Malta and international press digest

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

The Times says the in-laws of the widow of one of the victims of the Simshar tragedy, Stefania Carabott, may face legal action for evicting her from her residence. The residence had been rented to the in-laws by the Joint Office, the administrator of former Church property.

The Malta Independent reports how Justice Commissioner Jacques Barrot said yesterday that the immigration crisis in Malta might get worse as summer approaches.

In-Nazzjon says the government has again confirmed that it would respect any court decision on VAT charged on registration tax.

l-orizzont says that Finance Minister Tonio Fenech gave no information on the utility tariffs when he presented his annual report yesterday. It also says that illegal structures at Armier built after 1992 are to be demolished.

The Press in Britain

The tragic and untimely death of actress 45-year-old Natasha Richardson, the wife of Liam Neeson, dominates The Sun's second edition front page. She died in a specialist medical facility in New York after suffering a serious head injury following a fall while skiing in Canada. The Daily Telegraph has a picture of Natasha’s mother, 72-year-old Oscar-winning actress Vanessa Redgrave, arriving at the clinic where members of the family kept a night vigil. The paper leads with the revelation that plans to screen all men over the age of 50 for prostate cancer could save 2,000 lives a year in the UK.

The Times says a growing divide between the public and private sectors emerged yesterday as figures showed that the number of people out of work rose above two million in January.

The Daily Express reports that unemployment is at its highest level since Labour came to power in 1997.

The Guardian says the British government has promised new guidelines for the security and intelligence agencies when interrogating detainees abroad.

A row over funding for veterans to attend the 65th anniversary celebrations of the Normandy landings is the lead story in the Daily Mail.

The Daily Mirror says Jade Goody's young sons, Bobby and Freddy, have made her cards for Mother's Day – touchingly unaware they may never see her alive again.

The Daily Star also leads with Jade, claiming she wants to be buried with her favourite photos of the final holiday she had with her sons.

The Financial Times says the City watchdog has announced a sweeping overhaul of the UK's financial regulatory regime.

According to The Daily Record, a paralysed boy has been trapped in hospital for a year - while £50,000 of medical gear is unused at his home.

And elsewhere…

Cameroon's Muations reports that Pope Benedict has urged African bishops to protect traditional family values and spare the poor from the impact of globalisation. Making his first African pilgrimage, the Pontiff warned that the Catholic Church in Africa faced competition from increasingly popular evangelical movements and "the growing influence of superstitious forms of religion".

Der Kurier says Josef Fritzl cut a deal for a softer life in jail by admitting his full guilt. It is thought his plea will allow him a choice of prisons, including one offering a single cell protected from other inmates, meditation, football, tennis and darts sessions, cookery classes and singing lessons.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the Federal Reserve has announced it would inject about one trillion dollars (€740 billion) into America's economy in a bold effort to help the battered housing market and lift the US out of recession. At the same time, the Fed left a key short-term bank lending rate at a record low of between zero and 0.25 pr cent.

The New York Times says crooked financier Bernard Madoff's accountant has been arrested on fraud charges, accused of aiding the man who cheated thousands of investors out of billions of dollars. David Friehling, 49, was released on bail of $2.5 million (€1.9 million). The charges came as federal authorities turned their attention to those who they believe helped Madoff fool 4,800 investors into thinking that their investments were growing comfortably each year.

The Washington Times reports that the US Bureau of Prisons is easing restrictions on American-born Taliban soldier John Walker Lindh. This would allow him to tell his story of fighting against the United States in Afghanistan for the first time. Lindh is serving a 20-year sentence for aiding Afghanistan's now-defunct Taliban government.

According to El Universal, the Coca-Cola bottler in Venezuela has agreed to hand over a parking lot it used as a distribution centre to the government in Caracas. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez had given the bottler two weeks to hand over the parking area which was needed for public housing.

USA Today says police in Atlanta have arrested a military contractor suspected of hacking into teenage girls’ computers and threatening to post their personal information online unless they sent him revealing photos. Irish-born Patrick Connolly, who had been living at a US military base in Baghdad, was charged with a single count of computer hacking. Authorities have 30 days to obtain an indictment and more charges could be filed.