Malta and international press digest

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

The Times says a survey of 100 shop owners by the GRTU found that they expect a difficult Christmas. It also reports the Superintendent of Mater Dei Hospital warning that people could die if somebody needs urgent dialysis at the Renal Unit and the nurses obey directives issued by the MUMN.

The Malta Independent leads with a statement by the Transport Ministry on how no agreement had been reached with the bus owners on the operation of the bus service in the next 10 years within EU competition rules. It also reports that two Spanish fishermen were fined after admitting fishing in Maltese waters.

l-orizzont leads with Joseph Muscat’s speech in Parliament last night, where he said the government was no longer being believed. It also carries messages of solidarity with the MUMN from the GWU ands the MUT.

In-Nazzjon focuses on Dr Gonzi’s speech in Parliament saying the government’s biggest success has been job creation. It also reports that SmartCity has chosen a Maltese group to construct its first office block.

The Press in Britain…

The Independent says the world's struggle to combat global warming has been given a boost after US President-elect Barack Obama made it clear that America would play its full part in renewing the Kyoto Protocol climate-change treaty.

According to The Daily Express, prices are being slashed on the high street as shops start the sales season early.

The Guardian says Woolworths are seeking a rescue takeover of their stores and Marks & Spencer slashed its prices by 20 per cent.

The Financial Times reports Chancellor Alistair Darling will next week throw Britain's struggling SMEs a credit lifeline, in an admission that the £37bn bank bail-out has so far failed to boost lending.

The Times quotes official figures that reveal that up to four children die each week in England from abuse or neglect.

According to The Daily Mail, in a crackdown on dangerous drivers, ministers are doubling the penalty for the worst offences.

And elsewhere…

The New York Times quotes UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon condemning the latest surge of piracy off Somalia's coast and backing international efforts to combat it. The International Maritime Bureau has warned that pirates based in the lawless African nation were "out of control".

The Washington Times says US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and US Defense Secretary Robert Gates have defended a security agreement between the United States and Iraq in the US Congress.

Berliner Zeitung reports that Germany has extradited a senior Rwandan politician to France, where she is wanted for questioning in connection with the 1994 assassination of a former Rwandan Hutu president.

La Tribune de Geneve says talks in Geneva held between Russia and Georgia to resolve security and refugee issues left over from the conflict in South Ossetia have been described as "constructive" by the EU.

Moscow Times reports that a Russian court has barred the media and public from the trial of three men charged with the murder of investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya

Congo Panorama say leading aid agencies have joined together to urge people to donate funds to help ease the plight of those affected by the recent upsurge of violence in DR Congo.

El Pais says that Spain is on full security alert for retaliation from Eta terrorists after the group’s leader was arrested earlier this week.

Al Jazeera says Al-Qaeda has released a video aimed at demeaning president-elect Barack Obama in the eyes of its supporters. Osama bin Laden's second-in-command Ayman al Zawahri attacked Obama as a "house Negro," a racially-charged term used by 1960s black American Muslim leader Malcolm X to describe black slaves loyal to white masters.

The Washington Post says that Malia and Sasha Obama got a tour of their new White House rooms from Jenna and Barbara Bush and checked out potential schools, capping a busy few days looking into their new life in the US capital. President George Bush’s twin daughters showed their rooms to Sasha, 7, and Malia, 10, as they led the girls through the residential areas of the White House.