Malta and international press digest

Following are the top stories in the local and international press today:

The Times says that the Armed Forces of Malta has opted not to suspend the two soldiers charged with the voluntary homicide of Gunner Matthew Psaila. It carries a large photo of a woman voting in the Japan elections.

The Malta Independent says that the reform of the Malta Environment and Planning Authority will be in place by the end of the year. It also has a photo of Ira Losco, a main protagonist in a Michael Jackson concert in Valletta last night.

l-Orizzont has a story about shortcomings at the slaughter house. In another story it asks if the Maltese flagged cargo vessel, the Arctic Sea was carrying weapons.

In-Nazzjon also leads with the Mepa reform. It reports that a man is in a critical condition following a traffic accident, as well as an interview with lateral thinker Edward Debono on the BBC World Service.

The Press in Britain…

The Times claims that a key decision that could have paved the way for Abdel Baset Ali al Megrahi to serve his sentence in Libya was approved by Downing Street.

According to The Scotsman, a parliamentary inquiry is to probe claims the UK made the Lockerbie bomber eligible for a return home to smooth business deals with Libya.

The Daily Record says Libya allowed a British TV crew to film the Lockerbie bomber "on his death bed".

The Financial Times says that the Democratic party's landslide victory in Japan's election will redraw the political landscape of the world's second largest economy.

The Independent leads with a story of a man who had his ears and nose cut off by the Taliban after he voted in this month's elections.

The Sun says Gordon Brown's visit to the British troops in Afghanistan was branded a PR stunt.

According to the Daily Mirror, Phillip Garrido treated his prisoner Jaycee Lee Dugard like a wife.

The Daily Star reports sex slave Jaycee Lee Dugard was forced to visit sites where her kidnapper may have killed 10 girls.

The Guardian claims that hundreds of children are being held unnecessarily in immigration detention centres, along with their families.

The Daily Express claims scientists have developed a new pill could cut the risk of strokes by up to a third.

Meanwhile, The Daily Telegraph and the Daily Mail warn that people who take an aspirin a day as an insurance policy against heart attacks could be doing themselves more harm than good.

And elsewhere…

Asian media lead with Japan's opposition’s historic electoral victory, crushing the ruling conservative party that has run the country for most of the post-war era.

Berliner Zeitung reports that Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats appear to have suffered big losses in two out of three state elections, while the left-wing Left Party and the liberal Free Democrats gained ground.

Deutsche Welle quotes Israeli Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu denying news reports of an imminent breakthrough on a German-mediated prisoner exchange with Islamist group Hamas.

The Jerusalem Post reports that former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has been indicted on corruption charges committed while serving as mayor of Jerusalem and later as a Cabinet minister, before being elected prime minister in 2006.

California Globe says police in the Jaycee Lee Dugard kidnapping inquiry have expanded the boundaries of the crime scene to include the house next door to that of Phillip and Nancy Garrido.

Georgia Post reports that police have arrested a family member who called to report finding seven people dead and two critically injured survivors inside a mobile home at a trailer park.

Los Angeles Times says Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has urged residents who live near the massive Los Angeles-area wildfire to listen to authorities and evacuate if ordered.

Afghan Times quotes the commission charged with investigating fraud in Afghanistan’s presidential election saying more than 550 of the 2,000 complaints it had received were serious enough to affect the outcome of the poll if proved true.

Dawn reports that a suicide bomber has killed at least 14 police recruits near the main police station in Pakistan's Swat Valley.

Iraq’s Az-Zaman says two truck bombs have hit separate communities north of Iraq's capital, Baghdad, killing at least 16 people.