Malta and international press digest

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

The Times features a picture of Chiara who will today take part in the first Eurovision Song Contest semi-final (9 p.m.). The newpaper reports that three health centres will be closed from Monday following a directive to doctors by the MAM. It also reports that the police have been able to speak to Mary Grace Vella, who on Friday suffered knife injuries in an incident which saw her mother murdered.

The Malta Independent reports that an Italian frigate took 69 rescued migrants to Sicily after Malta stopped it from coming to Malta. It also reports the Pope's call for a Palestinian state during his visit to Israel.

In-Nazzjon leads with figures showing job creation by the government. It also reports that the Electoral Commission has accepted the Prime Minister's request to reinstate non-Maltese EU voters who were struck off the electoral register.

l-orizzont says the GWU leadership has met EP candidates to discuss its proposals.

The Press in Britain

The Daily Telegraph reveals yet more MPs' expenses, this time concentrating on high-earning Tories who have spent taxpayers’ money on everything from manure to their swimming pools and moats.

The Times leads with a poll highlighting the strength of feeling against politicians amid the expenses furore.

The Guardian spells out Gordon Brown's apology over the MPs' expenses fiasco along with a warning to David Cameron over his international relations.

The Daily Mail says Westminster Speaker Michael Martiin is facing a no confidence vote over finger wagging and the expenses fiasco.

According to The Independent, child custody rates in some parts of England and Wales are five times higher than in others.

The Financial Times quotes leading central bankers indicating that the downturn in the world economy has bottomed out.

The Daily Express leads with price slashing on the high street where stores have enjoyed their biggest sales bounce in three years.

A picture of model Katie Price aka Jordan and Peter Andre features on the front of the Metro after the pair announced they were to split after she went on one boozy bender too far.

And elsewhere…

The Jerusalem Post reports Pope Benedict has said the cries of Holocaust victims continue to reverberate 60 years after the Second World War. He also said the Church was working to ensure that hatred never reigns again. Earlier, at the start of his five-day visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories, the Pope urged both sides to "explore every possible avenue" to resolve their differences.

El Universal says that millions of Mexican children have gone back to school as scientists estimated the new strain of swine flu could have sickened 23,000 people before anyone realized it was an epidemic.

The Washington Times reports that the US has replaced General David McKiernan, its top general in Afghanistan, as President Barack Obama launches his strategy to turn around a stalemated war.

Kabul Press says Afghanistan's top human rights group is investigating whether white phosphorous was used in a US-Taliban battle in which scores of people were killed, a finding that could further deepen controversy over an incident which has already sparked public anger. On Sunday, the American military denied using the incendiary in the battle in Farah province – which Afghan President Hamid Karzai has said killed 125 to 130 civilians – but left open the possibility that Taliban militants did.

A Libyan Islamist whose fabricated testimony about al Qaeda was used by the United States to justify its 2003 invasion of Iraq has killed himself in his Libyan jail cell. Oed said Libyan authorities were investigating the death of Ali Mohamed Abdelaziz al Fakhiri, 46, also known as Ibn Sheikh al-Libi and a key figure in US intelligence reports on al Qaeda before the war.

Sydney Morning Herald announces that Australian authorities have intercepted a boat carrying more than 30 suspected asylum seekers. The 33 passengers and crew were being taken to Christmas Island, where the government detains and processes refugee applicants.

USA Today leads with the launch of Space shuttle Atlantis with seven astronauts on board on an 11-day mission to patch up the Hubble Space Telescope. The billion-dollar repair job will feature five spacewalks during which astronauts will install new cameras, batteries and gyroscopes, and attempt to fix two broken scientific instruments.

The International Herald Tribune says Roxana Saberi, a 32-year-old dual Iranian-American journalist jailed for five months in Iran has been freed after an appeals court suspended her eight-year prison sentence on charges of spying for the US.

Az-Zaman says an American soldier who opened fire at a counselling centre on a US base in Iraq has killed five fellow soldiers. The soldier was taken into custody. It remained unclear what provoked the attack

Tages Anzeiger reports that Switzerland may impose temporary limits on immigration for EU jobseekers, amid rising unemployment there. Workers from Germany and Portugal make up the two biggest groups of EU migrants in Switzerland which in April reported an unemployment rate of 3.5 per cent, up by 35.5 per cent from the figure a year earlier. The European Commission predicts its 27 member states would see unemployment rise to 10.9 percent in 2010. The data looks worse for the 16 Eurozone countries.