Malta and international press digest

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

The Times leads with the agreement reached between the government and the Malta Hearses Association, which has called off all industrial action. It also reports the fatal traffic accident in Sliema last night.

The Malta Independent says Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who was in Malta, welcomed the Hezbollah-Israeli prisoner swap. It also says the traffic chaos continued yesterday.

l-orizzont says traffic were stagnated by the transport strike. It also reports that flotsam was found in the sea yesterday but it was not from the missing fishing boat.

In-Nazzjon reports that the police yesterday stopped striking transport drivers going to the airport and Valletta. It also reports how Parliament has set up a select committee to discuss democracy.

The Press in Britain

The Sun says five illegal immigrants climbed into lorries bringing Land Rovers back from Kosovo and smuggled themselves into Britain aboard an Army convoy, ending up inside a frontline military base.

The Daily Mail says no part of Britain is safe after obtaining figures that show 'Blade Britain' has spread from urban areas to the shire counties.

The Times says ministers will defy public concern over gang violence by claiming that crime is falling at a record rate.

The Telegraph reports that more than a million people have lost up to half of their life savings after the Government gave the public a “wholly misleading picture” of the safety of their investments in Equitable Life.

The Financial Times says US Congressional investigators are set to accuse UBS and Liechtenstein’s LGT Group of using the “cloak of bank secrecy laws” to help American clients evade billions of dollars in taxes.

The Daily Star reports that pop band Girls Aloud are to star in a new teen soap set in the music business.

Metro says cannabis could be used to treat many forms of cancer according to new research.

And elsewhere…

The Washington Times says the Bush administration plans to send an envoy to talks with Iran's chief nuclear negotiator in Geneva this weekend in what would be the highest-level US-Iranian meeting in nearly three decades

Beirut’s Daily Star says five Hezbollah prisoners, released by Israel as part of a controversial swap, have been welcomed home as heroes by thousands on their return to Lebanon.

The Irish Times quotes a spokesman for Sinn Fein describing as "deeply insulting" a suggestion by French President Sarkozy that Ireland should hold a second referendum on the EU's new treaty.

El Pais focuses on the opening in Madrid of an unprecedented conference of Muslims, Christians, Jews and other faiths. Taking a ground-breaking step to fight the forces of religious fanaticism, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia called for a "new page for humanity". The three-day conference aims to display a more tolerant side of Saudi Arabia's strict Wahhabi Islam. It is the first time Saudi Arabia has invited Jews to such a meeting.

Al Ahram says at least 37 people were killed and 38 injured when a train ploughed into a bus, a truck and other vehicles 70 kilometres east of the Egyptian coastal city of Mersa Matrouh.

Kathimerini reports Greek firefighters are battling the largest wildfires so far this year, after 100 forest blazes broke out within 24 hours including several on the outskirts of Athens. Forest fires are also burning on the islands of Kefalonia and Andros.

Cyprus Mail reports a tanker carrying Greek drinking water has begun unloading its precious cargo into a reservoir on the drought-hit island.

El Tiempo says Colombian President Alvaro Uribe has admitted that his troops used the Red Cross emblem in its rescue of 15 hostages because an official was nervous about the operation.

Diario de Noticias quotes Portugal's attorney-general saying he will announce a "solution" to the investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann on Monday.

Manhattan Post reports that a man who found a seven-inch blade in his foot-long Subway sandwich has said he will sue the firm for $1 million. He claimed the melted plastic from the knife's handle caused him food poisoning.

Il Tempo says officials in Rome have banned people from eating snacks near the city centre's famous landmark monuments, with spot fines for anyone caught.