Malta and International press digest

These are the main headlines of the local and international newspapers.

The Times devotes its front page to two contrasting events: the raging war between Russia and Georgia and the awesome opening of he 29^th Olympic Games in Beijing.

The Malta Independent carries a picture of the dazzling fireworks display in Beijing but leads with a Minister of Finance statement that the Labour leader’s proposal to transfer shipyard workers to IPSL would amount to their being given employment with the government.

In-Nazzjon says such a move would mean an annual burden of €40 million but leads with the Maltese Episcopal Conference statement that divorce goes against the common good.

Church newspaper Il-Ġens Illum also leads with the bishops’ statement on divorce, asking for a responsible and fearless commitment from those who support the sound foundation of marriage.

l-orizzont leads with the news that there is now a ray of hope for a nine-year-old Maltese boy, suffering from fanconi anaemia, after his parents were informed that a donor who is 95 per cent compatible, has been found.

The Press in Britain…

The Independent has a wrap-around cover with a photograph of the spectacular opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics.

The Daily Mail looks at two events - the flames of celebration marking the opening of the Games and the flames of war as Russian and Georgian troops clash.

The Guardian declares that the 8th day of the 8th month of 2008 was a day of war and peace.

The Financial Times has a front page picture of the opening ceremony of the Olympics and reports on the latest fighting involving Russian and Georgian troops in the breakaway republic of South Ossetia.

The Daily Telegraph has a similar take on the two stories - saying "while Beijing wows the world, Moscow sends in the tanks".

The Daily Express leads on the latest twist in the search for Madeleine McCann.

The Sun also claims that a little girl that looks like Madeleine was spotted on CCTV in Brussels.

The Daily Mirror reports on how detectives wanted to bug Madeleine's parents Kate and Gerry McCann.

And elsewhere…

The New York Times reports that the UN Security Council has held a second emergency session on the crisis in the breakaway territory of Georgia, South Ossetia

China’s official newsagency, Xinhua reports that China has won its first gold medal in the 29^th Olympics – in the women’s 48kg weightlifting event.

South China Morning Post reports that a student who tried to unveil a Tibetan flag during the first day of the Olympic competitions has been removed by officials from an equestrian event.

Meanwhile, Athens newspaper Kathemerini said a Greek sprinter was being sent home in shame for failing an earlier doping test.

Al Quds Al-Arabi reports that a car bomb in the northern Iraqi town of Tal Afar has killed at least 21 people and wounded 72 others..

El Universal leads with the closure of the international AIDS conference in Mexico City with a warning that no effective cure was yet in sight and calls for better educational and preventive programmes against the immunodeficiency disease.

De Standaard says the European Union tightened trade sanctions against Iran in a bid to commit to freeze its nuclear enrichment programme.

Meanwhile, The Jerusalem Post leads with the EU call on Israel to freeze plans to expand settlements in Palestinian territories and east Jerusalem.

Prague’s Daily Monitor reports that an international express train crashed into a collapsed bridge in the Czech Republic on Friday, killing at least seven people and injuring about 70.

Adevarul says miners have unearthed the skeleton of a 2.5 million-year-old mastodon in Racosul de Sus, northwest Romania.

The International Herald Tribune reports that former Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards has confessed to having an extra-marital affair while his wife was battling cancer.