The following are the leading stories in the Maltese and international press.
The local press is dominated by the storm which lashed Malta yesterday. The Times carries a large, dramatic, front page picture of a car swamped by a huge wave under the Valletta bastions.
l-orizzont says the storm caused a ‘destructive spectacle’. It reports how three yachtsmen were rescued off a yacht in distress off Malta. The paper also gives extensive coverage to the first session of the MLP general conference.
In-Nazzjon leads with yesterday’s press conference by Malta International Airport, which has reported strong growth in passenger traffic. It also carries a picture from the semi-finals of the Malta Song For Europe contest.
The Malta Independent also reports the storm and the MIA press conference on its front page, along with a picture of Archbishop Mgr Paul Cremona, a year after his Episcopal ordination.
The press in Britain
The top story in the Financial Times is that of the French rogue trader, 31-year-old Jérôme Kerviel, who lost his bank, Société Générale, a massive €4.9bn. France's second-biggest bank has asked for the Kerviel to be prosecuted for using banking records he had falsified, and computer fraud. It said he acted alone, using knowledge gained from working in a previous position.
The Independent also leads with the story and has a profile of the trader, who had been dealing in futures contracts linked to European indices - effectively betting on share movements.Kerviel also makes the top story in The Guardian, which reports that rumours of the French bank's attempt to clear the damage were at the heart of the stockmarket turmoil. Shares in Société Générale - founded 140 years ago - were initially suspended and have fallen 6 percent after trading resumed.
The Telegraph says that Kerviel is on the run but its lead story focuses on Gordon Brown's fightback that was brought to a halt when Peter Hain resigned from the Cabinet to clear his name in the controversy over donations.
The Scotsman also reports on a bad day at the office for Gordon Brown, who saw the resignation of Hain and suffered a climbdown over capital-gains tax.
The Times also reports on Labour's funding scandal which saw police launch an investigation into Peter Hain hours after he quit the Cabinet.
Reporting that crime by migrants soared by 530 per cent, the Daily Express claims gangs of Romanians are behind a "£1 billion crime wave sweeping Britain". Its report comes after police smashed an Eastern European gang that trafficked children from Romania and used them as pickpockets and thieves in London's West End.
The Daily Mail also leads with news of the dawn raids made by police in a crackdown on a "Fagin-style crime ring" involving Romanian children smuggled into Britain. Eleven children and teenagers have been taken into care and 25 people arrested.
The Daily Star claims to have tracked down the man in the recent sketch of a possible abductor of Madeleine McCann - a penniless pig farmer. It claims that when they tracked him down at his crumbling farmhouse three miles from the Portuguese resort, he unleashed a pack of ferocious dogs, then he emerged with a rifle, screaming threats that he would open fire.
And elsewhere…
Corriere della Sera says Italian President Giorgio Napolitano is expected to decide today whether to call early elections or appoint an interim government following Prime Minister Romano Prodi’s resignation after losing a confidence vote in the Senate. The result was 156 votes for the centre-left government, 161 against and one abstention.
Strasbourg’s Dernières Nouvelles says the Council of Europe, the EU's rights watchdog, has urged the United Nations and the European Union to overhaul procedures to blacklist individuals and groups suspected of having links to terrorism. Lawmakers from 47 European nations said the terrorist blacklists violate fundamental rights. Around 370 people and 130 groups or organizations are currently on the UN's blacklist. The EU lists 60 people or groups.
Nairobi’s The Nation leads with the meeting between Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga for the first time since last month's disputed elections. The two men smiled and shook hands for the cameras but just hours later, Odinga's party accused President Kibaki of seeking to use the meeting to legitimise his presidency.
Jerusalem Post reports Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert will meet with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday to discuss the current crisis in the Gaza Strip. Thousands of Gaza residents continue to cross into Egypt to buy essential supplies, which became scarce after Israel imposed a blockade on the territory in response to militant rocket attacks.
Turkey’s Chumhuriyet reports that a police officer and four al-Qaida militants have been killed in raids launched by Turkish police on two safe houses in southern Turkey. At least four other officers were wounded and 19 suspects were detained. Variety reports troubled singer Amy Winehouse has been admitted to rehab in her battle against drug addiction. She decided to enter the facility after talks with her record label, family and doctors. A morning sickness drug that caused deformities in babies is being approved for use to treat bone cancer.
The British Medical Journal reports that the European Medicines Agency is recommending thalidomide for the treatment of multiple myeloma, a rare bone-marrow cancer. It said the benefits of thalidomide in combination with other drugs outweighed its risks for treating patients who cannot receive high-dose chemotherapy.