Malta and international press digest

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

The Times and the other newspapers give prominence to the resignation of Victor Scerri as PN president, over the Bahrija permit controversy.

In other stories, The Malta Independent says outbound tourism could be down 40% this summer.

MaltaToday says food and beverage prices were up 43% in June.

In-Nazzjon says rehabilitation and maintenance works are in hand in 60 schools. It also reports that Dock 1 has started to host yachts.

l-orizzont says the local agent of a Scandinavian company would get a €4 million commission for the power station extension contract.

The Press in Britain

Ryanair's decision to cut almost a third of its flights from Stansted in winter, blaming "unfair" passenger taxes, is The Independent's main story.

The Times reports the 30th British victim to die after contracting swine flu – a six-year-old girl – had a rare combination of infections,.

The Daily Express leads on claims that the national swine flu helpline will be staffed by people with poor English-language skills.

The Financial Times reports that yields on US Treasuries fell sharply as the Federal Reserve's plan to extricate itself from its policy of near-zero interest rates was outlined.

The Daily Mail claims a Labour peer has caused outrage by accusing Britain's top soldier of "helping the Taliban".

The Guardian has Home Office figures which it says show the Government campaign to tackle knife crime has failed.

The Sun reveals that a dancer, rumoured to be Michael Jackson's secret fourth child, was at the King of Pop's memorial service.

The Daily Telegraph carries a picture of 15-year-old swimming sensation Tom Daley, who's become Britain's first individual diving world champion.

The Daily Mirror, the Daily Star and Metro all lead with the story how England footballer Steven Gerrard punched a nightclubber "like a professional boxer".

The Scotsman claims that the Ministry of Defence, a key objector to wind farms, has changed its stance in a move experts say will remove a major barrier to green energy development.

And elsewhere…

EU Observer reports that the European Union has criticized Israel over new settlement plans to build 20 apartments in East Jerusalem.

Al Jeezera says that protests flared again in Tehran yesterday amid reports of violence and a new wave of unrest. The Iranian opposition is calling for a new poll or a referendum over the disputed June 12 presidential election.

Asia Observer leads with the spectacular longest solar eclipse of the 21st century which created near darkness soon after dawn in a swath of India, as millions of people gathered to watch.

Asahi Shimbun reports that Japan’s Prime Minister Taro Aso has dissolved parliament, setting the stage for an election next month that could transform the country’s political power structure.

USA Today says police in full riot gear charged down a street in Texas, to break up a potentially explosive stand-off between hundreds of black and white protesters. A skinhead carrying a Nazi flag and a shirtless white man were arrested on suspicion of disorderly conduct before the protesters separated peacefully. There were no reports of injuries.

The Washington Times reports that hope and optimism that washed over the US in the opening months of President Barack Obama's presidency is fading. According to a new poll, Mr Obama still has a solid 55 per cent approval rating but there are growing doubts about whether he can succeed at some of the biggest items on his to-do list

Anchorage Daily News says an independent investigator has found evidence that Alaska governor and former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin may have broken ethics laws by trading on her position as she sought money for lawyer fees. Mrs Palin says she owes more than £312,000 in legal fees and said the mounting toll of the ethics probes is one of the reasons why she is leaving office this weekend.

Tages Anzeiger reports that the Grand Canyon and the Great Barrier Reef are among finalists from world-famous natural landmarks in a global poll to choose the "New 7 Wonders of Nature". The Amazon rain forest, Dead Sea and Kilimanjaro in Africa were among the others announced today by an organisation led by Swiss adventurer Bernard Weber. The winners will be announced in 2011.

According to Ohio Post, three people have been accused in the US of letting rats bite a six-week-old baby girl and chew off her toes at their cluttered mobile home. The county prosecutor told the court said the baby's toes on one foot were gone when sheriff's deputies went to the home on Sunday after receiving an anonymous tip-off.

New Straits Times reports that a Malaysian man who went back on his promise to go straight home after watching the Malaysia-Manchester United football match was stabbed by his wife twice in the chest with a kitchen knife and then she took him to a hospital. The man was recovering in the hospital. United beat Malaysia 3-2 on Saturday in their opening match on a pre-season Asian tour.