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

The Times quotes the wife of George Scerri, the kidnapped Maltese oil worker, saying his Nigerian kidnappers are demanding €5.5m for his release. The paper also reports the government’s plan to introduce heavier penalties for the illegal manufacture and storage of fireworks. According to Home Affairs Minister Carm Mifsud Bonnici this is a first step towards a zero tolerance approach he is pledging to adopt.

The Malta Independent also leads with the proposed changes to the fireworks regulations, saying that the Bill also introduces a new crime relating to the causing of death or grievous injury: a person can be found guilty without the prosecution having to prove a person’s negligence.

l-orizzont also features the new amendments to the Fireworks Ordinance but leads the story of an Egyptian sailor, abandoned in Malta for the past 14 months, who lacks money, food and medicine.

In-Nazzjon devotes the whole of its front page to the Nationalist Party general council meeting, quoting outgoing General Secretary Joe Saliba insisting on the need for the party to renew itself continuously. Deputy Leader Tonio Borg criticised Opposition leader Alfred Sant for trying to blame his party’s electoral defeat on everyone except himself.

The Press in Britain...

The Daily Mail reports Soham killer Ian Huntley is receiving preferential treatment in prison to 'keep his spirits up' after attempting suicide three times.

The Daily Express says official plans to allow Muslim clerics into classrooms to address pupils have been condemned.

The Daily Telegraph claims shops are starting their summer sales a month early, offering big discounts in a bid to defeat the financial crisis.

The Scotsman alleges a rising number of foreign fruit pickers in Scotland are being exploited by employers providing poor working and living conditions.

The Daily Mirror says the mother who reported her two sons to the police for a vicious attack has won the backing of the nation.

The Independent's front page is dominated by a report showing how the oil crisis is affecting countries around the world.

The Sun carries an exclusive story of a British holidaymaker who has won £4,000 in compensation because his hotel was full of Germans.

And elsewhere...

European Voice reports that inflation in the 15-member eurozone has jumped to 3.6 per cent in May from 3.3 percent in April, becasue of soaring food and oil prices. Observers said it's unlikely that the European Central Bank will cut interest rates at next week's monthly meeting for fear of driving inflation further.

International Herald Tribune says fishermen across Europe protested over fast rising fuel prices. Spain, home of Europe's largest fishing fleet, was the focus of Friday's stoppages. Similar strike actions have also taken place in Portugal and Italy. The European Commission has said it is willing to show more flexibility towards assistance for the fishing industry, but EU Fisheries Commissioner Joe Borg stressed that fuel subsidies were not a solution for the industry.

Il Mattino quotes Italy's Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi saying he planned to call in the army to face protests and help run trash centres, during the crisis facing Naples. Trash has been piling up on city streets after all dumps were declared full.

According to Tribune de Genève, the WHO has called for a ban on all tobacco advertising to protect young people from taking up smoking. It said tobacco companies were successfully targeting young people in increasingly sophisticated marketing campaigns – in fashion magazines, films, web-sites, concerts and sporting events – sending out a false allure, associating cigarettes with “glamour, energy and sex appeal.”

General Anzeiger reports that a UN conference on biodiversity has yielded a package of measures to safeguard wildlife and threatened ecosystems. The 191 nations attending the Convention on Biodiversity in Bonn endorsed the creation of the first-ever deep sea nature preserve, the expansion of protected land areas and global standards for developing biofuels. However, environmental said the outcome fell far short of what was needed to protect the planet's ecosystems.

Asian Tribune says the UN has criticised Burma's military regime for evicting cyclone survivors from refugee camps, saying it was unacceptable to relocate destitute people back to their places of origin without adequate support. The regime said it was moving the victims of this month's Cyclone Nargis, for fear that the refugee camps might become permanent.

Zimbabwe Independent quotes opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai saying the resource rich nation had become an embarrassment to Africa. In a self-styled state of the nation address to lawmakers from his Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party, Tsvangirai also vowed there would be no amnesty for perpetrators of political violence if he wins a run-off election due in four weeks.In turn, President Mugabe accused the MDC of "terrorising" his supporters.

Sydney Morning Herald reports the world's football associations have endorsed FIFA president Joseph Blatter's proposal to limit the number of foreign players on club teams. At FIFA's congress in Sydney, the associations voted for the 6+5 proposal that would ensure at least six home-grown players and no more than five foreigners are in a club's starting side. The world football governing body faces difficulties from the European Union, however, which forced football to end all foreign-player restrictions in 1995.