Malta and international press digest

The Times says Frontex patrols have been delayed because Italy wanted rescued migrants to be brought to Malta.

The Malta Independent says Brussels wants a 30-day limit on public sector late payments. It also reports that the Rainbow Ward, a hospital children’s ward, has been renovated with assistance from private companies. In another story it says singer Tristan B has been held after being accused of fraud.

In-Nazzjon reports that PL candidate Sharon Ellul Bonici was stopped from taking part in a programme on Favourite TV which would have discussed abortion.

l-orizzont gives prominence to a GWU statement which described as shameful the verification of union membership among port workers. The verification was carried out by the Director of Industrial Relations after the GWU and the Malta Dockers Union claimed to represent the majority of the workers.

The local newspapers will not be published tomorrow, Good Friday.

The Press in Britain

The Daily Mail says the future of anti-terror chief Bob Quick hangs in the balance after he was pictured going into Downing Street with a top secret document in full view, apparently leading to major terror raids being brought forward.

The Daily Telegraph also leads with the embarrassing blunder by Mr Quick ahead of a series of raids in Manchester, Clitheroe and Liverpool.

The Daily Mirror calls Mr Quick “PC Clod” because of his blunder.

The Daily Star focuses on the terror raids in the North West which saw at least 12 arrests.

The Daily Express says that the police foiled a massive Al Qaeda bomb attack in Britain but leads with a story about Eurocrats giving convicts the right to vote.

The Guardian leads with the story of the G20 protest death and news that a police officer captured on video has come forward.

And elsewhere…

Corriere della Sera says the Italian earthquake death toll rose to 273, including 16 children, as aftershocks sent new fears through the camps that sheltered thousands of survivors. The first funerals would be held tomorrow and the Pope said he was preparing to visit the devastated region on Sunday.

EU Observer reports that the European Commission said it would bring forward €4.3 billion in resources to 2009 previously earmarked to help poor countries fight a recession that has staunched credit flows, curtailed investment and sent a number of local currencies into a tailspin.

Le Parisien quotes an OECD report which shows that some 1.8 billion people, or more than half of the global labor force, are working without formal contracts and social security.

Afghan Daily reports that the government is planning a thorough review of a law that has stirred an international outcry over women's rights and which critics maintain legalises marital rape.

The New York Times quotes UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon saying the flogging of a woman in Pakistan was "unacceptable".

The People’s Daily says a Chinese court in the Tibetan capital Lhasa has sentenced two people to death for starting deadly fires in last year's anti-government riots in Tibet which killed 22 people.

East African Standard reports that Kenyan authorities have taken custody of seven Somali pirates from the German navy and would try the men for attempting to take control of a German naval vessel. Greek and Spanish forces from the EU's anti-piracy mission off the coast of Somalia captured the men after they had failed to seize the German supply vessel Spessart.

Meanwhile, The Washington Post says American warships are heading to the coast off the Somali capital after the news that US crew members had retaken control of their hijacked ship. However, reports said their captain was still being held by Somali pirates on a lifeboat, some 400 miles from Mogadishu.

The Daily Texan reports that a mother has been given permission to take sperm from her dead son so she can have the option of carrying out his wish to have children.

El Universal says a 24-year-old man killed his mother after she slapped him for coming home high on drugs. Police said the man grabbed a knife his mother was using to cut up vegetables and stabbed her 25 times. He then fell asleep in the living room while his mother bled to death.

Il Tempo reports that Italy's highest court has ruled that in-laws can't get anything they've put into their offspring's marriage back if it breaks up. A couple failed to get their former son-in-law to return the equivalent of €9,000 they gave their daughter towards the couple's flat in the 1990s. The court, whose sentences set precedents, said it was ''common practice'' for in-laws to help set up their children and ''so they shouldn't expect anything back unless they make a special prenuptial agreement with interest rates specified in the event the marriage ends''.