Malta and international press digest

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

The Times, like the other newspapers, features the increase in the power surcharge to 95%. In other stories it reports that transport operators are threatening a stoppage over their claims that the government wants liberalization in various sectors.

MaltaToday highlights the fact that there is a waiting list of four years for cataract operations at Mater Dei Hospital. It also says that the MLP had in a year 2000 document, urged its candidates to collect information on neighbours.

In-Nazzjon, apart from the surcharge, says €60 million are to be invested in the ports.

l-orizzont says the surcharge has practically doubled, and there could be more increases in the autumn.

The Malta Independent says Malta is to open embassies in Warsaw, Tel Aviv and Ramallah.

The Press in Britain

The Guardian reports the Tories have told their local council leaders to stop co-operating with the Labour government ahead of a General Election.

The Mirror says Kate and Gerry McCann are set to be cleared of any involvement in the disappearance of their daughter.

The Daily Star announces Paul Gascoigne and ex-wife Sheryl are planning a second wedding.

The Express quotes a police chief warning that policemen will vanish from patrolling Britain's streets within 15 years.

The Times claims a chief constable has issued a stark warning that tribal loyalty has replaced family ties for an "almost feral" generation of young people.

The Independent quotes Cherie Blair admitting she fears for the safety of her children when they go out on the streets because of crime.

The Daily Telegraph quotes a report which claims the shake-up of NHS dentistry has been a disaster with standards of care dropping and almost a million fewer people treated.

The Daily Mail says every NHS patient is to be given the right to go abroad for free treatment.

The Financial Times says credit rating agency Moody's is to begin disciplinary proceedings against some staff as it admitted incorrectly rating $1bn of complex debt securities.

And elsewhere…

Le Monde quotes French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, whose country has just taken over the EU presidency, saying the European Union would accept no Zimbabwean government other than a government led by Mr Tsvangirai.

Les Echos says France's army chief General Bruno Cuche has resigned following a military display during which 17 people, including a number of children, were injured. A sergeant in an elite French parachute regiment mistakenly fired live rounds, instead of blanks, at a weekend military exercise to simulate a hostage rescue.

Hurriyet reports that Turkey's chief prosecutor has appeared before the country's constitutional court calling for the governing AK party to be closed down. Abdurrahman Yalcinkaya has accused the party founded by Turkish Prime Minster Recep Tayyip Erdogan, of trying to establish an Islamic state.

Wall Street Journal says a US federal judge has agreed to allow the country's internal revenue service (IRS) to serve legal papers on Swiss banking giant UBS. This follows the beginning of a US tax probe into whether wealthy Americans are using Swiss bank accounts to hide assets worth billions of dollars and avoid taxes.

USA Today reports the south eastern state of Florida has executed a death row inmate by lethal injection. This is the state's first execution since 2006 when a wrongly inserted tube caused death row prisoner Angel Diaz to take 34 minutes to die. Lethal injection is used in 37 American states.

Berliner Zeitung hails the end of smoking in bars and restaurants throughout Germany. North-Rhine Westphalia and Thuringia became the last two states to implement public smoking bans yesterday, all other states having done so piecemeal since late 2007. Those who breach the ban now face fines of €1,000. The German cancer association claims 3,300 people die from passive smoking in Germany very year.

Shanghai Post says an unemployed 28-year-old man, under investigation for allegedly stealing bicycles, stormed into a station and stabbed five officers dead. Four others and a security guard were wounded.

Az-Zamman quotes the top US commander in Iraq saying 13 Americans have been electrocuted there since 2003. A contractor is inspecting barracks for safety hazards.