Press digest

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

The Times highlights an EU proposal for uniformity of cross-border divorce laws and says that Malta is actively considering the EU initiative as long as it does not bring divorce to Malta. It also says loose rubble contributed to the collapse of a quarry wall bordering a school at Mqabba.

The Malta Independent says that Operation Top Kill to stop a leaking oil well in the US has failed. It also highlights comments by the Prime Minister that Malta has managed over the years, to achieve what many thought to be impossible.

In-Nazzjon's front page concentrates on a PN conference held over the weekend and says the future is not shaped only by politicians. It also says an East Midlands low coast airline, BMI Baby, is starting flights to Malta.

l-orizzont says the European Commission has contradicted Education Minister Dolores Cristina on funding for EU programmes. The newspaper points out that last year the minister had boasted of Malta's efficiency in administering EU funds.

The overseas press

The Washington Post leads with White House energy adviser Carol Browner saying the BP oil spill could continue to leak into the Gulf of Mexico until August, adding that the situation would not improve until relief wells were completed.

Meanwhile, Los Angeles Times quotes BP saying a relief well is the "end point" of efforts to stop the spill. Its latest plan is to use robots to place a cap over the leak and capture most of the oil on the sea floor then channel it to the surface.

El Tiempo says former Colombian Defence Minister Juan Manuel Santos has won the first round of the country's presidential election with 47 per cent of the vote. His main rival, Antanas Mockus of the Green Party, achieved 21 per cent.

Cesky Noviny reports that Czech centre-right parties have began talks on forming a coalition government, after their surprising success in the polls this weekend. They have promised severe budget cuts to trim the country's growing deficit.

The Daily Telegraph claims Danny Alexander, who was appointed British Chief Treasury Secretary on Saturday after the resignation of fellow Liberal Democrat David Laws, used a legal loophole to avoid paying capital gains tax. The paper says he designated the property as his second home for the purpose of claiming parliamentary expenses but described it to internal revenue as his main home.

According to the Toronto Star, Brig-Gen Daniel Ménard,the Canadian commander who was due to lead the forthcoming Kandahar offensive, has been fired following "inappropriate conduct" allegedly having an affair with a woman on his staff. He was ordered to leave Afghanistan immediately. The female soldier could also face disciplinary action.

The Irish Independent quotes opposition party Fine Gael spokesman saying households could save up to €400 a year if government-controlled prices were brought in line with the rest of the economy.

El Periódico reports a powerful tropical storm in Central America has claimed at least 73 lives in floods and mudslides. The worst-hit country was Guatemala, where officials say at least 63 people died. Nine were killed in El Salvador and at least one in Honduras. Storm Agatha swept in from the Pacific Ocean on Saturday, bringing torrential rains that added to disruption caused by a volcano erupting in Guatemala.

Al Quds al Arabi says a flotilla of ships sailing towards Gaza with aid is expected to reach its destination later today. However, Israel says it would stop the boats, calling the campaign a "provocation intended to delegitimise Israel". The Palestinian territory has been under an Israeli and Egyptian economic blockade for almost three years, with only limited humanitarian aid allowed.

Kathemerini reports another Danish pharmaceutical company, Leo Pharma, has joined Novo Nordisk in withdrawing products from Greece in protest at the government's decision to cut the prices of medicines by 25 per cent. The Greek government, struggling with a debt crisis, believes the Danish companies are blackmailing Athens because they monopolise the market with certain key drugs.

Gazeta Ankara says Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has cancelled his Argentina trip. The announcement came after city officials in Buenos Aires called off an event inaugurating a monument to the revered founder of modern Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.

Hopes of a breakthrough in breast cancer treatment have been raised following spectacular test results of a new vaccine. Research being published in the June 10 issue of Nature Medicine magazine shows that single doses of the drug on mice showed "overwhelmingly favourable results", preventing cancers from forming and also stopping existing tumours from growing. Human tests of the vaccine could begin as early as next year.

Variety says that in the latest attempt to fight digital piracy, producers of The Hurt Locker are suing 5,000 people who allegedly downloaded copies of the Oscar-winning film from the internet. The film won six Oscars, including Best Picture, but earned only $16.4 million at the US box office, making it one of the least commercially successful winners of the top prize in the modern era. Anyone downloaded it will have to pay $1,500 to be released from their liability and up to $150,000 if the case goes to court.