Malta and international press digest

The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press:

The Times says the visiting French Minister for Immigration Affairs has made no pledges regarding Malta’s pleas for Europe to share the burden of illegal migrants which Malta is carrying. It also reports on Joseph Muscat’s meeting with the Federation of Industry, where a proposal was made for the MLP to join talks on a social pact.

In-Nazzjon says the mayor of San Gwann has resigned after reports of a police investigation into an anonymous letter against the councils’ contracts manager. The police are investigating whether it was the mayor himself who had sent the letter. The newspaper also reports that there is a possibility that amendments to the MLP statute to extend leadership voting rights to all paid up members would come into force after the forthcoming election on June 5.

l-orizzont says workers had made a major triumph through the GWU when an appeals court confirmed an award by an Industrial Tribunal that a worker could not be dismissed when his/her job was transferred to a contractor. The newspaper also reports that the Commissioner for Children was ignored as children were transferred from Lourdes Home in Gozo.

The Malta Independent leads with the first proposals for the EU’s 2009 budget, noting a 17% hike in migration management.

MaltaTodayMidweek says a police officer who interrogated Nicholas Azzopardi is a 'confirmed liar' having falsely claimed to have rescued a drowning woman 10 years ago. Azzopardi is at the centre of allegations of police beating.

The Press in Britain

The Daily Express reports Cabinet ministers have warned Gordon Brown that he must stop his tax rises or face an election hammering.

The Times continues the onslaught against the Prime Minister reporting how more than a half of Labour supporters believe that Mr Brown should stand down to make way for a more electable alternative.

The Guardian goes on to say he is also facing fresh battles on three fronts as senior figures challenged him over Scottish independence, 42 days detention and the 10p tax climbdown.

The Daily Telegraph points out the average motorist is paying more than £600 a year extra in tax under Labour.

The Independent leads on the ever-mounting cyclone crisis in Burma, in which 50,000 are feared dead, saying witnesses spoke of the homelessness, hunger and disease while the country’s military junta is obstructing global aid efforts.

The Financial Times says a top UBS banker has been detained by authorities in the US investigating whether the Swiss bank helped American clients evade US tax obligations.

And elsewhere...

Projections by major US television network CNN indicate Barack Obama has scored a crucial win over Hillary Clinton in the North Carolina Democratic primary, gaining 56 per cent of the vote. But Mrs Clinton was leading in the day's other primary, in Indiana, which has become a must-win state for the former first lady. Returns from 88 percent of Indiana precincts showed Mrs Clinton with 52 percent of the vote to 48 percent for Mr Obama.

International Herald Tribune says the United States and Russia have signed a landmark agreement on nuclear energy co-operation. The 20-year plan will enable the world's two biggest atomic powers to boost their uranium trade, which could be worth billions of euros, and work on new ways to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons. The deal comes a day before Dmitry Medvedev succeeds Vladimir Putin as Russian president.

Svobodnaya Gruziya reports Georgia has called on the European Union to do more to support it in its dispute with Moscow over the deployment of extra Russian troops to the breakaway region of Abkhazia. A Georgia government spokesman told reporters during a visit to Brussels that the move had brought the two sides very close to war.

Lyon's Le Progress reports that Interpol launched a worldwide appeal to the public today to help identify a man suspected of sexually abusing young boys from Southeast Asia. The suspect, images of whom were spread through the internet, is a white man in his late 40s or early 50s, shown with grey, thinning hair in six photos released by Interpol. Interpol officials said they had recovered photos of the man that allegedly show him sexually abusing at least three boys, apparently aged between six and 10 years old.