Malta and international press digest

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

The Sunday Times says Malta may be cleared of any connection to the Lockerbie bombing. A relative of a victim said he did not believe that the bomb originated from Malta. The appeal trial of former Libyan agent Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi started in Libya last week. The newspaper also reports a GWU conference on migrant workers, where it was reported that some migrants were engaged in the construction industry for just €2 a day.

The Malta Independent says Parliament will move to a new site as a revamp of the Palace was announced. The Palace will be used for the President and tourism. No decision on the new seat of Parliament has been taken. It also reports a US Department of State report which says there could be a terrorism risk from the influx of migrants.

MaltaToday says tension between Italy and Malta on migration has reached new heights. It also says that only 37 percent of respondents to a survey said they were better off, five years after EU membership.

It-Torca raises questions on the future of fireworks displays, saying the police refused to grant a permit for fireworks at the feast of the Holy Cross in Birkirkara. It quotes GWU General Secretary Tony Zarb telling a conference on migrant workers that for the union, all workers have their dignity.

Il-Mument highlights the Prime Minister’s press conference on the revamp planned at the Palace in Valletta. It also points to the success of recent bond issues, saying they showed the underlying strength of the Maltese economy.

Illum says the Nationalist Party is gifting the PL by showing weakness in the dispute with Italy on migrants.

KullHadd says unemployment soared by 31% in six months. It says the Nationalist Party changed its EP elections slogan on instructions from Richard Cachia Caruana. In a third story, it says the ill-fated trawler Simshar may not have had a lifeboat.

The Press in Britain

The Sunday Express asks if Madeleine McCann was taken into the tunnels under the church in the resort where she disappeared.

The Observer writes the first cracks in Gordon Brown's cabinet appeared as Communities Minister Hazel Blears attacked his government's "lamentable" failure to communicate".

The Mail on Sunday claims Brown's future as Prime Minister looks uncertain as his Labour enemies plotted to sack him and install Health Secretary Alan Johnson on No10.

The Sunday Times says Brown was preparing for a third embarrassing climbdown as the government signalled a retreat over plans to privatise the Royal Mail.

The Daily Telegraph focuses on dozens of British troops who fought in Afghanistan and could lose medals over exaggerated accounts of their actions.

The News of The World claims a new private jet for Foreign Secretary David Milliband could cost £250,000 to fly to the US and back.

The Independent on Sunday reports the internet is to undergo one of the biggest revolutions in its history later this month with a new "brainier" search engine.

The Sunday Mail alleges Britain's first swine flu victim went to a concert days after returning from Mexico but health officials told him to keep it a secret.

Scotland on Sunday reports that health officials are hunting for hundreds of air passengers who may have become infected with swine flu from a Scot returning from the US.

And elsewhere…

The Wall Street Journal quotes a spokesman for the US Centre for Disease Control and Protection saying the swine flu outbreak may have originated in California. He said several cases of infection were reported in California before the outbreak in Mexico, where the government has confirmed 427 cases of the disease as well as 16 deaths.

The New York Times says the UN has called Egypt's move to cull 400,000 pigs as a precaution against swine flu "a real mistake".

The Washington Post reports that about one-in-five Americans now has a disability and that will increase as baby boomers age.

Los Angeles Times says police believe a 72-year-old insurance claims adjuster arrested earlier this month is the most prolific serial killer in the city's history, having raped and strangled as many as 30 older women over two decades.

Sydney Morning Herald says Australian Federal Police have teamed up with US and international authorities to investigate an alleged drug trafficking network in Indonesia that may have links to the "Bali Nine" case.

Lank World quotes a pro-Tamil Tiger rebel website reporting that at least 64 civilians were killed and another 87 wounded in an attack on the last remaining medical facility inside rebel-held territory in northeastern Sri Lanka.

Putland Post says Somali pirates hijacked a Greek and a Ukrainian ship yesterday and a NATO warship briefly detained 19 pirates armed with high explosives after foiling an attack on a Norwegian tanker in the Gulf of Aden.

Berliner Zeitung says an hour battle with May Day rioters in Berlin left 237 police injured. Dozens of demonstrators were also injured but there were no exact figures, while 289 were arrested.

Az-Zaman reports a man wearing an Iraqi army uniform has shot dead two US soldiers and injured three others in a military base south of the northern city of Mosul.

El Universo reports Ecuador's President Rafael Correa has won a second term in office after April's poll.

Abrar says Iran has hanged a juvenile female offender after six years in prison following a conviction for murder. Twenty-three-year-old Delara Darabi was only 17 when she committed her crime, making her a juvenile. The sentence has prompted condemnation from international human rights groups.