The following are the top stories in the local and international press today.
The Times leads with a story on the 57 Eritreans who were yesterday escorted to Lampedusa. In another, it reports on the death of Desmond Vella.
The Malta Independent reports on the intervention by Malta’s Home Affairs Ministry Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici together with that of his foreign counterpart Franco Frattini on an Italian radio programme. It also reports on a raid at an animal farm yesterday morning.
The Malta Today says that the police replied to violence accusations by accusing the victims. It also has a story on the Lockerbie issue.
l-Orizzont says that companies interested in the public transport tender ar being investigated. In another story it says that space is a problem for the Delimara power station.
In-Nazzjon also reports about Dr Mifsud Bonnici’s intervention on the Italian radio programme. In another story it says that Alberta has won a big contract in Qatar.
The Press in Britain…
The Guardian says President Obama is on the brink of a deal between Israel and the Palestinians to resume Middle East peace talks. Its second lead focuses on Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s first public statement on the return of the Lockerbie bomber to Libya, condemning the hero's welcome given to Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi in Tripoli and insisting the British Government had "no role" in the decision to free him.
As unemployment in the US is to surpass the 10 per cent mark and the economy is to shrink by 2.8 per cent, the Financial Times reports on the White House issuing a warning about the levels of US debt.
The Daily Mail claims 4,000 mothers have been forced to give birth in hospital corridors, lifts and toilets because of bed shortages.
The Daily Express has the scandal of the two million people who have apparently never worked in their lives.
The Times warns that millions of public sector workers will have their pensions slashed.
The Daily Telegraph says customers are being overcharged £100 a year by energy companies.
Metro says a director at one of the country's biggest accountancy firms swindled his employer out of more than £500,000 to fund his wife's £15,000-a-month lifestyle.
The Daily Mirror quotes La Toya Jackson longing for someone to face trial over her brother Michael's death.
The Daily Star quotes Katie Price, aka Jordan, claim that former partner Pete has gone insane.
And The Sun claims Jordan has a Brazilian toyboy.
The Independent says new 800m world champion athlete Caster Semenya, whose victory has been overshadowed by questions over her gender, is back in South Africa to fresh controversy over levels of testosterone in her body three times higher than normal for women.
And elsewhere…
More than half the fatalities from swine flu have been among young adults (20-to-49 year-olds) and only 12 per cent of those who died were 60 or older, Le Parisien says.
The Jerusalem Post reports that in talks with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown in London, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu provided more details of his "three-track approach" to Middle East peace.
The Irish Times reports Amnesty International Ireland has made fresh calls for Prime Minister Brian Cowen to investigate claims Irish airspace and Shannon Airport were used for US rendition flights.
Afghan Times says that with votes of 10 per cent of polling stations counted, President Hamid Karzai and top challenger Abdullah Abdullah both have roughly 40 per cent of the nationwide vote for president.
Times of Central Asia reports five car bombs that detonated simultaneously rocked Afghanistan’s largest southern city Kandahar, killing at least 36 people in the blast and wounding more than 50.
Meanwhile, Agence France-Presse reports that at 295, the number of foreign soldiers killed in Afghanistan this year has already surpassed last year's toll, making 2009 the deadliest year for foreign troops since their 2001 arrival.
As a massive wildfire raging for two days near Athens is contained Greek newspapers say the government had learned nothing from the 2007 wildfires and had failed to improve fire protection measures and equipment.
Times of India reports that one man was killed and two policemen injured after a terrorist suspect opened fire at a railway station in the state of Punjab in north India.
New Straits Times says Malaysia’s prime minister has urged a woman scheduled to be caned for drinking beer to appeal against the sentence.
Los Angeles Times reports US singer Chris Brown has been sentenced to probation and community work for beating his former girlfriend pop star Rihanna.