Malta and international press digest

The following are the top stories in the local and overseas press.

The Sunday Times in an exclusive story gives details of how fraud was carried out in the VAT Department and says the police are expected to arraign at least 25 people.

The Malta Independent on Sunday says that Malta is seeing an opportunity to tackle immigration by broadening the role of the UNHCR office in Libya. It also quotes a UHM official as saying several doctors who are MPs and candidates are among those who issue fraudulent sick leave certificates.

MaltaToday reports that Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi has warned ministers of a reshuffle should the PN lose the European Parliament elections heavily.

It-Torca says the government will tomorrow sign the contract on the Delimara power station extension despite controversy. It also says that EU figures belie government claims on job creation.

Illum also features the power station extension, saying Dr Gonzi's environment promises have gone up in smoke.

Il-Mument says that the way a speech by Alex Perici Calascione was carried by the PL showed that Joseph Muscat was contemptuous of the report on the party's general election defeat. It also says that Michael Falzon, who used to have a major role in the PL election mechanism, has been sidelined.

KullHadd says the Cabinet had discussed ways how payments can be introduced for health services.

The Press in Britain

The Sunday Express says missing Madeleine McCann may have been taken to a luxury villa just half a mile from where she was abducted.

The Mail on Sunday has discovered that the former SAS officer behind the disclosure of MPs' expenses claims has left a trail of bad debts from a succession of failed businesses.

The Sunday Times predicts at least half of the House of Commons' 646 MPs will be swept away at the general election, as voters take revenge for the expenses scandal.

The Sunday Telegraph claims Gordon Brown may have given a hint of his reshuffle plans after inviting David Blunkett for secret talks over dinner at Chequers.

According to The Observer, David Cameron lost his first big scalp to the expenses row when Andrew Mackay, his former senior advisor, announced he would stand down.

The Independent on Sunday says Gordon Brown called Tony Blair to Downing Street as he tried to rescue his leadership.

The News of the World exposes a Buckingham Palace security breach when the queen's chauffer took people on tour.

The Sunday People reports that the Football Association is planning to cut up to £5 million from grass roots football to fund England's 2018 World Cup bid.

The Sunday Mirror says Peter Andre turned down a late-night plea from Katie Price to save their marriage.

And elsewhere...

Berliner Morgenpost reports German President Horst Koehler has won a second five-year term. Backed by the Christian Democrats, he secured an absolute majority in the first round of voting with 613 votes.

Florida Post says bad weather has forced the cancellation of the landing of the space shuttle Atlantis. NASA has four scheduled opportunities today but on board are enough supplies to allow it to stay in orbit until Monday.

Meanwhile, The Washington Times reports that President Barack Obama has picked Charles Bolden as NASA chief, moving to make him the first African American and only the second ex-astronaut to lead the agency.

Nepal Monitor reports that two people were killed and 14 wounded when a bomb exploded in a Roman Catholic on the outskirts of Katmandu.

Athens News says three people were hospitalized yesterday after a firebomb attack on a shop used as a Muslim prayer center for immigrants in the Greek capital.

Putland News reports fierce clashes have left at least 29 people dead and about 200 wounded as Somali government forces try to drive out Islamist insurgents from the capital Mogadishu.

California Globe says the state's supreme court will rule next Tuesday on whether to uphold a ban on same-sex marriages that critics say violates civil rights in the most populous US state.

According to Bild, a student who auctioned off her virginity in Germany is set to lose half the money to the tax office. Authorities claim the act was tantamount to prostitution, which is not illegal in Germany but is heavily taxed. Romanian-born Alina Percea was paid $17,900 in cash for a weekend of sex with an Italian businessman after auctioning her virginity online.

The Washington Post says a politician is challenging the former US President George Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to undergo waterboarding for charity. Democrat Rod Driver is offering to donate $100 to charity for every second they can endure the practice, which the Bush administration denied is a form of torture.

Daily Lobo reports that a mother suffocated her son, revived him, then suffocated him again before burying his body in the sand at a children's playground. New Mexico mum Tiffany Toribio, 23, confessed to the shocking crime eight days after she dug a hole and buried three-year-old Tyruss before dawn.