Malta and international press digest

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

The Times says Brussels is to propose measures to mitigate the fuel price increases. It also reports on the working time directive and says on-call time will count as working hours.

l-orizzont highlights an address by Tony Zarb at the conference of the International Labour Organisation, where he underlined the importance of collective bargaining. It also gives background on the plight of a group of migrants rescued on Tuesday.

In-Nazzjon says the MLP has a plan for Jason Micallef to lead the party media (the claim was denied last night by the MLP).

The Malta Independent previews the election of the MLP deputy leaders tonight. It also carries a warning by new Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association president Kevin DeCesere that the rate of tourism bookings is slowing down.

The Press in Britain...

The Independent reports that Prime Minister Gordon Brown has won the Commons vote on detaining terror suspects by just nine votes thanks to the backing of the Democratic Unionist Party.

The Daily Express has further news of the panic at petrol stations caused by the threat of a four-day strike by oil tanker drivers.

The Daily Telegraph reports that more than a million patients have signed a petition protesting against plans to close GP practices to make way for “super surgeries”.

The Daily Mail leads with the news of an check-out rage attack in a London supermarket after a customer accused a man of queue jumping.

The Daily Mirror says that Channel 4 has had more complaints over alleged bullying in the Big Brother house while the Daily Star has the latest gossip about the contestants in the reality show.

And elsewhere...

EU Observer reports parliaments in Estonia and Finland have voted in favour of the European Union's new reform treaty with a large majority. Their approval comes one day before a referendum in Ireland where the charter risks being rejected.

Il Tempo leads with the arrival in Rome of President Bush for talks with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi on Iran's nuclear programme and NATO's engagement in Afghanistan. He will be also be meeting Pope Benedict at the Vatican.

The International Herald Tribune says US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has welcomed Europe's new willingness to consider additional coercive sanctions against Iran and warned the world was losing patience with the Iranian regime.

El Mundo leads with the Spanish authorities’ tough line with striking truckers who have disrupted food and fuel supplies.

The Jerusalem Post says Israeli leaders have decided against launching a military offensive in the Gaza Strip despite continuing rocket attacks by Palestinian militants. They want to give Egyptian mediators more time to try to reach a truce in and around Gaza.

An-Nahar reports that Lebanon has rejected a call by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert for peace talks and demanded that Isreal withdraw from disputed territory along their international borders.

Kurier reports the daughter of Austrian dungeon kidnapper Josef Fritzl has been reunited with her family. Kerstin Fritzl, at 19 the oldest of the seven children Fritzl fathered by raping his daughter Elisabeth, had been kept unconscious by doctors treating her for a mystery infection. But they woke her on Sunday after seven weeks for a touching reunion with her mother, brothers and sisters.

Diario de Nexico reports that a 450-yard pencil drawing, done by Monterrey artist Filemon Trevino in 2005, has been recognised as the longest by the Guinness Book of World Records.