Press digest

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

The Times says former Chief Justice Noel Arrigo was yesterday found guilty as charged. Sentence will be delivered tomorrow. It also reports that no major Cabinet changes are expected to fill John Dalli's seat.

The Malta Independent after the story on the Chief Justice, says the Prime Minister yesterday explained the nomination of John Dalli to the European Commission.

MaltaToday Midweek says the former Chief Justice is awaiting the court's sentence in a holding cell. It also says Mr Dalli had been Eddie Fenech Adami's first choice for Brussels five years ago.

l-orizzont reports on the Arrigo trial. It also says the government has accepted a GWU proposal to keep the MCESD regularly informed on the implementation of the Budget measures.

In-Nazzjon quotes the court saying that had the former Chief Justice wanted to refuse the offer made to him to reduce a prison sentence on appeal, he would have locked his door to the offers.

The Press in Britain...

The Independent leads with reports from the UN and World Health Organisation that the Aids pandemic is officially in decline.

The Daily Express claims the amount of salt being eaten in foods is killing tens of thousands of people in Britain.

Metro says a 14-year-old girl died after taking a dangerous but legal new drug at a party.

The Times reports research into cancer and dementia is under threat from Government plans to reprioritise money for free social care.

The Daily Telegraph says Defence Secretary Bob Ainsworth is blaming the US for dwindling British public support for the war in Afghanistan.

The Sun reports a detective suspected of stealing £300,000 from the Madeleine McCann fund has been detained by police.

According to the Financial Times, the BBC is considering selling its commercial arm BBC Worldwide, which could be worth £2bn.

The Daily Mail leads with claims that more than two million children are being taught in either mediocre or failing schools.

The Guardian says the attorney general is under intense pressure to order further investigations into British complicity in the torture of terror suspects.

The Daily Mirror claims Tory leader David Cameron and his closest Conservative friends stand to make more than £7m from his plans to slash inheritance tax for the super rich.

The Evening Standard says a first edition of Charles Darwin's seminal On the Origin of Species, found in a family's toilet, sold for £103,250 (€115,000) at an auction timed to coincide with the 150th anniversary of its publication. The book was first printed in 1859.

And elsewhere...

The Jerusalem Post quotes German Foreign Minister, Guido Westerwelle, on the final day of his maiden trip to Israel, calling for a speedy resumption of talks between Israel and the Palestinians under the so-called roadmap to peace.

Tageblatt reports the European parliament has approved a major overhaul of EU telecoms legislation aimed at boosting the rights of European mobile phone and Internet users and protection against access restrictions. The move, approved after months of bargaining, unblocks a package of reforms due to be implemented in the next 18 months.

Manila Times says emergency rule has been imposed on two Philippine provinces after security forces found more bodies from one of the worst incidents of election violence in the nation's history. The death roll rose to 46 when police and soldiers found another 22 bodies in a hillside mass grave.

Tribune de Genève quotes UNAIDS data which shows almost 60 million people have been infected by HIV and 25 million people killed by causes related to the virus since the epidemic started.

The Irish Independent says Moldova's military authorities are giving soldiers onions and garlic to help them ward off swine flu. Vegetables are traditional remedies in Moldova where they are widely believed to boost the immune system.

China News says two men were executed in China for their roles in a tainted milk powder scandal in which six children died and more than 300,000 became sick. They were found guilty of endangering public safety and producing and selling toxic food.

L'Espresso quotes Patrizia D'Addario, the prostitute at the centre of Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi's sex scandal, claiming she slept with him believing he would help her set up a countryside inn but she got "nothing" in return. D'Addario whose memoirs went on sale in Italy, said she felt betrayed. She also said she had been frightened by threats.

La Stampa reports that Italians have vehemently rejected a cabinet minister's proposal that lunch breaks be scrapped to increase productivity

The New Yorker says a 13-year-old boy with Asperger's syndrome spent 11 days in the New York subway system after going missing following a school telling off. Francisco Hernandez Jr hiding survived on a diet of news stand confectionery and snacks.

The Age reveals the world's oldest sheep has died in Australia at the age of 23 - twice the normal life expectancy - after succumbing to a record heatwave. Lucky died at the farm where she had been found as a little lamb. Lucky was hand-reared from birth after being abandoned by her mother. She went on to have 35 offspring of her own.