up balloons unsupervised, form part of the Toy Safety Directive, which has come into force. All soft toys for children under three must be washable to prevent the spread of disease and infection – and limits have been imposed on how noisy toys, including babies’ rattles, can be. The paper says manufacturers are likely to be forced to increase their prices this Christmas to cover the cost of new tests demanded by the directive.