The following re the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press today:
The Times says that a policeman suffered slight injuries when he unsuccessfully tried to save Nicholas Azzopardi who jumped over a high wall at the back of police headquarters after escaping custody. Azzopardi succumbed to his injuries 13 days later and his family are saying he had suffered a beating at police headquarters. The injuries suffered y the policeman have been confirmed by a doctor. The newspaper also reports comments by Social Policy Minister John Dalli who made the case for a social pact with employers and trade unions. Central Bank Governor Michael Bonello last Thursday made a fresh appeal for a social pact.
In-Nazzjon highlights the news that tourist arrivals last month grew by 27 percent. It reports that the MLP executive council is tomorrow expected to discuss a petition for the general conference to discuss an amendment to the party statute to enable members to vote in the leadership election. The general conference may be convened next week.
l-orizzont leads with a May Day message by new GWU president Victor Carachi, who underscored the importance of workers' solidarity. It also reports an address by GWU general secretary Tony Zarb who appealed for an end to the exploitation of workers, including workers who were illegal immigrants. He made his comments when a union delegation laid flowers at the foot of the workers' monument in Msida.
The Malta Business Weekly says a merger between the Chamber of Commerce and the Federation of Industry is expected to happen before the end of the year.
The Malta Independent leads with a slowing down of home price inflation, now standing at 1.1 percent. It also highlights the plight of children who were imprisoned with their mother in an Austrian cellar and never even saw the light of day.
The press in Britain...
The Times says ministers fear the loss of London and scores of council seats across the country as voters cast the first ballots in local elections today, the first since Mr Brown became Prime Minister.
The Daily Mail leads with how motorists are being fleeced by speed cameras or traffic wardens to the annual sum of £800m.
The Daily Express says the cost of living for the average family has gone up by 11.5per cent in the past year and features a picture of Josef Fritzl on a beach holiday while his children were locked in his cellar in Austria.
According to The Daily Star, the children Austrian Josef Fritzl fathered with his daughter can only talk in grunts and crawl like animals after being held captive in his cellar.
And elswhere...
Zimbabwe Independent claims Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai has beaten Robert Mugabe winning 47 percent of the votes in last month's presidential election. The paper quotes a government source saying a run-off is needed as Mr Mugabe claimed 43 percent of the vote.
The International Herald Tribune says NATO has expressed concern over Russia's troop build-up in Georgia's breakaway Abkhazia region. An alliance spokesman said Russia's move would raise tensions und undermine Georgia's territorial integrity.
Jordan Times leads with the surprise meeting in Amman between Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and King Abdullah on the Middle East peace process. Olmert's visit to Jordan, his second since January, comes a week after Abdullah discussed the peace process with US President George W. Bush in Washington.
Vienna's Die Presse reports that Austrian police are investigating possible links between Josef Fritzl who imprisoned and raped his daughter and the unsolved murder of a young woman whose body was found in a lake 22 years ago. Mr Fritzl's wife owned an inn on the other side of the Mondsee in Upper Austria.
Wall Street Journal notes that the US Federal Reserve has cut interest rates by 0.25 per cent to 2 per cent amid fears the American economy could be on the brink of recession