Press digest

The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press. The local press is dominated by the fireworks explosion yesterday.

The Times reports that two died in a fireworks blast. It features a picture of relatives and friends waiting for news. l-orizzont says Qormi was rocked by a 'Fatal Explosion' which killed two. In-Nazzjon says two men were buried under the rubble of St Sebastian Fireworks Factory.

In other stories, The Times says new evidence shows that Anthony Borg, who was killed at Marsaxlokk on Sunday, had been carrying a firearm. It also reports progress in talks between Libya and Switzerland.

The Malta Independent says the authorities are in a muddle over a large illegal gas tank in the front garden of a villa in Attard, close to a bus stop. It also reports that the MUT yesterday hit out at the government in its dispute over allowances. It also reports that HSBC viewed the recession in Malta as being moderate compared to other countries.

In-Nazzjon quotes the HSBC Malta CEO saying that Malta has a stable economy and a sound banking system.

l-orizzont says the MHRA and the Chamber of Commerce have again warned the government over the consequences of the high utility rates.

The overseas press

EU Observer says EU foreign ministers have condemned the use of fake EU passports in an assassination in Dubai of Hamas commander Mahmoud al-Mabhouh last month – but stopped short of naming Israel as the prime suspect. They said the incident raises issues which were “profoundly disturbing”.

Al Jamahariya reports one of two Swiss businessmen who sought shelter at the Swiss embassy in Libya after being accused of immigration offences has surrendered. The man, Max Goeldi, faces four months in jail. A second man, Rachid Hamdani, who has been cleared, was to leave the country. The case against the two is widely thought to be retaliation for the arrest of one of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's sons in Geneva.

O Globo says tensions between the UK and Argentina have mounted as a British oil rig began drilling off the Falkland Islands. Argentina has formally objected to the move and tightened shipping regulations in the region.

The Washington Times reports President Obama has unveiled new plans to reform US healthcare and revive stalled legislation on the issue, aiming for bipartisan support. One of the key proposals gives the US government new power to block health insurers from imposing excessive premium increases. It is the first time that Mr Obama, who has made healthcare a key priority, has put forward proposals himself.

Deutsche Welle quotes the chairman of the German Bishops Conference, Archbishop Robert Zollitsch, saying he was "deeply shocked" by a child sex abuse scandal in Roman Catholic schools and asked the victims for forgiveness. Last month, an elite Jesuit school in Berlin admitted to systematic sexual abuse of its pupils by two priests during the 1970s and 80s, with some cases allegedly going back as far as the 1950s.

Börzen Zeitung says some 4,000 pilots working for Lufthansa will resume work today after their union agreed to suspend a four-day strike. Lufthansa had asked a Frankfurt labour court for an injunction against the strike. Representatives from the union and Lufthansa agreed to resume talks as they met before a judge Monday evening.

Meanwhile in the UK, The Daily Telegraph says the travel plans of hundreds of thousands of passengers have been thrown into chaos after British Airways crew voted to strike over pay and working conditions. The airline said the outcome of the ballot was "very disappointing".

Lima Post reports that at least 38 people have been killed and more than 50 others injured in a collision between two buses in Peru. The accident was a head-on crash on the Panamerican Highway, one of Peru's busiest main roads. The buses were carrying 80 and 70 passengers respectively.

Az-Zaman says an entire family of eight were slaughtered in a sectarian attack at their home outside Baghdad. Sunni militants were blamed for the murders. Some of the victims were beheaded, others shot.

According to USA Today, a 44-year-old woman of Maryland has been convicted of murdering two adopted daughters whose bodies she kept in a freezer, moving them from home to home. Renee Bowman, 44, was found guilty of two counts of first-degree murder and three of first-degree child abuse. The two bodies were found in a freezer in her home in Lusby in September 2008 after the third girl escaped.

Texas Globe reports that a comic featuring the first story about the Dark Knight could also be the first comic to sell for $1 million €735,000) at auction. Ed Jaster, of Heritage Auctions in Dallas, said the 27th edition of “Detective Comic”, published in May 1939, had already attracted a bid of more than $400,000 (€294,000). Action Comics No. 1 last year sold for $317,000 (€233,000).

Metro reports gap-year student Sarah Calascione is on her way back to London after surviving on a lifeboat for almost two days in the open sea off the coast of Brazil. The 19-year-old was one of 41 students – including two other British girls - whose ship capsized in strong winds and then sank in the Atlantic last Wednesday, leaving the passengers and their 23 crew scrambling for rubber dinghies.

Khaleej Times says a fertility clinic in Dubai will next week dispose of about 5,000 human embryos on religious grounds. A 2008 federal law banned the storage of fertilised human eggs due to religion-based concerns over "mixing in the lineage" between families, the English-language. Islam calls for children to know the identity of their biological parents and to take their biological father's name.

The New Yorker reports that three New York policemen accused of sodomising a man inside a Brooklyn subway station have been found not guilty by a Brooklyn jury. Officer Richard Kern, 26, was accused of assaulting Michael Mineo with a retractable baton, while officers Andrew Morales, 27, and Alex Cruz, 28, were charged with covering up the attack in the Prospect Park subway station on October 15, 2008, after they caught Mr Mineo smoking marijuana.