Malta and international press digest

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

The Times says parish priests are to promote a campaign on the true value of village feasts. It also reports the start of the trial by jury of a Briton in whose car the police found 50,000 pills. The accused denies the pills were illegal and says they were hidden to prevent theft. In another story it reports on the Muslim community's protest in Valletta over the attacks on Gaza.

The Malta Independent says the Mayor of Valletta has appealed for legislation to enable control on abandoned dwellings that are an eyesore. It also reports on diplomatic efforts to bring about a Gaza ceasefire.

l-orizzont leads with a controversy in the UK on organ transplants to foreigners. Some in the UK are arguing that priority should be given to Britons when organs are available for transplant in the UK. It also reports that a man and his baby boy were rescued from a car as rainwater flooded the streets early yesterday.

In-Nazzjon leads with an international investigation into a suspected case of white slavery. It says a group of eight Maltese went to Milan expecting to join the crew of a cruise ship but were accommodated in a hotel used by prostitutes. They were then asked to go to Toulouse and their luggage and passports were stolen. They also found that the ship never berthed at Toulouse.

The Press in Britain

The Guardian dedicates its front page to the ongoing conflict in Gaza, claiming Israel's assault intends to secure the eventual downfall of the Hamas administration.

Metro says Hamas leaders have warned Israelis their children are now 'legitimate targets' after the deaths of their own young.

The Daily Telegraph predicts an energy crisis in Europe as Russian Prime Minister Putin cuts gas supplies to the Ukraine. The EU depends on Russia for around 25 percent of its total gas needs.

Under the heading “Arctic Monday”, The Sun says 2.4 million workers called in sick yesterday, 1,000 more had their jobs axed and, to top it all, temperatures went as low as minus nine degrees Celsius.

According to The Independent, Tesco is facing two official investigations over claims that it advertised cut-price alcohol as "bait" to lure bargain-hunters.

The Daily Mail says more than 20 million savers and pensioners would be better off under a £4.1bn package of tax cuts unveiled by David Cameron.

The Daily Express says Gordon Brown is now under pressure to respond to the measures as low interest rates "punish" savers.

The Times claims Marks & Spencer, Debenhams and Next are among a number of household names forced to take action after troublesome Christmas sales,.

And elsewhere…

The Jerusalem Post says Israel is continuing to ignore mounting international calls for a cease-fire to its offensive against the Islamist militant group Hamas in the Gaza Strip until "peace" is achieved in towns in the line of Palestinian rocket fire. Both Israeli Defence Minister, Ehud Barak and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni assert that the war will continue until Hamas capitulates.

Al Arabiya reports heavy fighting to the east of Gaza City. Israeli jets have bombed the abandoned Hamas security complex in the city centre, leaving it ablaze. Israeli warplanes carried out more than 40 air strikes on Monday.

However, the head of Hamas in Gaza, Mahmud Zahar, stated in a televised address on Al Jazeera that "victory is coming" to his supporters. As Hamas fired more than two dozen rockets into southern Israel, Palestinian sources say that over 550 people have been killed since the offensive began 11 days ago.

Haaretz says three Israeli soldiers were killed when an errant tank shell hit their position outside Gaza City. Another 24 were wounded.

Meanwhile, on the diplomatic front, The New York Times reports that Arab states and the Palestinians are pressuring the UN to draft a resolution demanding an immediate end to the Israeli attacks and a permanent ceasefire. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas arrives in New York later today and hopes it will adopt an Arab-backed resolution. But Washington will not agree to any wording which only censures Israel.

The head of the Germany's Economic Research Institute, Hans-Werner Sinn, predicts that Europe's largest economy is facing its worst recession since World War II. In an interview with the mass circulation daily newspaper Bild, Sinn said the economic downturn will continue into 2010. Economic output is expected to decrease by at least 2 percent, he said, with dramatic consequences for the country's labour market.

In Guatemala, La Hora says a massive landslide has killed at least 34 people. The landslide, triggered by a geological fault, brought thousands of tonnes of rock crashing down, burying about one kilometre of roadway.

Washington Post reports US president-elect Barack Obama has chosen former lawmaker and White House chief of staff Leon Panetta to head the Central Intelligence Agency. The agency is under scrutiny for its conduct in the fight against international terrorism.

Le Parisien leads with the trial in Paris of three men for their role in the bombing of a Tunisian synagogue almost seven years ago. They are charged with helping plan the attack in Djerba, that killed 21 people, including 14 German tourists. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the suspected mastermind of the 9/11 attacks on the United States, is being tried 'in absentia'.

The International Herald Tribune reports that blankets of snow fell across northern Europe, closing an icy Eiffel Tower in Paris and causing flight cancellations. A dozen flights were cancelled at Paris’ Charles de Gaulle airport. Bad weather in other parts of Europe contributed to the cancellations. In Germany, heavy snowfall caused traffic chaos and flight delays and cancellations at the country’s international airports. Wall Street Journal says disgraced financier Bernard Madoff violated bail conditions by posting jewellery and other assets to relatives, a prosecutor said.

Monterrey County Herald says a woman who begged from a wheelchair was caught running from a crime scene on foot after she and her husband allegedly threw a stone through the front window of a furniture store. Apparently, the couple planned to rob the furniture store but were scared off by a security guard. Police arrested the couple when they returned for the wheelchair and charged them with vandalism.