Malta and international press digest

The following are the top stories in the Maltese and international press today:

The Times says Mepa auditor Joe Falzon may reopen his inquiry into the Mistra case in view of new allegations made public recently.

In-Nazzjon reports that the cruise line industry is continuing to do well and the Viset cruise liner terminal expects another good year. The newspaper says Michael Falzon, deputy leader of the MLP, will stand in the leadership election. It also reports that low-cost airline EasyJet will start services to Malta from Manchester and Gatwick on Sunday.

l-orizzont reports an MLP statement where the party denied it is trying to interfere in the Mistra development investigations. It also reports arguments against Malta's membership of the Partnership for Peace, notably by the Campaign for National Independence.

The Malta Independent carries a front page picture of the Archbishop at the San Girgor procession yesterday. It also highlights a demand by the European Commisison for a refund from YMCA Valletta of funds granted for events in 2001-2002.

The Press in Britain

Today's front pages are dominated pictorially by the state visit of the French President and his photogenic wife to Britain. Practically all newspapers feature Madame Sarkozy, former model Carla Bruni.

However, the Guardian leads with news of the first national strategy for child internet safety, bringing 'new codes of practice for social network sites and video games'.

The Times follows the same line. It reports that video games will be forced to carry 'cigarette-style health warnings' under proposals to protect children from any 'unsuitable' digital material.

The Daily Telegraph adds that 'cinema-style age classifications' will be used to stop children accessing graphic images of sex and violence.

The Daily Express repeats claims that thousands of plane passengers and cabin crew staff are being put at risk from toxic fumes pumped into aircraft.

The Daily Mail projects 'safety fears' after it was announced that cough and cold remedies for children under two are to be immediately pulled from the shelves.

The Daily Mirror shows YouTube images of two 'blooded boys battering each other senseless' in a 'sickening video filmed by a depraved adult'.

The Daily Star heralds the 'most amazing story you'll ever read'; namely, a married man's revelation that he is six months' pregnant. American Thomas Beatie, who was originally born a woman and is now legally married to a woman, says in an article in the gay magazine The Advocate that he started sex reassignment 10 years ago.

The Financial Times reports the Bank of England intends to cut interest rates futher and give ground to British banks' demands to do more to resolve their 'liquidity problems'.

The Independent reports on escalating violence in Iraq's civil war, which the US has been described as culpable for.

And elsewhere...

Le Monde reports that President Sarkozy has hailed the need for a stong European Union - and insisted it is key that Britain remains in it. Addressing parliament, he said that "we cannot build a prosperous, democratic, effective, efficient Europe without the United Kingdom". He insisted Europe needs Britain, Britain is also stronger for being part of the bloc - and the UK needs to help France bring about EU reform.

Meanwhile Le Figaro quotes Sarkozy has hinting that France is prepared to send more troops to Afghanistan. Amid pressure from NATO for more help in Afghanistan, the French president insisted the world "cannot afford" to lose the battle" and "see the Taliban and al-Qaeda back in Kabul".

The Washington Post announces that President Bush will visit Russia early next month for talks with outgoing President Vladimir Putin on strategic issues. These include US plans for a missile defence shield in Eastern Europe. The two leaders will meet after next week's NATO summit in Bucharest. Russia has strongly criticised the US defence shield plans, which would see interceptor missiles based in Poland and a radar system in the Czech Republic.

New York Times says President George Bush has used a telephone conversation to urge Chinese President Hu Jintao to engage in dialogue with Tibet's Dalai Lama. The White House said the President also appealed to Beijing to allow journalists and diplomats access to Tibet. Meanwhile, the head of the European Parliament, Hans Gert Pöttering, has invited the Dalai Lama to speak before the assembly.

Teheran Times reports Iran has threatened legal action against Western states over UN Security Council sanctions related to its nuclear programme. In a letter to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki rejected the latest sanctions resolution as illegal and emphasised it would not comply with the resolution.

London's Pan-Arab newspaper Al-Hayat says government forces in Iraq continue to battle the Mehdi Army militia in the port city of Basra. At least 40 people have been reported killed in the fighting and another 200 wounded. Shi'ite militias loyal to radical cleric Moqtada al Sadr have also attacked US troops in Baghdad and other Shi'ite-held towns.

Arutz Sheva quotes Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert promising to use what he calls "painful" measures to deal with the Hamas leadership in Gaza. Olmert ruled out talks with the Palestinian Islamist group, after militants in Gaza fired nine rockets against southern Israel hours earlier. Olmert's declaration came as Palestinian media quotes President Mahmoud Abbas also ruling out holding talks with rival Hamas leaders unless the Islamist group first returns control of Gaza to the Palestinian Authority.

The Denver Post says scientists at the US National Snow and Ice Data Center in Colorado warn that a portion of an Antarctic ice shelf may be melting. Evaluations of satellite imagery indicate that global warming threatens to collapse 415 square kilometers of the Wilkins Ice Shelf within the next several years. Large sections of other Antarctic ice shelves have broken off previously in 1995 and 2003.

Variety reports the death after a long illness of Hollywood actor Richard Widmark, who found fame portraying killers, policemen and Western gunslingers. He was 93.

The Galveston County Daily News says a young father has been jailed for 25 years for severely burning his baby daughter when he put her in a microwave and turned it on for up to 20 seconds. The jury rejected Joshua Mauldin's claims he was insane when he stuffed his two-months-old daughter Ana in the microwave and convicted him of felony injury to a child. He was also fined €6,307. Prosecutors had asked for a life sentence.