Malta and international press digest

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

The Sunday Times says Malta is to propose a Libya checkpoint for immigrants. It also reports that a Xemxija high rise project involving the building of 900 apartments, is at a standstill.

The Malta Independent on Sunday says the Palace Square car park is to be turned into the jewel of the city. It reports that the president of the European Parliament may be asked to intervene if 945 non Maltese EU citizens are not reinstated in the electoral register.

MaltaToday says Malta has joined forces with Italy on immigration and Carm Mifsud Bonnici and Roberto Maroni are working in tandem.

KullHadd reports that the MEPA auditor has criticized the granting of a permit in an outside development zone to Pietru Pawl Busuttil.

Illum said a suspected case of HiN1 turned out to be false.

It-Torca reports that migrants are being told to leave open centres after just four months, a decision which the newspaper says can cause trouble. It also says that €65,000 have been squandered by the Resources Ministry on new offices in Beltissebh.

Il-Mument says Jason Micallef if getting more powerful in the PL. It also says the PN programme for the EP elections is based on work, and that the PN has launched an elections website. In another story, it says a third of Labour mayors are standing down.

The Press in Britain

The Sunday Telegraph continues with revelations about MPs' expenses, focusing on Sinn Fein MPs, who it claims have raked in nearly £500,000 (€562,673) in British parliament expenses for running a second home - despite not taking up their seats in the House.

The People has details of a Cabinet Minister's alleged mileage expenses scam.

The Sunday Express claims that despite the allegations, MPs have voted themselves an extra £16m in expenses this year.

The Observer claims that there will be investigations into whether MPs have deliberately evaded capital gains tax.

The Sunday Times claims that Gordon Brown is heading for an election wipe-out in the Local Elections next month.

The Mail on Sunday has a survey which reveals that the popularity of the British Labour Party has slumped to its lowest level since polling began amid a series of scandals and renewed speculation over Gordon Brown's leadership,

The Sunday Mirror reports on the family of a Gurkha who died fighting for Britain, saying they have been told they cannot stay in the UK.

The News of the World says that Britain's Got Talent star Susan Boyle turned down the chance to meet US President Barack Obama.

And elsewhere...

Jordan Times says Pope Benedict has told Muslim leaders that it was not religion that sowed division between the world's communities but its manipulation for ideological ends.

The EU's foreign affairs commissioner has urged Afghan President Hamid Karzai to do more to fight corruption and put his country on the path to modernization. In an interview with German newspaper Berliner Zeitung, Benita Ferrero-Waldner raised the pressure on Karzai a day before he is to meet German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin.

Tribune de Geneve says the World Health Organization has raised its global tally of swine flu cases to 3,440 confirmed infections and 48 confirmed deaths.

Globe & Mail leads with Jacob Zuma's swearing-in as South Africa's new president. He vowed to work to fulfil the dreams of all his people amid a global economic meltdown after he overcame corruption and sex scandals to reach the nation's highest office.

USA Today says thousands of Santa Barbara evacuees have been they could return to their homes as a blanket of cool, moist air flowing in from the ocean tamed the wind-driven wildfire that has burned 80 homes along the outskirts of town.

Corriere della Sera reports that a bloody footprint on a bathroom rug matched that of Raffaele Sollecito, the Italian man charged with the murder of British university student Meredith Kercher in 2007.

Dawn quotes Pakistani officials saying nine people have been killed in a suspected US missile strike on a militant stronghold near the Afghan border.

London's Sunday Times quotes an African in Paris appealing to his countrymen to stay at home rather than risk their lives attempting to break into "fortress Europe", where, he says, they will be miserable. Omar Ba, from Senegal, says Europe is not the promised land imagined by Africans; instead it is almost impossible to find a job or somewhere to live and people are unfriendly to foreigners. He blames bad government in Africa rather than Europe's immigration policies for the tragic deaths at sea of thousands of would-be immigrants in recent years.