Malta and international press digest

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

The Times says that students are not being accepted for nursing courses in spite of a shortage. In another story it says that Brussels was trying to mitigate the recent problem with Berlusconi.

The Malta Independent reports on the arrival of 84 immigrants from Somalia. In another story it says that the cause of Michael Jackson’s death listed on his death certificate is homicide.

In-Nazzjon reports on an EU plan to reduce the illegal migration. In another story it says that major interest was being shown by local and foreign companies in the Valletta City Gate project. It says that 98 percent of the Maltese have a mobile phone.

l-Orizzont leads with the publication of a report on violence saying that beating up children was still acceptable in Malta and Poland.

The Press in Britain…

The Independent marks 70 years since the outbreak of war, and leads with the news that Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Daring insists that world governments need to keep spending to ensure recovery from the global economic crisis.

The Daily Mirror also remembers the day in 1939, when Britain went to war, with an historic edition, while its top story is that of the Manchester teenagers who allegedly plotted a Columbine-style attack on their school.

Metro looks in depth at the case of the Audenshaw High School pupils who are accused of planning a killing spree.

FSA head Lord Turner has told the Financial Times that big banks should be made to draw up 'living wills' in the event of their collapse.

The Sun prints the results of a readers’ poll which shows many believe Gordon Brown is failing troops in Afghanistan.

The ongoing row over the release of the Lockerbie bomber leads the Daily Mail, which says Britain has been accused of lying over a promise to keep Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi behind bars in Scotland.

A group of experts who care for the terminally ill have written to The Daily Telegraph claiming some patients are being wrongly judged as close to death.

A Guardian reports finds climate change is bleaching coral reefs.

The Times leads with news of a 'scramble to plug a gaping hole' in a global bailout deal agreed by G20 leaders.

The Daily Express says a top QC has said Princess Diana was right to fear for her life and that he always believed the car crash that killed her “was no accident”.

The Herald reports there are fears that a body received by Iraqi authorities could be that of a Scottish hostage taken in Baghdad in 2007.

The Daily Star says Peter Andre is said to be 'stunned by Jordan's claims that she was "raped more than once".

And elsewhere…

Kathemerini leads with the decision by Greece's Conservative Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis to call an early general election, seeking a renewed popular mandate to impose tougher economic reforms and deal with the international financial crisis.

New Europe says that EU finance ministers meeting in Brussels have called for an end to excessive bank bonuses and agreed to push the issue at an upcoming G-20 summit in the US city of Pittsburgh.

Berliner Zeitung reports that with a woman dying every minute because of complications in childbirth or pregnancy, the UN has appealed for the world to contribute more to improve women's health and access to contraception. Environment Today says a WWF study reveals the Arctic region had warmed at about twice the global rate over the past decades.

Fiji Times quotes the military-led government saying that its suspension from the 53-nation Commonwealth was the price it must pay for its reform of the country’s political system, and insisted that it will not hold elections before 2014.

Java Post says the powerful earthquake that has shaken southern Indonesia, has killed at least 33 people.

Afghan Times reports that the country’s deputy chief of intelligence was among 24 people killed by a Taliban suicide bomber in an attack on a mosque east of Kabul.

According to The People’s Daily, a chemical explosion in eastern China has killed 18 people and injured 10 others

Los Angeles Times reveals Michael Jackson's estate will pay what are being called "extraordinary" expenses for the pop singer's funeral later today.

The lawyer for the wife of accused kidnapper and rapist Phillip Garrido told CBS, ABC and NBC his client misses the children her husband allegedly fathered with his victim.

New Straits Times says a French climber nicknamed “Spiderman” was fined 2,000 ringgit (€400) for climbing Malaysia’s 88-storey Petronas Twin Towers.

The Washington Post quotes animal rights activists Mercy for Animals saying thousands of discarded male chicks are being ground up while still alive because they are unable to be raised for egg production and do not grow large or fast enough to be raised profitably for meat.

The Courier-Mail says a police sergeant is under investigation for allegedly racing after a speeding car along a busy section of the Bruce Highway near Brisbane without flashing lights and sirens – or approval.