Malta and international press digest

The Times says a Gozitan cannabis farmer has been fined for 18 years after a trial by jury. It also reports that Qui si-Sana residents have complained over a Midi proposal to have a yacht marina there.

The Malta Independent says the Malta Union of Teachers has slammed Labour’s reception class proposal.

In-Nazzjon says Opposition leader Alfred Sant wants to reopen EU issues and has claimed the EU is ready to discuss aspects of the accession package agreed with Malta. It also quotes Labour deputy leader Charles Mangion as saying a Labour government would reduce spending on social services because of high debt servicing debts. It says recordings of that statement exist. In l-orizzont Dr Mangion says Labour will strengthen social services.

l-orizzont says the European Commission is to ask the European Court to order a stop of Spring hunting in Malta. It also reports that last Sunday night, patients in the emergency department of Mater Dei Hospital spent a night on stretchers because of a lack of beds. The newspaper also reports Magistrate Antonio Mizzi’s decision to abstain from hearing a case involving the Chief Justice and discloses that the government is boycotting him and a judge in the long running controversy over the judges’ code of ethics and their chairmanship of sports organisations.

The Times says new army recruits face having their training slashed from 28 to 14 weeks so they can be rushed to battle in Afghanistan. It comes as all the British battalions due to replace troops in Afghanistan next year are at least 100 below strength.

The Daily Mirror leads on the death of ‘King of Pranks' Jeremy Beadle from pneumonia. As a stalwart of ITV for many years, 59-year-old Beadle regularly pulled in audiences in excess of 15 million for his shows.

The Metro leads with claims by a housing charity that the number of people struggling to meet mortgage repayments has risen by 700 per cent.

The Financial Times leads with the Federal Reserve's decision to cut the interest rate by another 50 basis points in an aggressive move to combat the risk of a US recession.

The Daily Express says council tax bills are soaring to pay for a 'growing army' of town hall middle managers on a £50,000 a year salaray.

The Daily Telegraph reports millions of people across England now have their rubbish collected only once a fortnight after 'bullying' ministers stopped councils from providing weekly collections.

The Daily Mail says a High Court judge has ordered that a newborn baby, illegally taken by social workers a few hours after birth, be returned to its mother.

The Guardian reveals plans to close a 'significant' number of secondary schools because of falling pupil numbers.

The Independent reports a journalism student has been sentenced to death in Afghanistan for downloading a report on women's rights from the internet,.

Liverpool Echo reports a group of Liverpool FC supporters are to unveil ambitious plans to buy the troubled club from its US owners. They aim to create a stakeholder base of 100,000 fans and raise enough cash to oust Tom Hicks and George Gillett.

and elsewhere......

Le Soir reports that the European Union has suspended all imports of Brazilian beef saying the country's foot-and-mouth disease checks are "unacceptable". Jornal do Brasil quotes a Brazilian government spokesman saying the temporary ban was "unjustifiable and arbitrary". Brazil is the world's biggest beef exporter, selling more than $4bn of beef last year.

Italian newspapers report President Napolitano has asked Senate Speaker Franco Marini to see whether a government, tasked with approving a new electoral law, would have a majority in parliament. Corriere della Sera quotes him as saying he was reluctant to dissolve parliament less than two years after the last elections, especially when the two main political blocs had recently opened dialogue on possible changes to electoral rules.

The Jerusalem Post leads with the report of a government-appointed inquiry that found Israel's 2006 war against Hezbollah in Lebanon was a "large and serious" failure, Military and political leaders had no clear strategy, and Israel was "dragged" into an inconclusive ground operation. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert insists he will not step down despite the findings.

The Washington Post says that for both John Edwards and Rudy Giuliani, the dream of the White House is over. Edwards dropped out of the race leaving frontrunners Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama to fight it out for the Democratic nomination. And the Republicans' contest also narrowed, as former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani called it a day and publicly endorsed current front-runner and long-time friend John McCain.

Middle East Times reports that Internet services have been disrupted in large parts of the Middle East and India following damage to two undersea cables in the Mediterranean between Alexandria, Egypt, and Palermo. International telephone calls, which have also been affected, are being rerouted to work around the problem, which could take up to one week to resolve,

ABC reports a Spanish study has shown that cosmetic products, such as moisturisers and body lotions, can transmit deadly bugs to critically ill hospital patients. It comes after five intensive care patients in Spain contracted a life-threatening infection. Doctors traced the bug to a moisturising body milk used in the patients' care.