Malta and international press digest

The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas

The local press is dominated by the discovery of A H1Ni Swine Flu in Malta

The Times says four cases have been confirmed. It speaks to the patients, two of whom are Rugby players. The Malta Independent says the situation is under control. In-Nazzjon say the four men confirmed to have Swine Flu returned from Spain on Tuesday. l-orizzont goes into detail on the spread and consequences of swine flu across the world.

In other stories, The Malta Independent says the Prime Minister reacted favourably to 17 proposals made yesterday by the Gozo members of the Malta Council for Economic and Social Development.

In-Nazzjon says the MCESD discussed initiatives for job creation in Gozo.

l-orizzont says the Medical Council has fined Frank Portelli €10,000 for slandering Dr Louis Buhagiar five years ago.

The Press in Britain

The Daily Telegraph leads with the death of Lieutenant Colonel Rupert Thorneloe - the highest ranking officer to die in action in almost three decades.

The Times quotes his wife Sally saying that she "could not have asked for a more caring, adoring and loving husband and father".

The Daily Mirror reports that the Lieutenant Colonel was a friend of Prince Charles.

The Daily Express warns Britain is at the mercy of a full-scale swine flu outbreak ith 100,000 cases a day.

The Daily Star claims dozens of Michael Jackson's unreleased tracks have been found in record company vaults.

According to The Sun, Michael Jackson's fans are said to be furious over plans to charge them to attend his funeral.

The Independent claims Chancellor Darling has promised bankers a tougher new regulatory system.

The Guardian reports one of Britain's biggest online paedophile inquiries is to be challenged in the court of appeal.

The Daily Mail leads on the case of the IT expert, Gary McKinnon, who managed to hack into the Pentagon's computers.

According to the Financial Times, a rogue banker is responsible for Tuesday's startling rise in oil prices.

And elsewhere...

Bulgaria Gazette says 17 Bulgarians, allegedly part of a crime gang said to have distributed fake euro notes worth €16 million throughout Europe since 2005 have been arrested.

Michael Jackson's ex-wife Debbie Rowe, who has remained largely silent 11. Ms Rowe, who was married to Jackson between 1996 and 1999, was omitted since Jackson died from an apparent cardiac arrest last week aged 50, told NBC TV in Los Angeles that she would seek custody of Prince Michael, 12, and Paris, from a 2002 will filed in Los Angeles Superior Court yesterday in which Jackson named his 79-year-old mother Katherine Jackson as guardian.

South Korea's JoongAng Ilbo newspaper quoted military officials say North Korea has test-fired four short-range missiles. The White House called the tests "provocative" acts..

USA Today says an American soldier has been captured by the Taliban in eastern Afghanistan. The soldier went missing on Tuesday and was not connected with the latest massive operation in the south of the country.

Ruth Madoff, wife of disgraced financial fraudster Bernard Madoff, will be left with $2.5 million in cash, after US marshals seized their assets including a luxury four-bedroom New York City penthouse, a $12,500 mink coat and millions in art and jewellery. Bernard Madoff, 71, was sentenced last Monday to an effective life term for Wall Street's biggest Ponzi scheme of as much as $65 billion.

Le Figaro reports that the Air France jetliner that crashed in the Atlantic a month ago with 228 people on board was "intact at the time of impact". The French bureau leading the investigation says the plane appeared to have hit the surface of the water in flying position with a strong vertical acceleration, adding that the Airbus came down in the water belly-first.

The Times says one of Germany's richest women won a British court case today upholding a pre-nuptial agreement that denies her ex-husband a slice of her fortune, in a ruling hailed as ground-breaking. Katrin Radmacher, 39, a paper industry heiress, and Nicolas Granatino signed the agreement in Germany before marrying in London in 1998 that stipulated they would not claim money from each other if they split.

Etemad says Iran has hanged six people for the murder of their spouses, but the lives of two others due to be executed at the same time were spared by the families of their victims. The execution of a ninth convicted murderer, who was 16 at the time of his crime in 1992, was postponed.

Times of India says the New Delhi High Court court has given a landmark ruling decriminalising gay sex between consenting adults, overturning colonial-era legislation that outlawed homosexuality.

Universal says that at least four men have been found decapitated and 12 others murdered in suspected drug violence over just 24 hours. Decapitation is frequently used by Mexico's bloody drug cartels as a way of settling scores.

The Courier Mail reports that Barrier Reef caretaker Ben Southall was made to look a right twit on Twitter after he misspelt the island he is promoting. On his second day at work on Hayman Island Englishman Ben Southall renamed the tropical island 'Hayward' in his Twitter post. The mistake was later corrected but not before being picked up by a few keen-eyed Twitter followers.