Press digest

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

The Times reports how a man was yesterday jailed for 10 years on conviction of raping a niece and nephew.

The Malta Independent says the finance minister remains upbeat about the economy despite a gloomy revised EU forecast.

l-orizzont says matters are hotting up between the PN candidates standing for the Sliema local council election. It refers to an article by Robert Arrigo which is says contained digs against minister George Pullicino.

In-Nazzjon says HSBC yesterday renewed its confidence in the Maltese economy. 

The overseas press

Western and Arab nations have increased the pressure on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad as the Red Cross said it had finally gained access to a besieged area in the city of Homs to begin evacuating casualties. ABC says that in the first signs that growing pressure might be having an effect, Red Cross and Red Crescent ambulances entered the besieged Homs district of Baba Amr and evacuated seven Syrians seriously wounded in bombardment by regime forces. But a Red Cross spokesman confirmed the ambulances had not yet evacuated two wounded Western journalists and the bodies of two others. He said negotiations were continuing with the Syrian authorities and the opposition in an attempt to evacuate all persons, without exception, who wre in need of urgent help.

Al Jazeera reports that representatives of more than 60 nations, in Tunisia for the "Friends of Syria" meeting, have called for an immediate end to violence in the country and for new sanctions on the government of President Assad. In a final declaration, the group also called to allow for humanitarian aid to be brought in. It vowed to "press the Syrian regime to stop all acts of violence" by enforcing current sanctions and introducing new ones, including with travel bans, asset freezes, ceasing oil purchases, reducing diplomatic ties and preventing the shipment of arms.

The Washington Times says US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has described Russia and China as "despicable" for opposing UN action on Syria. The two nations were not in attendance at the Friends of Syria meeting in Tunisia, and earlier this month both voted against a UN resolution condemning the violence. Speaking after the conference, Clinton said it was quite distressing to see two permanent members of the Security Council using their veto while people were being murdered and houses are being destroyed.

According to Le Monde, French Foreign Minister Alain Juppé told the conference the European Union would freeze the assets of Syria’s central bank on Monday. He encouraged other countries to follow the EU’s lead and deepen their sanctions against the Assad regime. The EU has already imposed sanctions, including banning oil exports and punitive measures targeting more than 70 people and 19 organisations, but those have failed to stop the Syrian regime’s crackdown.

Pravda says Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has accused western powers of using fears over Iran’s nuclear programme as a pretext to bring about regime change in Teheran. He said Russia would resist such efforts. Earlier, the UN International Atomic Agency said it continued to have serious concerns about the possible military dimensions of Iran’s nuclear programme.

The Age says Kevin Rudd's popularity with the Australian electorate has been confirmed by two polls, which show the majority of voters prefer him to Prime Minister Julia Gillard. On Friday the former prime minister officially announced he was challenging Gillard for the leadership after weeks of growing leadership tensions. However, the figures are unlikely to sway MPs meeting on Monday to decide on a new leader, with Gillard expect to retain majority support within caucus. Rudd has vowed to move to the backbench if he loses the ballot, but there was widespread speculation he would mount a second challenge if he gets significant support in the first vote.

The Nation reoports at least four people have been killed in the northern Nigerian city of Gombe in a gun and bomb attack on a prison and police station. Police say they repulsed the attack which they blamed on the radical Islamist sect Boko Haram

The Washington Post sats a federal judge in New York has ordered the prison authorities to move the Russian arms dealer Viktour Bout out of solitary confinement, where he has spent ther last 15 months. Prison officials argued that Bout was too dangerous to be kept among fregular inmates but the judge ruled there was no evidence to support that.

The Los Angeles Times reports that a a Los Angeles judge has turned down a request by Dr Conrad Murray, the doctor convicted of killing Michael Jackson, to be released until his involuntary manslaughter conviction appeal is heard. The judge said he believed Murray, who was born in Grenada and worked in both Las Vegas and Texas before being hired to care for the pop singer in 2009, was a flight risk. Murray, 59, began serving a four-year jail term in November last year after being convicted by a jury of the involuntary manslaughter of the Thriller singer.