Malta and international press digest

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

The Sunday Times leads with a story on complaints by drivers who were fined despite parking legally. It also carries an interview with Richard Cachia Caruana who says he had expected that the project for an underground extension of the Cathedral Museum in Valletta would be withdrawn. The newspaper carries a picture of Michelle Obama to mark International Women’s Day.

The Malta Independent on Sunday says the ADT has submitted three applications for the building of the new Ghadira road. It also reports the CEO of the SmartCity Group saying many jobs were expected to be taken up by foreigners. In a third story, it says the European Court of Justice still has to hear the Spring Hunting case.

MaltaToday focuses on the speed cameras, which is describes as cash cows. It says Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi has turned to Frank Portelli as a candidate for the European Parliament elections.

It-Torca reviews the year since the general election. It also highlights a downturn in the property market and the creation of a cooperative for port workers,

Il-Mument says government intervention and assistance has saved 150 jobs at Trelleborg. The company, currently on a reduced working week, will invest more and take on more workers. It reports that this is the sixth anniversary of the EU referendum, where Joseph Muscat was very active in the ‘no’ camp.

Illum says thousands of euro were spent for a few votes. It also says MEPA is facing a threat of new industrial action.

KullHadd says the Malta Tourism Authority has done another favour to Sheffield United without a cost benefit analysis.

The Press in Britain

The Mail on Sunday has a world exclusive of British Guantanamo bay inmate Binyam Mohamed who tells of the full horror of his seven years in detention claiming MI5 directly colluded in his savage 'medieval' torture.

The Sunday Times reports the American chief executive of Lloyds Banking Group, Eric Daniels, is under pressure to come clean over his personal tax affairs

The Sunday Express claims more than 3,500 councillors are raking in millions of pounds by grabbing gold-plated pensions on top of generous allowances.

The Star on Sunday alleges bungling government pensions bosses are dishing out £73m a year in benefits to dead people.

The News of the World predicts councils will be slammed this week for covering up serious failures by social workers.

The Sunday Mirror reports that abusive partners will be targeted over domestic violence.

The People says parents who are in dire straits because of the economic crunch face an agonising choice: they will either feed their children or heat the house.

The Sunday Telegraph reports that the firm set to take over much of the Royal Mail's work was forced to pay back millions in unpaid tax and admit staff acted illegally.

The Independent on Sunday quotes former minister Peter Hain saying the Labour Party under Gordon Brown must change if it is to stand any chance at the next election.

The Sunday Herald says bailed-out Royal Bank of Scotland is continuing to provide a £1.6 million, five- storey Edinburgh townhouse free of charge to its new chairman.

Scotland on Sunday reports that the amount of public cash poured into Scottish council workers' pension schemes has soared and could hit £600 million a year by 2011.

And elsewhere…

The International Herald Tribune reports that following upbeat talks with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said "the right moment" had come to restart global disarmament talks after a decade-long impasse.

Chumhuriyet says US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has thanked Turkey for its military contribution to NATO's mission in Afghanistan, for economic investment in Iraq and for Ankara's role in the now stalled Israel-Syria peace process. She also announced that President Barack Obama would visit Turkey next month.

USA Today quotes a senior US envoy saying there was common ground between Washington and Damascus but warned not to expect an immediate improvement in relations. The talks were the highest level talks between the two countries since 2005.

Al-Quds al-Arabi reports that Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayad has tendered his resignation to President Mahmoud Abbas. The announcement comes just before the resumption of power-sharing talks between Abbas and the Islamist militant group Hamas, which had demanded that Fayad step down.

The Voice says Zimbabwe's Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai is in Botswana to recover from a car crash that injured him and killed his wife. His party has called for an investigation into the crash but warned Zimbabweans not to jump to conclusions about the cause.

Afghan Times says President Hamid Karzai has approved an August election date, but said that he will stay in office until the vote is held. He called for a national consensus to resolve a dispute with election officials over his plan for an early poll.

Ulster Gazette says terrorists posing as pizza delivery men have murdered two soldiers in a drive-by shooting at a Northern Ireland Army barracks. No-one has yet claimed responsibility for the attack.

The Irish Post reports that Bishop John Magee of Cloyne has resigned over his handing of child abuse allegations. Archbishop Dermot Clifford has been appointed by the Pope to act as an Apostolic Administrator for the Diocese.

Svenska Dagbladet reports that about 6,000 anti-Israel activists have clashed with Swedish police as they tried to storm an arena where Sweden and Israel were playing a Davis Cup tennis match.

Aftonbladet says Swedish police have cracked down on illegal file-sharing by seizing a giant computer server in a raid on a flat in Stockholm. The server contains data equal to about 16,000 full-length movies.

The Indianapolis Star reports that a dozen children and an adult suffered minor injuries when a circus elephant knocked over a portable stairway in Indiana.

The Sentinel says Florida police have raided a pirate radio station in Orlando, which they said was broadcasting information on where to buy drugs.