Malta and international press digest

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

The Times says Renzo Piano's plans were hailed by Maltese architects, who yesterday had a meeting with Piano. The newspaper also carries an interview with Nicola Romano, who says his son knew who was going to kill him and indicated the name in a letter. The murder took place earlier this year, and Romano was found in an industrial furnace.

The Malta Independent traces the history of one item linked to the Valletta plans - the Yellow Garage. It also reports on the feast of Mnarja.

In-Nazzjon leads with favourable comments on the Valletta plans by the Chamber of Architects.

l-orizzont says tons of Maltese fruit and veg are being thrown away at the vegetable market because of imports. It also raises concern about the 57,000 persons in Malta who fall below the poverty line.

The Press in Britain

The Sun has claims about Michael Jackson's post-mortem results, saying the 5ft 10in singer weighed just 8st 1oz, had broken ribs and bruises, was starved and totally bald.

The Daily Express reports Jackson has left his children a £60 million secret treasure chest of unpublished songs.

According to the Daily Mirror, Jackson's family are demanding the singer's doctor gives them a detailed account of the star's final moments.

The Guardian leads with the G20 protests, claiming MPs have criticised police tactics used during the demonstrations in April.

The Daily Telegraph says Gordon Brown is aiming to reject warnings about the scale of public debt and spend his way back into Number 10.

The Daily Mail reveals "the astonishing spread of Islamic justice behind closed doors" and claims Britain has at least 85 Sharia Courts in operation.

The Independent reports patients will be promised six new rights to NHS treatment as the Government attempts to push through a new raft of public services.

Metro claims Britain is braced for a 'state of emergency' heatwave this week, with warnings of deaths, water shortages and travel misery.

The Financial Times claims Vodafone is considering a bid to buy rival T-Mobile.

And elsewhere...

Il Tempo reports that Pope Benedict has said carbon dating tests on bone fragments found in a sarcophagus "seem to confirm the unanimous and uncontested tradition that they are the mortal remains of the Apostle Paul". He announced the findings at a service in the basilica of San Paolo in Rome, to mark the end of the Paoline year.

The International Herald Tribune says the EU has warned Iran of a "strong and collective response" to harassment after nine employees at the British Embassy in Tehran were arrested.

Ekathimerini says foreign ministers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe are meeting on the Greek island of Corfu. The 56-member OSCE aims to update the 1975 Helsinki accords and adapt the continent's security apparatus to meet the modern challenges of terrorism, dependable energy supplies and political unrest.

Korrieri says exit polls conducted by three firms appear to indicate a win for Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha's Democratic Party. The projections from the three polls only differed slightly on the margin of Berisha's win. There is still no official announcement from election officials.

Sonntag Zeitung reports the Swiss police have uncovered a child pornography ring involving more than 2,000 people in 78 countries, including the US, Poland and Greece. The authorities were monitoring a website devoted to hip-hop music. But unknown individuals used a forum on the site to hide illegal child pornography films.

Los Angeles Times announces that three people have been killed and seven injured after a gunman fired into a group of people outside a pizza restaurant, 15 miles of downtown Los Angeles.

Sydney Morning Herald announces that Australian coastguards have intercepted a boat carrying 194 suspected refugees in the Indian Ocean. It is the largest group to enter Australian waters in a recent wave that has seen 15 boats of asylum seekers detained this year.

Tiempo says the Honduras congress has named its speaker acting leader after President Manuel Zelaya was overthrown in a military coup.

Dawn says the Pakistani government is offering a 50 million rupee reward for information leading to the capture or death of Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud.

El Universal says a Mexican man has been detained for allegedly plotting to sell a 19-year-old young woman, two girls and two boys for $2,000 apiece in the United States. The woman and girls, aged 12 and 15, were kidnapped by the suspect and another man to sell them to a contact in the United States to work as prostitutes. Police say he also allegedly wanted to sell his two stepsons, aged one and four. Human trafficking in Mexico carries a maximum punishment of 23 years in prison.