Malta and international press digest

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

The Times says no oil exploration deal has been reached with Libya yet, but there is a political commitment for an agreement to be struck within months. Malta is seeking agreement for joint exploration of waters which both countries consider as their own.

In other stories, The Times reports the death of a 31-year-old woman after she found herself in difficulties while swimming off Sliema, and the rescue by the AFM of illegal migrants in two groups yesterday.

All the other papers carry on their front page the funeral of Noel Carabott, the first victim of the Simshar tragedy. That is the only story on The Malta Independent front page, while In-Nazzjon also reports how tourist arrivals grew by 15 percent in the first half of this year. L-orizzont carries a statement by the GWU clarifying its position at Go plc following a statement by the UHM.

The Press in Britain…

Six newspapers lead with the news that British Gas is raising gas prices by 35 per cent, with electricity prices up 9 per cent.

Metro fears nearly 16 million British Gas customers will be 'clobbered' by the news. A 25 per cent rise for dual fuel bills means customers will now pay an average of £1,317 a year – £404 more than at the beginning of the year.

The Times says the £100-a-month fuel bill is to become a reality for millions more families.

The Daily Record quotes a pensioners' leader claiming hundreds of old folk will die in Scotland because of the staggering increase.

The Daily Telegraph says Gordon Brown's allies have launched a series of highly personal attacks on David Miliband for raising the prospect of a leadership challenge.

The Independent says a Government minister has warned Gordon Brown he must stop being timid and show stronger leadership if he is to revive his premiership.

The Daily Mail announces that the binge-drinking culture has led to a surge in the number of violent attacks by women.

The Herald says the servicing of Britain's Trident nuclear deterrent is set to be privatised.

The Sun claims a rich Arab sent his Lamborghini on a 6,500-mile round trip to Britain for a service.

And elsewhere…

The news that Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert will resign next September makes the front-page of most of the global media. The Jerusalem Post says Olmert, dogged by a corruption investigation, will step down once his ruling Kadima party decides on a new leader.

Chumhuriyet leads with Turkey's Constitutional Court’s narrow rejection of an attempt to shut down the governing AK Party for undermining the country's secular system.

The International Herald Tribune reports from The Hague that former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic will face a UN war crimes judge for the first time today.

The New York Times quotes Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak calling for tough UN sanctions to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons.

Meanwhile, Teheran’s Abrar says more than 100 non-aligned nations backed Iran’s right to peaceful uses of nuclear power.

Washington Post reports President Bush has signed an aid package that triples US funding to fight AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis in the world's poorest countries.

The Washington Times leads with the US House of Representatives’ resolution calling on China to immediately end human rights abuses ahead of next month's Olympics.

Ultima Hora reports that Paraguay's president-elect has received unprecedented permission from the Pope to resign as bishop, ending a dispute over Fernando Lugo's priestly status.

Antigua Sun says police hunting the gunman who killed British bride Catherine Mullany have admitted they are no nearer to finding the culprit. ABC Darwin says Aboriginal landowners won the right to control who fishes in coastal waters after the Australian High Court dismissed an appeal by the Northern Territory government.

Los Angeles Times quotes US Navy officials saying that smoking appears to have sparked a fire that caused $70 million damages to the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS George Washington en route from Chile to San Diego last May.

The science journal Nature reports that that researchers have found that considered a technological marvel of antiquity, was also used to track dates of the ancient Olympic games. Experts from Britain, Greece and the United States said they have detected the word "Olympia" on a bronze dial, as well as the names of other games in ancient Greece on the device known as the Antikythera Mechanism. The 2,100-year-old mechanism was recovered from an ancient shipwreck in 1901 near Antikythera, a small island off Greece's south coast.