Press digest

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

The Times says politicians have expressed cautious optimism on the eurozone deal. It also says that there were no bids for the Marsa sports village project.

The Malta Independent says the Prime Minister believes the euro deal will restore confidence in financial markets.

In-Nazzjon also leads with the PM’s welcome of the eurozone deal.

l-orizzont reports how a baby was born in a shelter of the YMCA.

The overseas press

   Al Bawaba reports that violence has erupted in the central Tunisian town of Sidi Bouzid after the election results confirmed that the moderate Islamist Ennahda party had won the country's first democratic elections. Police used tear gas to disperse hundreds of people protesting against the cancellation of seats won by the Popular List party in six electoral districts because of "financial irregularities". Official results show Ennahda won more than 41 per cent of the vote, securing 90 seats in the 217-member parliament. Sidi Bouzid is the birthplace of the uprising that erupted nine months ago, which wept President Zine el-Abidine Ben from power.

   Börzen Zeitung says that the eurozone deal on Greek debt and the EU's emergency fund, cemented in the early hours of Thursday morning, have given markets and the euro a healthy boost. The euro surged on the news, breaching the $1.40 mark for the first time in almost two months. The Dow Jones index closed 2.86 per cent higher, and there were gains in share indices in Germany, London, France and Milan. Europe stocks rose to a 12-week high, the biggest gainers being the banks, led by French institutions, which are the most exposed to Greek debt. Money News Asia reports that markets in Asia reacted positively, rising on Friday in Japan, South Korea and Australia.

   France 24 quotes French President Nicolas Sarkozy saying that admitting Greece to the eurozone in 2001 had been “a mistake" because the country had "entered with false [economic] figures”. In a TV interview on Thursday, he said Greece was “not ready” at the time. He added that he was confident the current Greek government would emerge from the crisis and that Wednesday's deal had averted a "catastrophe". Meanwhile, in response, Greece's Foreign Minister Stavros Lambrinidis told the BBC that Athens was not the source of the crisis, and that no country should be made a scapegoat.

   ABC Perth says Queen Elizabeth is to open a Commonwealth summit in Perth, amid tight security. The 54-nation organisation, representing some two billion people around the globe - would discuss economic growth, climate change and human rights. There would also be a debate on reforms to the British monarchy and to the way the Commonwealth was organised to give it greater influence on world events.

   The New York Times says UN the Security Council has voted unanimously to lift the no-fly zone over Libya on October 31 and end its authorisation of military action to protect civilians. The council adopted the resolution a day after Libya's deputy UN Ambassador Ibrahim Dabbadhi asked members to wait until the transitional government made an official request.

   Chumhuriyet reports that the rescue of a teenager buried under rubble for more than 100 hours cheered grief-stricken survivors of the massive earthquake in southeast Turkey, as thousands endured a fifth freezing, wet night without a roof over their heads. "Praise be to Allah!" cried the uncle of 13-year-old Imdat, whose name means "help" in Turkish, as his nephew was carried to a waiting ambulance. The latest toll was 535 dead, 2,300 wounded in Turkey's biggest quake in more than a decade which has affected some 50,000 people.

   New research says a daily dose of aspirin could lower the risk of cancer for people who had a strong family history of the disease. The study, published in the medical journal The Lancet, saw cases of a particular kind of bowel cancer drop by 60 per cent among a group of patients with an inherited risk after they had taken 600 mg of aspirin a day over two years.

     Fox news reports a 28-year-old drunk woman, wearing nothing but fishnet stockings, a G-string and trainers, was arrested after she led police on a high-speed chase through Ohio that only ended after officers punctured her tyres. When they approached her car, Erin Holdsworth leapt out and staggered across the road. She was then handcuffed and put in the back of a police car, where she hurled abuse at officers. She has been charged with drink driving, refusing a blood test, fleeing the police, criminal damage, speeding and reckless operation.