Malta and international press digest

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

The Times says a policeman, and possibly two, are expected to be arraigned over the beating of a migrant in Paceville in June.

In-Nazzjon says hotels in Gozo are full up for the Sta Marija feast, but that has actually been the case for most of summer.

l-orizzont says there has been silence from Castille on the MLP accusations over the way direct orders were issued for services at Mater Dei Hospital, such as parking and security. It also highlights the MUT call for the government to shoulder its social obligations in the shipyards issue.

The Malta Independent, like the other newspapers, also gives prominence to statements issued yesterday by the MLP and the government on the shipyards. The MLP called for a peaceful resumption of talks, and the government said it was ready for talks, but not threats.

The Press in Britain…

The Financial Times reports that the eurozone moved closer to recession yesterday after it emerged that the economy contracted in the second quarter for the first time since the launch of the euro.

The Guardian says the UN’s committee on human rights has accused the UK government of creating laws that have a chilling effect on freedom of expression.

The Sun says that the devastating toll of the nation's drug addition was revealed in a shocking report last night.

The Independent reports that almost two million Britons take illegal drugs at least once a month.

The Daily Mail reports that the number of children taken to hospital because of drug use has soared since Labour took office.

According to The Daily Telegraph, the education gap widening under Labour as students from fee-paying schools pull ahead of those from the state sector.

The Daily Express says major supermarkets threw a lifeline to hard-pressed shoppers by slashing the price of many popular groceries.

According to The Times the pint of milk was at the centre of a ferocious supermarket price battle yesterday as Asda and Tesco vowed to cut millions of pounds from customers' shopping bills this weekend.

Metro leads on a coastguard crew who saved a drowning girl but had their boat confiscated three hours later - and were told they could face disciplinary action.

The Daily Mirror says two women were yesterday charged in Antigua over the murder of Ben and Catherine Mullany, the British honeymooners who were shot in the head after being tortured.

And elswhere…

The Washington Post says US Defense Secretary Robert Gates has ruled out a US military intervention in the conflict between Georgia and Russia over the breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Gates called on Russia to step back from what he called its "aggressive posture", warning Moscow that it risked harming its contacts with the United States and NATO for "years to come".

In Moscow, Pravda reports that Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov dismissed talk about Georgia's territorial integrity, saying South Ossetia and Abkhazia would never return to Georgia by force.

The International Herald Tribune says US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who visited French President Nicholas Sarkozy yesterday, is due to fly on to Georgia today to ask President Saakashvili to sign the six-point ceasefire accord.

Gazeta Polska quotes Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk saying his country and the United States have reached an agreement that will see a battery of American missiles installed inside Poland.

Al Jamahariya reports that Libya and the United States have signed an agreement that clears the way for the restoration of full diplomatic ties. The deal, which was signed in the Libyan capital, Tripoli, provides for millions of euros in payments to the families of victims of bombings involving the two countries.

The People’s Daily reports that five foreign activists – three Americans, a Canadian and a Briton – were arrested in Beijing after climbing China’s state-owned television headquarters near the main Olympic venue and unfurling a big “Free Tibet” banner.

Cumhuriyet leads with the visit to Istanbul of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for talks with Turkish leaders. The visit is expected to focus on bilateral relations and Iran's nuclear programme.

Az-Zaman reports that at least 12 people have been killed and dozens of others wounded after a female suicide bomber blew herself up among a group of Shi'ite pilgrims south of Baghdad.

Zimbabwe Independent says that officials at Harare airport temporarily seized the passport of Morgan Tsvangirai, the leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change. He is due to attend talks in South Africa.

El Mexicano reports that an armed gang killed nine people and wounded ten others during a Mass in a drug rehabilitation centre in the northern Mexican border town of Ciudad Juárez. Eight others died in separate attacks in the area overnight.

La Republica reports that 13 people have been arrested in Tuscany for allegedly operating a crematorium scam in which bodies were stored with the corpses of cats and dogs and burnt “ten or twenty at a time”.