Malta and international press digest

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

The Times features President George Abela and the Speaker, Louis Galea, at a fund-raising event of the Arka Foundation in Gozo. It also reports that no resignations are expected yet from the VAT Department, where an investigation into what could have been 'massive' fraud, is in progress. The newspaper also quotes Alternattiva Demokratika saying that experts have told the government that a windfarm on Sikka l-Bajda, off Mellieha, would not be viable.

The Malta Independent highlights the Pope’s appeal for an end to migrants’ deaths. It also reports that Joseph Muscat has appealed for an inquiry into gas emissions in Marsa.

In-Nazzjon leads with the summit meeting yesterday between EU leaders and the US President. Prime Minister Gonzi, who was present, said the meeting opened a new chapter in relations. The newspaper also denies that PL General Secretary Jason Micallef was not invited for the inauguration of the new President.

l-orizzont leads with Dr Joseph Muscat’s speech yesterday and asks of another increase in gas prices is on the cards for after the European Parliament elections.

The Press in Britain

Pension reform, North Korean's missile launch and the IMF advice that EU states in Eastern Europe should adopt the euro, are on the main stories on the front page of the Financial Times.

The Guardian reports that the North Koreans are testing President Obama’s nuclear resolve.

The Times says North Korea’s rocket launch, which the US claims has fizzled out in the Pacific, has put President Obama on the alert.

The Daily Express reports terror suspects under house arrest are claiming benefits.

The Daily Mail says that an 11-year-old boy, who together with another nine-year-old boy was slashed, burned and thrown into a 300-foot ditch in Doncaster, is battling life-threatening head injuries.

The Daily Mirror says that two other boys, aged 10 and 11, are helping the police over the attacks.

The Daily Star says fans of Jade Goody have found where she is buried and turned it into a secret shrine.

And elsewhere…

Italian media reports that by 6 this morning, two persons were confirmed dead following an earthquake that rocked central Italy, 80 miles kilometres northeast of Rome.

Deutsche-Welle says that the US stance that Turkey belongs firmly in the EU took some of the gloss off a largely harmonious EU-US summit in Prague with France flatly rejecting the idea and Germany voicing reservations about it.

Blesk reports that in his address to EU leaders at the summit in Prague, President Barack Obama said that Turkey's membership in the bloc would be an important symbol of cooperation between the West and the Muslim world. He said “the United States and Europe must approach Muslims as our friends, neighbours and partners in fighting injustice, intolerance and violence.”

The International Herald Tribune says North Korea's launch of a long-range rocket has drawn a "strong condemnation" from the European Union. The UN Security Council ended an emergency session without agreeing to an immediate response to the missile launch.

Ekstra Bladet reports that Danish Finance Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen has been named the country's new prime minister after his namesake Anders Fogh Rasmussen formally stepped down on Sunday to become NATO's secretary general.

Skopje Diem says Macedonia's ruling conservative party presidential candidate Gjorgje Ivanov has won a landslide victory in Sunday's runoff poll, beating Social Democratic rival Ljubomir Frckoski.

Magyar Nemzet says Hungary's ruling Socialists have formally nominated Gordon Bajnai as the country's next prime minister, after winning 93 percent of the vote at a Socialist Party conference yesterday. A parliamentary vote on April 14 is seen as a mere formality.

According to Timpul, exit polls after yesterday’s general election in Moldova showed the ruling Communists gaining enough votes to hold on to power but lacking enough seats to install a new president.

The People’s Daily announces that China has reopened Tibet to foreign tourists, almost two months after imposing a ban before politically sensitive anniversaries. A group of 11 German tourists are in the regional capital of Lhasa on a six-day tour.

Times of India reports that an overloaded boat carrying Hindu devotees has capsized in the north of the country, leaving at least 21 people dead and 20 missing.

Pakistan Observer says a suicide bomber attacked a crowded Shiite mosque south of the Pakistani capital Islamabad, killing 22 people and wounding dozens more.

The Washington Post reports that investigators believe a man fatally shot his five children in their home and killed himself after he found out his wife was leaving him for another man. The children were aged between seven and 16.

Al Ahram reports that a married Egyptian couple has been sentenced to five and seven years in prison for having sex out of wedlock with other people they met through the internet. They were arrested last October after posting what the court described as “scandalous advertisements” on the internet and for “soliciting other couples for sex parties”. Sex out of wedlock is illegal in Egypt, where the constitution says Islamic law is the main source of legislation.