Malta and international press digest

The following are the top news stories in the Maltese and overseas newspapers.

The Times carries a front page picture of the arrival of the first EasyJet flight from London yesterday and reports how fireworks were found dumped at sea at Anchor Bay. It also reports that four were arraigned in court yesterday afternoon and accused of planning a hold-up.

The Malta Independent leads with how children yesterday raised €1,300 for the Simar nature reserve.

In-Nazzjon says the March 31 commemoration by the MLP yesterday revealed deep divisions within the party.

l-orizzont also reports the MLP commemoration of Freedom Day, saying party acting leader Charles Mangion accused the government of arrogance in the way it reactivated Malta's membership of Partnership for Peace without consulting the opposition.

The Press in Britain...

The Mirror splashes its front page with the scene of devastation after a small plane came down in a Kent housing estate. Local residents expressed amazement that nobody on the ground was hurt.

The Guardian leads with the news that Robert Mugabe is trying to hold on to power in Zimbabwe, despite being defeated in the country's presidential election.

The Daily Express leads with the new parking fine system being introduced today and predicts chaos will reign supreme.

The Times reveals that in the new system, drivers are to get the benefit of the doubt over parking ticket disputes.

The Daily Star leads with news of a secret wedding between Hollywood stars Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. The couple are expecting twins.

Metro leads with the claim that just one sausage or three rashers of bacon a day can increase the risk of developing bowel cancer by a fifth. Prof Martin Wiseman, adviser to the World Cancer Research Fund, said there is convincing evidence of a link between processed meats and cancer.

And elsewhere...

The Herald reports Zimbabwe's main opposition party claiming an early lead as ballot papers are counted, including in rural strongholds of president Robert Mugabe. The Movement for Democratic Change said leader Morgan Tsvangirai is leading the race with 67percent of the votes, based on returns from 35 percent of polling stations. The head of the Pan-African Parliament observer mission urged officials not to delay announcing the results. The delay in announcing official presidential poll results has fuelled speculation about vote rigging.

USA Today reports President Bush has told NATO members he wants to expand the alliance to include three Balkan countries and put Ukraine and Georgia on track for membership. Speaking ahead of the NATO summit starting on Wednesday in Bucharest, Bush acknowledged he may have to sweat it out to persuade European leaders as they know the next US president could shift course on the alliance.

The Vatican has acknowledged that Islam has surpassed Roman Catholicism as the world's largest religion. In comments to Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, Vittorio Formenti, who compiles the Vatican's yearbook, said that Roman Catholics account for 17.4 percent of the world population - a stable percentage - while Muslims are on the rise at 19.2 percent. All Christians make up 33 percent of the world population.

Jerusalem Post says the Israelis have pledged to dismantle 50 of the 500 West Bank roadblocks, easing the day-to-day hardships of Palestinians living in the occupied territory. It's part of a package of measures that Israel announced following a meeting in Jerusalem involving US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak, and Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad.

Meanwhile, The Daily Star reports the Arab League summit in Damascus has wrapped up with a declaration that re-endorsed an Arab initiative for peace with Israel. It also calls on Lebanese parliamentarians to overcome their differences and elect a new president. Around half of the leaders of the 22-member Arab League boycotted the summit.

Kathemerini leads with the Greek handing-over ceremony of the Olympic flame to Chinese officials. A small group of protesters holding Tibet flags and shouting anti-China slogans tried to disrupt the ceremony. The torch has already arrived in Bejing, which is to host next summer's Olympic Games. It will now tour 20 countries in a relay before arriving back in the Chinese capital in time for the start of the Games on August 8.

Dvernik reports that in a break with tradition, EU foreign ministers at an informal meeting in Slovenia over the weekend issued a statement calling for an end to violence in Tibet, but ruled out a boycott of the forthcoming Olympic Games in Beijing. The 27-member bloc asked that "arrested persons be treated in conformity with international standards" and said they would "continue to pay close attention to the human-rights situation in China".

Christian Science Monitor quotes an open letter by three Nobel Peace Prize winners - ex-US President Jimmy Carter, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Costa Rican President Oscar Arias Sanchez - urging the United Nations to take urgent steps to address the world's growing road deaths crisis. The latest forecasts show that unless action is taken, more than 20 million lives could be lost from 2000-2015.

The Irish Times says the government was being urged to ban the use of mobile phones by children under 10. The Better Environment and Safer Telecommunications group says it was concerned about the high level of use of mobiles by children. There are now more mobile phones in circulation than there are people living in Ireland. BEST said in the absence of government action, parents should stop their children from using mobile phones until they're older.