Malta and international press digest

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

The Times says Home Affairs Minister Carm Mifsud Bonnici has lambasted the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, which has objected to the repatriation of migrants. It also reports that a think tank has proposed the introduction of divorce.

The Malta Independent says the number of failed marriages has risen by 160% in 10 years.

l-orizzont says price inflation in Malta is well above the European average.

In-Nazzjon leads with comments by President George Abela that Malta had made major benefits in five years of EU membership.

The Press in Britain

The Daily Mail leads with a 66-year-old woman who is set to be the oldest mum in the UK. Elizabeth Adeney, who is eight months pregnant, is believed to have undergone IVF abroad because most British clinics will not treat women over the age of 50.

The Guardian claims Labour MPs with improper expenses will be deselected and barred from standing at the next general election.

The Independent reports MPs returning to their constituencies are suffering a public backlash over the expenses scandal.

The Daily Telegraph reveals Labour backbencher David Chaytor admitted claiming £13,000 in interest payments on a mortgage he had repaid.

According to The Times, some 50,000 civilians are trapped in trenches amid the civil war in Sri Lanka.

FT Weekend says banks offering near zero interest rates but asking for 90-days notice before money is removed are to be investigated.

Singer Peter Andre accuses Katie Price of stopping him seeing his children but tells the Daily Mirror he will not be blackmailed into going back to her.

And elsewhere…

EU Observer says the Italian government wants to put illegal immigration on the agenda at next month's summit of European Union heads of state and government. After a meeting of ambassadors from the EU's 27 member states in Brussels, Italy's ambassador to the EU said Italy has the support of other Mediterranean 'frontline' states including Malta, Cyprus and Greece, as well as that of Spain and Belgium.

Börzen-Zeitung reports that Eurozone economies collectively shrank by a record 2.5 per cent in the first three months of the year. The quarter-on-quarter slump for the 16 countries using the euro, the worst since Eurostat began collecting data for the series in 1995 was driven in part by a record 3.8 per cent contraction in Germany's economy.

Il Tempo leads with the Pope’s return to Rome after ending his Middle East tour strongly denouncing the Holocaust and appealing for lasting peace between Palestinians and Israelis, ending Israeli occupation of the West Bank and give the Palestinians their own homeland.

La Tribune de Geneve quotes WHO director Margaret Chan urging countries to share swine flu samples, warning that the virus could become more severe as it spreads around the globe.

The International Herald Tribune reports that human rights groups reacted with anger and disappointment to President Barack Obama's revival of special military trials of terror suspects, saying the "discredited" and "unfair" system was flawed beyond repair.

Irrawady reports that world leaders and human rights groups have denounced Burma’s military government for bringing new charges against pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

The Times of India reports that early exit polls suggest that no party gained an overall majority in India’s marathon general election.

USA Today says a judge has ruled that a 13-year-old Minnesota boy with a highly treatable form of cancer must seek medical treatment despite his parents' objections.

Food & Leisure reports that fast food giant Burger King has announced the world’s first pilgrimage to trace the origins of the burger – spanning eight countries, 16 cities and three continents.