Malta and international press digest

The following are the top items in the Maltese press today:

The Times, like the other newspapers, leads with the fatal stabbing of a mother-of-three in Tarxien yesterday. In other stories, The Times reports on the autopsies on two young women who died in separate incidents on Sunday.

The Malta Independent says boat owners have been warned to respect a buffer zone off Mellieha to protect bird colonies.

In-Nazzjon highlights the first 100 days of George Abela's presidency, quoting him as saying he was very satisfied with the way he was received by the people.

l-orizzont reports that trade unions are concerned over the future of automatic compensation for cost of living increases.

The Press in Britain

The Sun reports that a six-year-old London schoolgirl originally diagnosed with tonsillitis, and a 64-year-old man have become the latest Britons to die of swine flu.

The Daily Telegraph says the girl's death is significant as she was the first child "without health problems" to die.

The Daily Mail adds that parts of Britain are now in the grip of a swine flu epidemic.

The Times has learned Gordon Brown rejected a recommendation by military chiefs to send 2,000 more troops to Afghanistan despite being warned that not doing so could jeopardise the mission against the Taliban.

The Guardian says Mr Brown has told Afghan President Hamid Karzai to put more Afghan troops into Helmand province to make sure the costly territorial gains made by UK forces are not lost and British soldiers do not die in vain.

Metro says London Mayor Boris Johnson has dismissed the £250,000 a year he earns from a controversial second job as "chicken feed", infuriating millions of people struggling to make ends meet in the economic slump.

The Independent reveals hundreds of independent schools will be forced to raise their fees following a ruling by the Charity Commission that they must take in more pupils from poorer backgrounds.

The Daily Express reports scientists have created a simple tablet that could help the obese by halving body fat in just a week.

The Daily Star claims that Michael Jackson had a "chilling" conversation with his daughter Paris in which he prophesied his death.

And elsewhere...

Frettabladid reports that the Icelandic parliament has reconvened a marathon debate to decide if the government should formally apply for EU membership. Iceland's wish to join the union received a setback when five Green party members sided with the conservative opposition to block a resolution giving approval to the government proposal because they want national referendum on the issue.

Suddeutsche Zeitung says 12 European companies have signed a deal for a €400-billion-project to build solar farms in Africa and the Middle East to produce energy and cater for 15 percent of Europe's electricity needs by 2050. The project will see investments of up to €400 million over a period of 40 years.

Gazeta Ankara reports that Turkey and four EU member states have signed an agreement to construct a long-planned 3,300-kilometer pipeline to reduce Europe's reliance on Russian gas.

Berliner Morgenpost says Germany has rejected accusations from Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that the murder of an Egyptian Muslim woman in a Dresden courtroom was evidence of the German government's brutality. A government spokesman said there was "no place" for racial hatred or Islamophobia in Germany.

According to Az-Zaman, the Iraqi authorities have imposed vehicle bans in two mostly Christian towns and increased security around churches in Baghdad after attacks targeting the Christian minority by Islamic extremists.

Al-Ayyam says police in Sudan have arrested 13 women in a raid on a cafe and flogged 10 of them in public for wearing trousers in violation of the country's strict Islamic law.

Die Welt reports that a court in Germany has formally charged alleged Nazi war criminal John Demjanjuk with 27,900 counts of being an accessory to murder in World War Two.

Asia Observer says hundreds of Pakistanis, who fled a military offensive against the Taliban in Swat Valley, have started arriving home.

El Pais quotes doctors saying a medical blunder has led to the death of a baby born prematurely to Spain's first fatal swine flu victim. The baby, who did not have the swine flu, was fed intravenously, rather than with the proper technique for premature babies: with a tube into the stomach.

New Jersey Globe says two US soldiers who served in Iraq have been charged with filming and photographing female members of their unit while they were taking showers and then distributing the video and images.