Malta and international press digest

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

The Times says that University students are planning a street protest on July 12 unless trade unions stop industrial action at the University. The unions have ordered academic staff not to file exam results. They however yesterday relaxed that directive to allow final year undergraduates to receive their results.

The Malta Independent says 2,777 migrants were repatriated by Malta in the past four years. It also reports that only three cases of inciting hatred have been reported by Malta.

Malta Today Midweek says a 75-year-old woman waited three days to have a broken wrist seen to at Mater Dei Hospital. She then gave up and went to a private hospital where she had to pay €3,800 for an operation.

Business Today says biodiesel sales are stable as fuel prices soar. It also reports widespread agreement on the privatisation of the dockyard.

l-orizzont says the GWU will publish its plan for the future of Malta Shipyards, which was rejected by the government.

In-Nazzjon says MLP deputy leader Anglu Farrugia has been trying to contradict his own comments on the privatisation of Malta Shipyards while MLP leader Joseph Farrugia would not be drawn into taking a position.

The Press in Britain…

The Times reports outrage over a £200m UK investment in Zimbabwe, where President Robert Mugabe has been accused of using murder and intimidation to cling to power.

The Guardian says the UK government has held urgent talks with opposition parties to try to rush through emergency legislation on the use of anonymous witnesses.

The Daily Telegraph reports that the head of the UK's armed forces says they cannot go on fighting two wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Sun says the Army has spotted UFOs hovering over their base in Shropshire.

According to The Financial Times, the operation of the welfare system is to be opened to offers from the private and voluntary sectors, in a drive to shrink the role of the state and improve service delivery.

The Daily Mail claims that a weight-loss drug banned in the US over fears it can heighten the risk of suicide has been given the go-ahead for distribution in Britain.

The Daily Express reports that a former soldier, who made a citizen's arrest on someone who had allegedly been terrorising his home, was then arrested himself on suspicion of kidnap. The newspaper says the story shows how British justice has 'gone to the dogs'.

The Independent hails a 'surgical revolution' – an aircraft-style safety test is to be implemented in all British hospitals to reduce the risks of surgery, using a simple checklist that has been proved to save thousands of lives.

The Record says former says Blue Peter presenter John Leslie has furiously dismissed rape allegations against him, saying he was the victim of "the mother of all stitch-ups" after a sex attack claim.

And elsewhere…

Ham-Shahri quotes Iran's deputy Foreign Minister claiming a new round of European Union sanctions will only harm European business. He said his country would withdraw $100 billion worth of funds in Europe and invest them elsewhere.

East African Standard says Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe is under continuing mounting international pressure to call off a presidential run-off election scheduled for this Friday. He has refused.

Berliner Morgenpost reports a Middle East conference attended by delegates from 41 countries has pledged €156 million to boost security in the Palestinian West Bank. Tuesday's gathering comes in the wake of a major donors' conference held in Paris last December, which raised $7.4 billion in aid for the Palestinians.

Al-Ayyam says Islamic Jihad militants have claimed responsibility for firing at least two rockets from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip into southern Israel after Israeli troops killed two Palestinians.

Manila Times reports Philippine rescue divers have found dozens of bodies inside the Princess of Stars ferry that sank with more than 850 people on board during a typhoon off Sibuyan Island on Saturday. Hundreds of people remain missing, feared drowned.

Somali Press says pirates have siezed four European citizens including a German man, his French partner and their young son, from a yacht off the country's coast.

Washington Times leads with former president Bill Clinton’s support to Barack Obama in the US presidential election this autumn. It is the first time that the former president has indicated he will support his wife's former rival since the Democratic primary battle ended.

Tages Anzeiger reports that a 10-year old boy survived with minor injuries after falling into a wolf enclosure at a Swiss zoo and being bitten on the head. Police in Basel said the boy, who was on a school trip, landed in the moat which separates the enclosure from its wall. A tourist pulled the boy out while a zoo assistant hit the wolf with a backpack to separate it from the child.