Local and international press digest

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

The local press is dominated by the inconclusive election for Labour leader yesterday. The Times and all the other papers lead with the election result, which saw Joseph Muscat just three votes short of achieving a majority. A runoff will be held today. It also highlights the granting of an outline permit for the redevelopment of Mistra Village.

In other pages, l-orizzont reports on a trade unions seminar,being held in Malta, where Tony Zarb stressed the need for trade unions to share their experiences. It also says that Sliema residents won a partial victory yesterday when a decision on the planned mega development at Ford Cambridge (the Holiday Inn site) was put off amid calls for the project to be scaled down.

In-Nazzjon says an Italian company is investing €3 million and employing 30 people in a logistics centre for industrial equipment in Hal Far. It also reports the swearing-in of Charles Mangion as Leader of the Opposition and says he refused to take questions.

The Malta Independent also reports infringement proceedings taken by the EU against Malta, and several other countries, because the directive on money laundering has not been fully adopted in Maltese law.

The Press in Britain...

The Guardian leads with the resignation of Giles Chichester, leader of the Conservative MEPs, after admitting chanelling thousands of pounds of EU money into a family company.

The Times leads with comments from former Conservative PM Sir John Major, who says Gordon Brown's case for holding terrorism suspects without charge for 42 days is bogus and little more than scaremongering.

The Metro leads with news that train passengers have been told to expect disruption from weekend engineering work for years - with services cancelled or replaced by buses until at least 2014.

The Daily Telegraph reports that sales of family cars and 4x4s slumped last month amid growing fears over the impact of sharp rises in road tax to be introduced next year.

The Independent focuses on a call by D-Day veterans to help honour those that died on the beaches of Normandy.

The Daily Mirror reveals swimming will be free for all under a £130m plan to be unveiled today.

The Daily Mail leads with an exclusive, reporting that eight 'clone farm' cows have been born in the UK.

The Sun focuses on a divided family - with a critically-injured father denied a blood transfusion because he was a Jehovah's Witness. The paper says the man's two sons are not followers of the faith, but their mother insists on his right not to be given blood.

The Daily Express leads with the continuing saga that is fuel prices. Its report says petrol companies have been accused of profiteering as pump prices continue to soar - but the cost of oil falls.

The Financial Times reports that a panel of eminent City figures is to be brought in to make the Bank of England more alert to looming financial trouble and help avoid a repeat of the Northern Rock fiasco.

And elsewhere...

Ahead of next week's referendum on the European Union's reform treaty, the result of an Irish Times poll show that opponents have gained a majority. It showed 35 percent of people surveyed intend to vote "No" in the June 12 ballot, more than double the 17 percent seen in the newspaper's last survey three weeks ago. Those planning to vote in favour of the treaty stood at 30 percent, down from 35 percent in the previous poll.

Berlinger Morgenpost says Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has said he was worried by rising tensions with the West on security issues. In Berlin for his first visit to Europe since taking office, Medvedev said that a weakening of mutual understanding was leading to questions of global and European security. He noted Washington's missile shield plans in Central Europe and NATO enlargement.

Christian Science Monitor reports that three of five alleged plotters in the September 11, 2001 attacks – alleged mastermind Khaled Sheikh Mohammed, Wallid bin Attash and Ramzi Binalshibh – have demanded to be sentenced to death at a US military hearing, saying they had long sought martyrdom. They dismissed the trial as an "inquisition".

Il Tempo reports delegates from 181 countries, at a UN summit in Rome, have pledged to reduce trade barriers and boost agricultural production to combat a global food crisis.

Berliner Zeitung reports German dairy farmers have ended a 10-day milk delivery strike. The dispute, over low prices, had caused regional milk shortages.

International Herald Tribune says that Britain and the US have condemned Zimbabwe after a party of diplomats was held up at a roadblock by an "armed mob" loyal to president Robert Mugabe. Four Britons and five Americans were eventually released unharmed but a Zimbabwean driver employed locally by the US embassy in Harare was beaten up.

According to USA Today, Presidential candidate Barack Obama is being backed by some of Hillary Clinton's supporters as she signalled the end of her bid for the Democratic nomination. She will hold a meeting where she will speak "about how, together, we can rally the party behind Senator Obama".

Chimhuriyet reports the country's top court has banned the wearing of Islamic head scarves at universities in a blow to the Islamic-leaning government.

Variety quotes actress Rosie O'Donnell saying she will not remarry her girlfriend until gay marriage is legal in every state.

Liberation says French environmental officials have been ordered to save the European Hamster – or face fines of millions of euros for failing to halt its extinction.