Malta and international press digest

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

The Times reports how Transport Minister Austin Gatt yesterday launched a public transport reform document aimed at increasing patronage. It also reports that the Magic Kiosk in Sliema is to be removed and St Anne Square, which it occupies, will be embellished.

The Malta Independent also leads with plans for “radical reform” of public transport.

In-Nazzjon says the reform will produce a modern, integrated public transport system.

l-orizzont leads with the major traffic accident in the Cospicua tunnel yesterday, with two children fighting for their life. It another story it quotes Transport Minister Austin Gatt saying the ADT had been unable to enforce the law. It also reports comments by GWU general secretary Tony Zarb that financial burdens are causing stress on workers.

The Press in Britain

The Guardian says that Britain is trying to water down tough new European legislation aimed at boosting the uptake of renewable energy - despite the Prime Minister's pledge to launch a green revolution.

Anne and John Darwin make the front page of The Daily Mail after being jailed for more than six years each for deception and money-laundering. John faked his death in an attempt to collect an insurance windfall.

The Times leads with a report that says parents will be punished and have their internet access curbed if their children are found to have illegally downloaded films and music.

The Financial Times also reports on the groundbreaking deal between the music industry and broadband companies to tackle illegal downloading will see thousands sent warning letters.

The Telegraph leads with Tory leader David Cameron's plans to forge a new party with the Ulster Unionists in order to bolster Conservative support across the UK.

The Daily Express reports that bookings for summer vacations on home soil have soared by 63 per cent as thousands of struggling families shun expensive breaks abroad.

The Daily Star reports that the fiancée of football star Emile Heskey was robbed in her home by a knife-wielding 'gang' that made off with cash and £500,000 of jewellery.

The Herald says the Glasgow East by-election, which will make or break Gordon Brown's premiership, will be fought to the wire with the result too close to call.

The London Evening Standard says a Conservative government would give communities more power to block the opening of lap-dancing clubs in their neighbourhoods.

And elsewhere…

Iwate Nippo leads with the powerful earthquake that struck off the northern Japanese coast early today, injuring at least 100 people, triggering landslides, fires, trapping hundreds in halted trains and temporarily cutting off electric power to 100,000 homes.

Il Tempo reports that the Italian Senate has passed into law a crime decree that clamps down on illegal immigration and will put troops on the streets of Italy's largest cities.

Le Parisien says that the French parliament has passed a law that will allow companies to by-pass compulsory 35-hour working week limits.

According to Berliner Morgenpost, Germany is set to introduce a test on German customs and history for would-be citizens in September after the plan received cabinet approval yesterday. Would-be citizens will be presented with 33 of 310 multiple-choice questions, and will be required to answer 17 correctly.

EU Observer reports the The European Commission has suspended hundreds of millions of euros in aid to Bulgaria, citing corruption, organised crime and spending irregularities. The Commission has also warned Romania to get its act together.

Belgrade’s Novosti quotes the lawyer of ex-Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic saying his client wants to conduct his own defence at his war crimes trial in The Hague. Karadzic, who is accused of crimes against humanity for the massacre of 8,000 Bosnian Muslims in Srebrenica in 1995, spent 12 years on the run, posing as a doctor of alternative medicine in Belgrade.

The International Herald Tribune reports US presidential candidate Barack Obam, has vowed an "unshakeable" commitment to Israel if he gains office.

Lyon Capitale says about 100 employees of electric company EDF have been "slightly contaminated" by a leak at a nuclear reactor site in Tricastin.

L’Avvenire reports that Pope Benedict will spend his summer holiday in the Alto-Adige mountain town of Bressanone next week in the company of his brother Georg and a black cat called Milly. Georg Ratzinger, who is also a priest, shares the pope's love of music, and a grand piano has been installed at the medieval seminary in the German-speaking town where the pair will stay from July 28 to August 11.

Ekstra Bladet says scientists in Copenhagen have discovered how nursing mothers can produce the human equivalent of a banana milk shake from their breasts: all they have to do is munch a banana an hour or less before feeding time. They said breast milk can be given other flavours the same way. In tests, women were also able to make their milk taste of menthol, caraway seed and liquorice.