Press digest

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

The Sunday Times reports on confusion over migrants found at two localities yesterday. It is unclear whether they were escaping Malta or actually arrived here. It also says that there is uncertainty within the PN parliamentary group in the current economic climate.

The Malta Independent on Sunday quotes Franco Debono saying that a lot could happen before May 9. It also says that the government is seeking conclusion of collective agreement talks with the civil service as the election looms.

MaltaToday says the government is making desperate efforts to survive, with Dr Gonzi having met Jeffrey Pullicino Orlano and Franco Debono invited to lunch by Chris Said and David Casa. It also says that the Tumas Group has questioned the logic of Mepa’s decision to oppose the extension of Portomaso  

It-Torca focuses on precarious jobs and says some workers are being forced to buy their own equipment and uniforms.

Il-Mument says that according to an international report, the Maltese are the most satisfied people. It also says that Jason Micallef is determined to contest the general election.   

Illum reports that Hermann Schiavone has challenged Franco Debono and the PN by launching his election campaign. 

KullHadd says factory owners are worried about losing competitiveness.

The overseas press

German Chancellor Angela Merkel hopes for a strengthening of the European Investment Bank (EIB).  In an interview to the Leipziger Volkszeitung newspaper, she also augured a more flexible use of EU structural funds to boost economic growth in Europe. Last week, EU Commissioner for Economic Affairs Olli Rehn had proposed increasing by €10 billion the available resources of the EIB in order to bring its lending capacity to €60 billion and total investment capacity to €180 billion.

AGI says Italian Christian Democrat leader Pier Ferdinand Casini has called for a boycott of the Ukraine European Football Championships against opposition leader Yulia Timoshenko's imprisonment. Speaking on the sidelines of a party conference on welfare, Casini said Euro 2012 was a “terrific showcase” for the Ukraine, but it was wasting the opportunity. The West has strongly condemned her imprisonment as politically motivated and threatened to freeze cooperation with Ukraine.

Ceske Noviny quotes Timoshenko's samily saying the braided darling of Ukraine’s Orange Revolution, who went on to be prime minister, was wasting away in prison – weakened from a hunger strike, bruised from prison beatings and afraid she will be force-fed by her political foes. Speaking in the Czech capital, Prague – where he has been granted asylum – her husband Oleksandr said he believed the Ukrainian government was slowly killing his wife. Timoshenko is serving a seven-year prison sentence on charges of abusing her powers in a Russian energy deal. She faces separate charges of evading several million euro in taxes while heading an energy company in the mid-1990s. A court appearance in that case scheduled for yesterday, was postponed for mid-May.

Los Angeles Times reports a moderate earthquake has rattled Southern California. The tremor measured 4.1 on the Richter Scale and was centred in San Bernardino County. Some buildings swayed in downtown Los Angeles, about 60 miles to the west. A small aftershock was felt two minutes later.

According to Globe & Mail, South African authorities were releasing up to 35,000 inmates to ease overcrowding in the nation’s prisons. They did not include violent criminals and those jailed for sexual, drug-related and weapons offences. President Jacob Zuma announced the pardons, known as special remission of sentences, to mark the anniversary of Nelson Mandela winning the nation’s first all-race elections in 1994.

Al Bawaba reports Syria derided UN chief Ban Ki-moon as “biased” and called his comments "outrageous" after he blamed the regime for widespread cease-fire violations – the latest sign of trouble for an international peace plan many expect to fail. In new fighting yesterday, activists said regime forces battled army defectors near President Bashar Assad's summer palace in a coastal village and shelled a Damascus suburb in pursuit of gunmen. State media said government troops foiled an attempt by armed men in rubber boats to land on Syria's coast – the first reported attempt by rebels to infiltrate from the sea.

An Nahar says three containers filled with weapons destined for Syrian rebels, have been discovered on board a Sierra Leone-flagged ship intercepted two nights ago by teams from the Beirut Navy off the Lebanon's northern coast. The ship had set sail from Libya. The captain and crew members have been handed over to the city's military intelligence teams for further questioning. The Assad's regime has complained on several occasions that neighbouring Lebanon, whose government is favourable to Assad, is used as a corridor for weapons bound for rebels in Syria.

Al Ahram reports that Nobel peace prize winner Mohamed Elbaradei, who played an important part in the uprising last year, has formed a new political party. Speaking at a news conference in Cairo, Elbaradei said the time had come to start a comprehensive political process to achieve the goals of the revolution.

Ozak says Saudi Arabia has recalled its ambassador from Egypt "for consultations" and closed its embassy and consulates in the country for security reasons. The move follows protests against the kingdom's arrest of an Egyptian human rights lawyer when he arrived for a pilgrimage.

Le Journal du Dimanche reports President Sarkozy has rejected claims by Dominique Strauss-Kahn that his party was behind the former International Monetary Fund chief's downfall. Sarkozy told reporters Mr Strauss-Kahn should keep quiet and "spare the French his remarks". Strauss-Kahn told Britain's The Guardian that sex allegations against him were orchestrated by opponents. He said although he did not believe he had been set up, events were "shaped by those with a political agenda." The Guardian said it was clear that he was referring to people working for Nicolas Sarkozy and his UMP party.

Il Sole 24 Ore reports that more that 2,000 tax evaders and over six billion cases of unreported income have been ferreted out in the first four months of the year by Italy’s Guardia di Finanza. They also discovered €650 million of unreported VAT. More than 853 persons face charges of having failed to file an income report and another 530 for concealing or destroying accounting records.

Two Cuban actors who starred in a film about defecting and disappeared en route to a New York film festival have emerged from hiding. Appearing alongside actress Anailin de la Rua, actor Javier Nunez Florian told US Spanish-language channel America TeVe they would apply for asylum in the United States. Their movie “Una Noche” tells the story of three Cuban boat people who want to defect to America.