Malta and international press digest

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

The Times says the Maltese and Italian Home Affairs Ministers have been summoned for talks in Brussels on their dispute over migrants. In other stories, the newspaper reports on the truce brokered by Minister John Dalli between Malta Freeport and the GWU.

The Malta Independent leads with the visit to Malta by the UN Secretary General and his criticism of the ‘misuse’ of a conference on racism by the Iranian President. It also reports that the government may create a super agency by merging the ADT, the Malta Maritime Authority, the Civil Aviation Department and the Freeport Corporation.

Maltatoday leads with a feature on the state of animal welfare in Malta. It also quotes PL deputy leader Anglu Farrugia saying that proposed amendments to the Electoral Law would favour the PN.

l-orizzont leads with the agreement reached between the Freeport and the GWU.

In-Nazzjon reports the UN Secretary General saying Malta has a strong voice in international affairs.

The Press in Britain

The Independent quotes a controversial American fertility doctor Panayiotis Zavos claiming to have cloned 14 human embryos and transferred 11 of them into the wombs of four women. The transfers did not lead to a viable pregnancy. The Daily Telegraph says IMF figures show every British taxpayer faces a £7,000 bill for losses associated with the financial crisis and the bail-out of the country's banks.

The Daily Mail reports the IMF has warned Britain it faces the toughest burden than any other leading economy.

The Guardian says Gordon Brown's proposed reform of the much-criticised system of MPs expenses came after he was warned by Labour whips that the party would lose support unless he acted within weeks.

Metro says MPs could make even more money under emergency proposals to scrap their controversial second home allowance in favour of a daily payment.

The Daily Express says MPs will defy public revulsion at their taxpayer-funded expenses by awarding themselves thousands more simply for turning up at Westminster.

The Times says MPs will receive about £150 a day on top of their salaries for attending the Commons in an emergency package of anti-sleaze reforms to be rushed through Parliament.

And elsewhere…

EU Observer says a new European Commission report on the future of the Common Fisheries Policy admits that past conservation measures have failed. It confirms stocks are still in dire straits, with fleets accused of prolonging the agony by exceeding annual catch quotas.

Chumhuriyet reports that Turkish authorities have detained 37 people in early morning raids in five provinces, saying seven of the suspects were thought to have received armed training in militant camps in Afghanistan.

Tribune de Geneve says the UN anti-racism conference in Geneva has adopted a final declaration against racism and xenophobia, a day after an anti-Israel speech by Iran's president triggered a mass walkout. The passage of the final document was moved up to Tuesday from Friday because delegates said they didn't want isolated instances of intolerance and hatred to destroy the conference's broad consensus to condemn racism.

Meanwhile, Gazeta Polska reports that Israel's deputy prime minister Silvan Shalom, likened Iran to the Third Reich. He told reporters before a Holocaust remembrance ceremony in Auschwitz that what Iran was trying to do today “is not far away at all from what Hitler did to the Jewish people just 65 years ago".

South Africa’s Globe & Mail quotes ANC leader Jacob Zuma saying his party will do its best to meet voters' high expectations despite the global financial crisis.

El Pais says Spanish police have arrested 22 suspected Hell's Angels biker gang members in a crackdown across the country on racketeering and other offences. Police seized a kilogram of cocaine, firearms, ammunition and other material including Nazi paraphernalia in 30 raids in five cities, including Madrid.

The New York Times says a Somali teenager would face what are believed to be the first piracy charges in the US in more than a century. The sole surviving Somali pirate from the hostage-taking of the ‘Maersk Alabama’ captain was flown the US on the same day that his mother appealed to President Barack Obama for his release, saying her son was coaxed into piracy by "gangsters with money."

The Irish Times says two British men are facing possible life prison terms for their roles in an international drug smuggling ring after Irish authorities seized 1.7 tonnes of cocaine worth more than €650 million.

The Washington Post reports a British businessman has apologised in a US court as he admitted his role in the UN oil-for-food scandal. John Irving, 54, pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting illegal oil imports despite knowing that kickbacks had been paid to the Saddam Hussein regime in the process.

East African Standard says villagers in central Kenya clashed with an outlawed criminal gang using machetes, axes and clubs, killing at least 28 people and leaving streets stained with blood. Police said residents near the town of Karatina fought Mungiki members because the gang had been extorting money from them.

The American Meteorological Society's Journal of Climate says the world's largest rivers have declined over the last 50 years, with significant changes found in about a third of them. Scientists said an analysis of 925 major rivers between 1948 and 2004 showed an overall decline in total discharge.

Blic reports an international mission to help a baby kangaroo rejected by her mother has been launched in Serbia. Six-month-old Tijana fell out of the pouch last month after her mother was scared by an emu and has not been allowed back in. Now, the baby kangaroo is being fed in an incubator at Belgrade Zoo with special milk donated by Australia, the US and Germany.