Press digest

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

The Sunday Times leads with a story on Friday’s no confidence motion in Transport Minister Austin Gatt in which it says that Nationalist MP Franco Debono is keeping his party guessing on what his vote would be. In another story, the parents of twins who had been hit by a car driven by Max Ciantar in Attard express their anger at the reduction of the suspension of his licence from 10 years to six months, allowing him to be able to drive as soon as he gets out of prison.

The Malta Independent on Sunday also leads with a story Parliament’s vote of no confidence in Austin Gatt on Friday.

Malta Today says that following the new public transport fiasco, Manuel Delia had offered to resign from Dr Gatt’s ministry but his resignation was not accepted.

It-Torca leads with a story on lack of security in Paceville. In another story, it says that Malta has not yet asked the EU to carry out a study on Gozo, which could ultimately lead the country to retain its objective one status.

Il-Mument says that people close to the Labour Party were embarrassed by the divulged e-mails between Labour leader Joseph Muscat and RTK journalist Sabrina Agius.

Illum interviews President George Abela who says he will be carrying out missionary work abroad next year. In another story, it says the Rural Affairs Ministry cannot fuel their cars because of unpaid Enemalta bills

Kullhadd says that according to September’s Economic Intelligence Unit, Malta’s exports had dropped by 2.7 per cent.

The overseas press

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has warned of an "earthquake" if the West intervenes in his country. In an interview London’s Sunday Telegraph, Assad said involvement risked transforming Syria into "another Afghanistan". His comments came after UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon made a new call for the repression to end. Meanwhile, Beirut’s Daily Star quotes activists saying three people were killed on Saturday when tanks shelled a historic district in the city of Homs. The violence came a day after one of the bloodiest days of the seven-month-old uprising, during which 40 people died after Friday protests. More than 3,000 people are reported have died in the unrest since protests began last March.

Al Quds al Arabi reports that at least 10 people are dead in Gaza and southern Israel, in a wave of attacks between the Israeli military and Palestinian militants. The violence began when Israeli forces attacked a training camp in Rafah, Gaza, killing seven militants, including two Islamic Jihad commanders. The Palestinian retaliated, firing more than 20 mortars and rockets into southern Israel, killing a 55-year-old man and wounding 20 others.

Khaama Press says 13 American soldiers and four Afghans were killed in Kabul when a suicide bomber rammed a van into an armoured Nato bus in the deadliest attack on coalition forces in more than two months. Eight other Afghans, including two children and four other civilians, were wounded, said Kabir Amiri, head of Kabul hospitals. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, as well as for another suicide bombing outside a government intelligence office in the north-west province of Kunar.

Meanwhile, Canberra Post reports three Australian soldiers and an Afghan interpreter were killed and seven other soldiers were wounded when a man wearing an Afghan army uniform opened fire during a parade at a patrol base in Afghanistan early this morning.

According to CNN, three people died, more than two million home and businesses were without power and thousands of air travellers found themselves stranded on Saturday after a freak fall snowstorm hit the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast. Parts between Connecticut, Pennsylvania and West Virginia had some 10 inches of snow while parts of New York and New Jersey were buried under more than 15 inches.

Sydney Morning Herald reports some 17 Commonwealth heads of government, media representatives and police officers faced being stranded in Perth because of the snap grounding of the Qantas fleet. Australian air travel has been plunged into chaos following the grounding of all Qantas domestic and international aircraft in response to the ongoing industrial dispute. Qantas CEO Alan Joyce says Fair Work Australia (FWA) would need to order a termination of industrial action from the airline's unions if they want to be certain about getting the fleet back in the air.

Ireland’s President-elect Michael D Higgins has vowed to lead the country in a necessary transformation away from values based on wealth. The Irish Times says after securing more than one million votes, the Labour veteran said he would be a President for all the people. In an impassioned and powerful speech, he set the tone for his presidency with a pledge to lead a sea change in the values of society. Mr Higgins said his seven year term as head of state would be defined by efforts to turn inclusion into reality.

The New York Times announces that Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders trying to negotiate an agreement to reunify the divided Mediterranean island resume their talks later today in New York. Cypriot president Dimitris Christofias and Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu have still to agreed on key issues including territorial boundaries, details of a federal government and elections. Cyprus was split into a Greek Cypriot south and a Turkish Cypriot north in 1974 when Turkey invaded after a coup by supporters with Greece.

Metro quotes Amnesty International saying an Iranian appeals court has overturned a lashing sentence against an actress who appeared in a film critical of the Islamic republic’s hard-line policies. Marzieh Vafamehr was released from prison after her sentence of one year in jail and 90 lashes was overturned on appeal. She had appeared in the Australian-backed film “My Tehran For Sale”, which was shot in the Iranian capital. It tells the story of a young actress whose stage work is banned by authorities. It premiered at the Adelaide Film Festival in 2009, but is banned in Iran.

Western Morning News reports that a mayor struck by lightning while on his way to feed his animals has hailed his pet dog after it led him back to his house to raise the alarm and get medical treatment. Ian Thomas, Mayor of Redruth in Cornwall, was struck by lightning while holding a metal bowl, throwing him into the air and leaving him stunned and dazed on the floor. He grabbed hold of his eight-stone black schnauzer, Monty, who led him back to his house where Thomas’s wife, Sharen alled an ambulance.