Malta and international press digest

The following are the main stories in Maltese newspapers and some of the foreign media;

The Times reveals the Labour report on the party’s third consecutive electoral defeat, which paints a picture of a fragmented and disorganised party machine.

The Malta Independent leads with what Finance Minister Tonio Fenech told the Malta Council for Economic Development. He said that given the spikes in the price of oil, a rise in the electricity surcharge was inevitable but not until after the end of next month. It also reports that Maltese oil worker, together with a Pakistani, was kidnapped by gunmen in Nigeria.

In-Nazzjon says that the negative effect of higher energy costs to the consumer had been addressed beforehand when taxes were cut and children's allowances raised. However, the paper leads with the prime minister’s launch of the local councils’ reform.

l-orizzont leads with the expected rise in the electricity surcharge but also quotes the GWU secretary general telling Dr George Abela, one of the MLP leadership contenders, that the union will work with whoever respected it and the workers.

Il-Gens illum reveals that more than 5,000 traffic accidents were recorded in the first four months of the year.

The Press in Britain...

The Daily Express reports armed police searched for Muslim fanatics in Plymouth following an explosion in Exeter. They arrested a man, Nicky Reilly.

The Daily Mail reports that the Cabinet has launched a 'last-ditch effort' to save Gordon Brown's position as Prime Minister after the worst by-election loss in 30 years.

The Independent devotes its front page to the Conservative victory in the Crewe and Nantwich by-election, saying that voters are 'deserting' New Labour and displaying a 'hostile anti-Government mood'.

The Daily Telegraph reports that ministers have urged Gordon Brown to scrap rises in car taxes and petrol duty in a bid to save his struggling popularity.

The Guardian claims that the Prime Minister is losing the confidence of the Cabinet over fears he will be unable to lead Labour to a general election victory.

The Evening Standard reports that four members of a paedophile gang have been jailed for 17 child sex offences against three British boys in the UK and abroad. They were committed in Spain, Kent, London and Northumbria between 2004 and 2007.

And elsewhere...

The People’s Daily says that China and Russia have condemned US plans to construct a missile defence shield in Poland and the Czech Republic. Without naming the United States, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and his Chinese counterpart, Hu Jintao said following a meeting in Beijing, that building missile shields hampered international efforts to control nuclear arms and did nothing to enhance stability. During Medvedev's visit, Russian officials also signed a deal worth almost €700 million to build a nuclear fuel plant in China.

European Voice quotes the European Commission saying industrial emissions of carbon dioxide in the EU rose in 2007 despite schemes to reduce them.

Le Parisien reports French fishermen, angry over soaring world oil prices, disrupted shipping in the English Channel and blocked deliveries at two refineries of oil giant Total SA.

Svobodnaya Gruzia says Georgia's main opposition bloc will boycott parliament to protest against Wednesday's elections in which President Mikhail Sakashvili's party won in a landslide. The Opposition, which accoused the government of rigging the vote.

Asian Tribune quotes UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon saying Burma's ruling military junta has agreed to allow foreign aid workers to enter the country to help survivors of Cyclone Nargis.