Press digest

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

The Sunday Times says the censorship law will be revamped in a Bill due to be moved in Parliament in February. It also says former President Eddie Fenech Adami is to receive the highest honour of France.

The Malta Independent on Sunday quotes John Dalli saying innovation will be his highest priority as EU Commissioner. It also says that pre-election Mepa permits are being reviewed.

MaltaToday says Malta remains willing to give non-military assistance to Afghanistan such as training to its civil service. It also reports that John Dalli's ministry may be split in two, with Clyde Puli and Joe Cassar being made ministers.

Il-Mument says the process of engagement of two clerks at Mosta local council has been stopped because of allegations of pressures by a senior PL official.

It-Torca says a young man may end up in prison because of a story in the newspaper Ir-Realta. It also speaks of three Leukemia cases in Qui-si-Sana saying this is a mysterious outbreak. In another story it says overdue tax refunds are still being awaited despite promises of a settlement.

KullHadd reports claims of interference in adoption procedures at Appogg and people on the waiting list being passed over. It also reviews casual election prospects in the sixth district to succeed John Dalli.

Illum says Edward Zammit Lewis may not stand for the election of PL general secretary and Joseph Muscat has cast his eyes on somebody else.

The international press:

Eleftherotypia says that a bomb exploded outside the Greek parliament in Athens, but no one was injured and no damage was reported. Police say the bomb exploded 10 minutes after an anonymous caller told the newspaper warning that the device was hidden in a garbage bin. Police evacuated the area.

Los Angeles Times report a powerful 6.5-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of northern California with the initial jolt being felt as far away as San Francisco. The US Geological Survey said the quake occurred 35 kilometres west of Ferndale and 360 kilometres northwest of Sacramento, at a depth of 16 kilometres. There were initial reports of a brief power outage, ruptured gas lines and damage to Ferndale's city hall building.

Bild reports an Air Berlin plane slid off an icy runway in Nuremberg, and powerful winds and heavy snow forced hundreds of flight cancellations across Europe as blasts of freezing cold buffeted Western Europe

The Observer leads with concerns about the food supply as the big freeze continues. The paper says prices will increase as farmers have problems harvesting and the frost turns some vegetables to mush. And the Sunday Express predicts up to 60,000 deaths in Britain because of the relentless cold weather.

The Mail on Sunday reports that Gordon Brown's premiership was again under attack after a former Labour Party general secretary complained that Number 10 had been reduced to a "shambles".

South China Morning Post says at least 30 people, including some tourists, were injured when an attacker dropped a bottle of acid on a crowd in Hong Kong. Hong Kong Cable TV said that the injured were rushed to hospital and police cordoned off the area. A series of acid attacks have hit Hong Kong since December 2008, injuring more than 100 people.

Avvenire reports that the Pope paid a visit to the Gemelli Polyclinic in Rome to see Cardinal Roger Etchegaray who broke a hip when a mentally-disturbed woman knocked the Pontiff down on Christmas Eve. Vatican officials did not give details about the unannounced visit.

Le Republican leads with a gunmen attack on a crude oil pipeline operated by Chevron in southwest of Warri, one of the main cities of Niger delta. Armed groups claiming to be seeking a larger share of oil revenue for local communities have staged attacks on oil installations in the area since 2006, wreaking havoc on output levels and prices. At the peak of the unrest Nigeria, the world's eighth largest crude oil exporter, saw its output slashed by a third.

China Daily quotes Xie Zhenhua, deputy head of the powerful National Development and Reform Commission, saying China was never going to accept outside reviews in Copenhagen of its efforts to slow greenhouse gas emissions.

Sunday Star-Times reports that a New Zealand teenager of Tongan descent was forced to marry her boyfriend's father and consummate the marriage after the groom gave her parents a pig and some expensive mats as a dowry. The girl did not want to marry the man but an agreement was reached between the two families and she was obliged to honour it.

The Sunday Times says Beefeaters have been accused of charging £50 a head for unauthorised nocturnal private tours of the crown jewels at the Tower of London. A security firm called in to investigate the liveried guardians also found that one Beefeater even took female tourists back to his apartment in the Tower for sex.

Togo Presse says the country's national football team will not compete at the African Cup of Nations in Angola after a machine-gun attack on their team bus in which three people were killed. A government spokesman said the players were in shock. But the Confederation of African Football says the competition will still go ahead as scheduled.