Malta and international press digest

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

The Sunday Times says 50% of HIV cases in Malta involve African immigrants. Their number has been growing in parallel with the growth in the arrival of migrants.

The Malta Independent leads with the decision by the PL and AD to support court cases to challenge the charging of VAT on vehicle registration tax. The newspaper also reports that CNI is launching a petition calling on the government to stop illegal immigration, and that 14% of former shipyard workers are still seeking jobs.

Malta Today says an official inquiry has found no substance to allegations by Minister Austin Gatt of leakages of information from the Central Bank to the PL. It also reports that a Maltese lawyer is part the Global Alliance to help victims of Bernard Madhoff, who was at the centre of massive fraud.

It-Torca says Maltese-flagged ships are among the most frequent targets of Somali pirates. It also says there is anger over the EP elections candidacy of Vince Farrugia with some threatening to leave the GRTU.

Illum asks if Manwel Micallef is set to replace Vince Farrugia as director-general of the GRTU. It also reports fears that a Russian boy resident in Valletta may have been kidnapped. He has been missing since Wednesday.

Il-Mument reports that former PL deputy leader Michael Falzon was removed from the list of party delegates to the Electoral Commission, without being informed.

KullHadd claims hospital negligence led to the amputation of a woman's arm following infection. She had been suffering chickenpox.

The Press in Britain…

The Sunday Express reveals top secret contingency plans drawn up to counter the threat posed by a summer of discontent over job losses and payouts to failed bankers. Sunday Metro says Prime Minister Gordon Brown has set out a blueprint for the future of the banking system as he renewed pressure on ex-banking chiefs to give up generous pensions or be stripped of them.

The Sunday Times reports that millions of private-sector workers face a pay freeze or cuts due to the economic crisis, while employees in the public sector enjoy pay rises.

The Mail on Sunday says a union leader enjoyed the use of a £399-a-night hotel suite within yards of his office – to save a 35-minute journey to his £800,000 home.

In an interview with The Observer, Lord Mandelson accused the postal union of dishonest "scare tactics" over the Royal Mail sell-off that could cost workers their pensions and even their jobs.

The Sunday Telegraph says parents are being told not to give most cough and cold remedies to their children amid safety fears and evidence that dozens of products do not work.

The People leads with David Cameron’s agony over the sudden death of his six-year-old disabled son Ivan, telling well-wishers the loss had left a hole in family life "so big that words can't describe it". The Star on Sunday says terminally-ill star Jade Goody is asking her fans to unite in a mass prayer for her this evening.

The Sunday Mirror says Jade is desperately trying to bring forward the christening of her two sons as she fears time was running out.

And elsewhere…

Ahead of today’s special summit in Brussels, L’Echo quotes Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek saying the EU needed to avoid any new east-west or north-south dividing lines. Warning against unilateral or protectionist measures by any of the 27 EU member-states, Topolanek said it was vitally important that internal market remain united.

Haaretz says Israel's right-wing prime minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu saying has abandoned efforts to strike a deal with Kadima chairwoman Tzipi Livni Livni to form a coalition government and prepared to meet with Labour chairman and Defence Minister Ehud Barak to persuade him to open coalition talks with Likud. Livni has accused Netanyahu of insufficient commitment to the two-state vision – a future Palestine created in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Kabul Weekly reports Afghan President Hamid Karzai says he wants the next presidential election to be held in April instead of August, as scheduled by the country’s Electoral Commission.

The Zimbabwean says President Robert Mugabe has vowed to press on with his policy of seizing land from white farmers. Speaking at a party to mark his 85th birthday, Mugabe also said that the unity government with Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai was only temporary. The €250,000-party comes at a time when Zimbabwe continues to experience the world's highest rate of inflation, a hunger crisis and a cholera epidemic that has killed nearly 4,000 people since August.

Jugantur quotes Bangladesh's military saying more than 70 officers remain missing after a two-day mutiny by border guards in which at least 76 people were killed.

El Pais sees today’s regional elections in the Basque Country and Galicia as the first test of voter sentiment since the country slipped into an economic recession late last year.

The Irish Post reports that at least half of the six million euro stolen in the Irish Republic's largest ever bank robbery has been recovered. Six men and a woman remain in custody after being arrested over the heist at the Bank of Ireland branch in Dublin.

Michigan Messenger says a 21-year-old woman with two wombs has given birth by Caesarean section to twin daughters – one from each uterus.

France Football says the English Football Association has launched an inquiry after fans of non-league Weymouth FC netted about a million sterling from betting on their own team's defeat.