Malta and international press digest

The following are the leading stories in Maltese and foreign newspapers.

Three of Malta's five newspaper lead with Malta's application to rejoin the Partnership for Peace (PfP), a programme of bilateral cooperation between individual EU partners and NATO.

The Times quotes Foreign Minister Tonio Borg saying the application was in Malta's best interest and would not impinge in any way on the country's neutrality.

In-Nazzjon says that the move was prompted by a number of reasons, including access to certain documents and participation in debates relating to defence and foreign policy.

l-orizzont is not so sure and asks whether Maltese soldiers could be sent to war zones, particularly the Balkans. It quotes Labour acting leader Charles Mangion saying that during the last 10 years, the Nationalist government never discussed or suggested re-activation of Malta's membership in the PfP.

The Malta Independent leads with two court cases: one in which a Fgura man was charged with the attempted murder of a man he allegedly stabbed in Zejtun on Tuesday night; and the other of a Nigerian national accused of raping a 13-year-old Maltese girl in St Paul's Bay last month.

Il-Gens Illum says that the archdiocese of Malta boasts of 2.44 priests for every 1,000 but leads with the story of a 32-year-old Maltese father of three, who was killed in a traffic accident in the UK last year, but his organs live on in five persons.

The Press in Britain...

The Guardian reports that Britain and France are to sign a deal to construct a new generation of nuclear power stations and export the technology around the world in an effort to combat climate change.

The Times claims that France plans to send an extra 1,000 soldiers to Afghanistan to bolster the battle against the Taliban.

The Daily Express reports that Britain is braced for the worst Easter weather in 25 years, with heavy snow and high winds set to cause misery for millions.

The Daily Telegraph says middle-aged women are to be targeted in a hard-hitting anti-alcohol campaign after research found that just one large glass of wine per night could increase the risk of breast cancer by 60 percent.

The Daily Mail features a woman of 57 who, after undergoing a scan for suspected ovarian cancer, was told she was pregnant with her first child.

The Sun says Heather Mills is chasing a $1 million US TV deal so her sister can dish the dirt on Sir Paul McCartney as she is bound by a gagging clause in her divorce payout.

The Daily Mirror says a married couple who won £5.3 million on the lotto are brother and sister and share the same mother from different relationships.

The Daily Star says Paul Gascoigne is on the mend after his nervous breakdown after binning his bizarre raw liver diet for a fish-food cure.

And elsewhere...

Cyprus Mail reports that both the European Union and the United States have welcomed the decision to resume reunification talks between the Turkish and Greek Cypriot leaders. The deal was struck at a meeting between Demetris Christofias and Mehmet Ali Talat in Nicosia. The two leaders also agreed to re-open a key crossing in the divided capital.

Dnevnik leads with the news that Bulgaria has become the sixth country to ratify the European Union's reform treaty. An overwhelming majority of parliamentarians voted in favour of the measure. The Lisbon Treaty, which was adopted by EU leaders last December, has to be ratified by all 27 EU member states for it to come into force as scheduled on January 1, 2009.

Taipei Times says a turnout of more than 75 percent was expected in today's Taiwan's presidential election, where more than 17 million people were eligible to vote.. The slowing economy and relations with China are expected to be the deciding issues.

Avvenire leads with Pope Benedict's Good Friday procession around Rome's Colosseum, during which he reflected on the persecution of Catholics across the world and highlighted suffering among China's faithful. The Pope has made improving relations with China one of the goals of his pontificate.

Strait Times reports China has issued a "most wanted" list of 21 rioters pictured in Lhasa last week as troops continued to push into Tibetan areas of the country. They are accused of endangering national security, and cited for beating, smashing, looting and arson. China's official news agency has said that the death toll from the Lhasa riots has risen to 19, and that 623 people have been injured.

Meanwhile, Hindustan Times says US Speaker Nancy Pelosi has called on the international community to denounce China's rule in Tibet and its handling of protests there. Ms Pelosi was speaking after meeting the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama in northern India. She said that if the world does not speak out against Chinese rule in Tibet "we have lost all moral authority to speak out on human rights".

Moscow News reports a murder investigation has been launched into the murders of two Russian television journalists. More than a dozen journalists have been killed in contract-style killings in Russia since 2000.

Jerusalem Post quotes Israel's Defence Ministry's agreement to let Russia deliver 25 armoured vehicles to Palestinian security forces in the West Bank. The move is meant to bolster moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in his struggle with Islamic Hamas militants.

Edinburgh Evening News says the head of Roman Catholics in Scotland has urged Catholic ministers to quit Government rather than back "monstrous" legislation on embryo research. Claiming the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill may lead to experiments of "Frankenstein proportion", Cardinal Keith O'Brien said there was an "obligation" on all Catholic MPs to consider the guidance of the church's leaders when they come to vote.

Washington Post reports the passport files of the three remaining US presidential candidates - Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and John McCain - have been breached by State Department employees. Two contract workers have been fired and a third disciplined. A spokesman for Obama suggested that the government could be using private information for "political purposes".

The Scotsman says that a major clothing retailer has launched an investigation after a woman claimed a pair of its pants triggered a severe allergic reaction. Nurse Kim Walker, 37, collapsed while working at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, suffering from anaphylactic shock. She believes a moisture-absorbing fibre in the figure-skimming knickers bought from Primark could have sparked the potentially-fatal condition.