Press digest

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

The Times leads with the resignations of PL general secretary Jason Micallef and SmartCity CEO Claudio Grech.

The stories also feature prominently on The Malta Independent, In-Nazzjon and l-orizzont.

The Times also carries a talking point by Finance Minister Tonio Fenech, who said €10.5m were saved in 3,050 investigations into benefit fraud.

The Malta Independent says the national breast screening programme starts in the middle of next month.

l-orizzont says the GWU is preparing for its National Congress and the launch of a new corporate identity. It also reports the arraignment of two businessmen for VAT evasion. One of them is a former PN deputy Mayor.

In-Nazzjon reports that more countries are showing an interest in taking migrants from Malta.

The Press in Britain...

The Financial Times reports that the Chinese government is in talks with Nigeria to buy large stakes in some of the world's richest oil blocks.

The Daily Express claims EU bureaucrats are pressing for sinister new powers that will give them access to personal details belonging to Britain's taxpayers.

The Daily Telegraph says Britain's police stand accused of failing in their duty to protect a mother, Fiona Pilkilton, and her disabled daughter from a gang that tormented them. Mrs Pilkilton eventually killed her daughter and herself.

The Independent also leads with the jury's verdict into the deaths asking why nobody acted after 33 pleas for help over seven years.

The Daily Mail says their tragic deaths have been laid at the door of the police, who dismissed the pleas, and local councils, which ignored them. The police have since apologised for not helping.

The Sun carries a picture of the young man, branded a "street rat", whose gang terrorised fireball suicide mum Fiona Pilkington.

The Guardian reports Gordon Brown will use his speech at the Labour conference today to return to the Blairite agenda of tough measures on irresponsible parenting and social breakdown.

The Daily Mirror says Business Secretary Peter Mandelson breathed new life into Labour during his speech in Brighton, insisting: "We can win the election - and we will."

The Herald publishes the results of a new poll showing Labour has been pushed into third place for the first time in a generation.

The Times has the story of a 14-year-old girl who has died after being given a vaccine as part of the national immunisation programme to protect women against cervical cancer.

The Daily Star claims Peter Andre has blocked former wife Katie Price, aka Jordan, from contacting her children.

Glasgow's Daily Record reveals a lucky Scot came home from holiday to be told he had won £500,000 on the lottery.

And elsewhere...

Iran has tested its most advanced missiles to cap two days of war games, flexing Iran's military might and show readiness for any military threat. Abrar says the powerful Revolutionary Guard, which controls Iran's missile programme, successfully tested upgraded versions of two medium-range missiles which can carry warheads and reach up to 1,200 miles - putting Israel, US military bases in the Middle East and parts of Europe within striking distance.

Manila Times says the Philippines government has appealed for international help as flood survivors crowded into the presidential palace, churches, schools, gymnasia and hundreds of other makeshift evacuation centres with the death toll from the disaster soaring to 240.

The International Herald Tribune reports an Oxfam warning that more than 23 million people are being pushed towards severe hunger and destitution across East Africa.

La Republica says former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori, who already faces the prospect of spending the rest of his life in prison, has pleaded guilty to authorising illegal wiretaps, and bribes of politicians, journalists and businessmen and embezzlement.

According to USA Today, a Kentucky woman has been arrested after her 14-year-son told authorities he escaped from a home where he had spent most of the past four years locked in a wardrobe. He told police scars on his stomach and torso were from where alcohol had been poured on him and set on fire.

The Zimbabwean quotes a ruling by the country's supreme court saying Jestina Mukoko, a prominent human rights activist, and eight other defendants could be tried now or in the future on terror charges because they were beaten and tortured in jail. The court issued a permanent stay of because their constitutional rights had been violated.

The Washington Times says US Secret Service agents were investigating a Facebook poll that asked people whether they thought Barack Obama should be assassinated.

Sabah reports that a van carrying beehives in Turkey crashed into a stationary truck, letting huge swarms of bees free to sting the injured and rescue workers at the scene. About 20 people were taken to hospitals, six of them injured in the crash and the rest rescue workers who were stung by the bees.