Malta and international press digest

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

The Times says a baby is among the cases of Swine Flu reported yesterday, the number having risen to 16. All are responding well to treatment. The newspaper also reports that an inquiry into the death of Gunner Matthew Psaila found shortcomings in the AFM training regime.

The Malta Independent also starts with the Swine Flu cases, saying people should stay at home if they feel unwell. It also features the masterplan for the rehabilitation of the menqa in Marsa and says the MEPA reform will be announced next week.

l-orizzont too leads with Swine Flu. It also reports an address by GWU General Secretary Tony Zarb who insisted that workers cannot be made to shoulder any more burdens.

In-Nazzjon's focus is on Swine Flu and the Marsa Menqa project.

The Press in Britain

The Daily Mirror reports that loyal British Michael Jackson fans are angry because only US residents with tickets secured through an online ballot will be allowed in to the Staples Centre in Los Angeles for his public memorial.

The Sun claims that the website set up to register entries for Jacko's memorial service crashed within minutes.

According to the Daily Express, the pop legend will be buried in a velvet-lined, £15,000, 14 carat gold-plated coffin.

The Independent claims the British government is considering raising National Insurance contributions to help pay for care for the elderly.

The Daily Mail has started a campaign to support for Gary McKinnon's fighting extradition to the US after the autistic man hacked into the Pentagon to prove it could be done.

The Guardian says an Iranian employee at the British embassy employee will stand trial in Iran for his role in last month's protests in Tehran.

And according to The Times, it is two and not one of the nine embassy employees arrested last weekend that are still being held, amid growing fears of a show trial in Tehran,.

Metro says six people, including a three-week-old baby, died in a huge fire at a tower block in London. A further 12 were taken to hospital, many suffering the effects of smoke inhalation.

And elsewhere...

EU Observer says the European Commission is to examine Italy's new legislation to fight illegal immigration to determine whether it complies with EU norms, warning that "automatic expulsion rules for entire categories are not acceptable". Under the new law illegal immigration becomes a criminal offence and immigrants can be deported immediately.

The Nigerian Tribune announces that Nigeria, Algeria and Niger have signed an agreement to create a €7.15 billion pipeline that would ship gas across the Saharan desert to Europe by 2015. The plan comes as Europe seeks new sources of gas imports as it currently depends on Russia for much of its needs.

L'Osservatore Romano says the Pope has put Cardinal John Newman, the influential 19th-century Anglican convert, on the path to possible sainthood by approving a miracle attributed to his intercession.

Portugal's Espresso leads with the resignation of Economy Minister Manuel Pinho after making a rude cuckold gesture - traditionally signifying a man whose wife is unfaithful - at an opposition MP.

Suddeutsche Zeitung quotes German state prosecutors saying accused Nazi death camp guard John Demjanjuk, 89, is fit enough to stand trial over allegations that he was an accessory to murder at a Nazi death camp. However, medical experts have stipulated a limit of two 90-minute court periods per day

Irrawady reports UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon has said Burma's military leaders have rejected his request to meet jailed opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

USA Today says Sarah Palin announced she will resigning as governor of Alaska at the end of the month, raising speculation that she will focus on a run for the White House in the 2012 race. Her term would have ended next yedar.

Corriere della Sera reports that the death toll from a train explosion in Tuscany has risen to 21 after a man and woman died overnight in hospital.

El Pais says the police in Spain have foiled a plot to use a zeppelin to help a prisoner break out of jail next Tuesday, a day before the detainee was due to appear in court on drug trafficking charges. Berliner Zeitung reports that a German court has sentenced a Berlin barman to 41 months imprisonment after he was convicted of bodily harm with fatal consequences for a drinking match which left his teenage opponent dead. The 16-year-old died after the barman served him more than 45 shots of tequila while filling his own glass mostly with water.

Le Parisien reports that music star Cheb Mami has been sentenced to five years in jail for trying to make a former lover undergo a forced abortion, despite pleading for forgiveness at his trial near Paris.

According to Himalayan Times, police are investigating reports that seven men were killed in a remote area of Nepal as they searched for a rare fungus known as "Himalayan viagra".

Eastern Post says 31 teenage boys have died from complications after botched traditional circumcision rites in South Africa's rural Eastern Cape region.