Malta and international press digest

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

The Sunday Times leads with parking restrictions in 19 towns and villages. It also says two EP candidates have told a magistrate they broke the law.

The Malta Independent on Sunday says Ggantija temples risk losing their world heritage status. It also reports conflicting PN views on a Cabinet reshuffle, some see 2009 as too early, others say 2010 would be too late.

MaltaToday publishes an e-mail between BWSC, the Scandinavian company which won the power station extension contract, and its Maltese representative, well before the call for tenders was issued. In it the company allegedly speaks of the need to tap somebody higher in the political hierarchy. It also says Gonzi is taking MEPA functions under his control.

Il-Mument says the MEPA reform was the latest of four major PN electoral promises kept in the past month. It also says GWU Deputy General Secretary Geitu Mercieca is to have competition when he seeks re-election.

It-Torca says six new cases of H1N1 have been confirmed, but seasonal flu leaves more victims than this virus.

KullHadd, like MaltaToday, leads with the early contacts by BWSC on the power station extension.It says contacts started in 2003.

Illum discusses why the former Opera House is to remain without a roof.

The Press in Britain...

The Sunday Telegraph says the parents of some of the soldiers killed in Afghanistan have accused the government of starving British forces of urgently needed equipment.

The Independent on Sunday claims that the Prime Minister is planning to cut British forces in Helmand by 1,500.

In contrast, The Observer takes says that thousands more troops could be sent to Afghanistan within months.

The Sunday Times says senior Labour figures are angry that the head of the army told Tory MPs at a private dinner that 2,000 more troops are needed in Helmand.

The Mail on Sunday claims vehicles that are intended to protect British troops in Afghanistan have failed American tests.

The News of the World claims a world exclusive with Michael Jackson's sister La Toya, who says that her pop star brother was murdered.

The Sunday Mirror claims Michael Jackson's mother and his former wife Debbie Rowe have made a pact to keep his children away from his father Joseph.

The Sunday Express reports that MPs have slammed new plans to force police to recruit gypsies.

The Star on Sunday has the latest claims about the divorce between Katie Price and Peter Andre.

The People says six Premier footballers have been tested for Aids after sleeping with the same HIV-infected girl.

And elsewhere...

Ghanaian Chronicle reports the warm welcome received by President Barack Obama by Ghana's parliamentarians during a keynote speech in which he outlined US policy in Africa.

L'Avvenire says Pope Benedict has stressed the Catholic church's opposition to abortion and stem cell research in his first meeting with US president Barack Obama. The two men agreed on helping the poor and pushing for Middle East peace, but disagree on what the Vatican considers prime ethical issues.

The New York Times says the CIA withheld information about a secret counter-terrorism programme from Congress for eight years on orders from former US Vice President Dick Cheney.

Bosnia Post reports tens of thousands of Bosnian Muslims have been remembering the killing of up to 8,000 Muslim men and boys in Srebrenica in 1995.

USA Today says 298 passengers on board a British Airways Boeing 747 have been evacuated just before take-off from at Phoenix Airport in Arizona after reports of smoke in the cabin. The jet had just pushed back from the departure gate when the fumes were spotted.

Abrar announces that Iranian scientists have become the first in the Middle East to clone a cow as part of the country's stem cell research.

Variety quotes America's Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation criticising Sacha Baron Cohen's new film "Bruno", saying it reinforces negative stereotypes and "decreases the public's comfort with gay people".

The International Herald Tribune says Tokyo is officially the world's most expensive city for expatriates, knocking Moscow off the top slot into third place. The Cost of Living Survey from Mercer, which covers 143 cities across six continents, found that Osaka, another Japanese city, took second place. Geneva climbed is in fourth position. The survey measures the comparative cost of over 200 items in each location, including housing, transport, food, clothing, household goods and entertainment.