Local and international press digest

The following are the top stories in the Maltese and the international press today.

The Times gives prominence to the Prime Minister's flying visit to Geneva yesterday, where he signed a research cooperation agreement with CERN, the European nuclear research organisation. On the back page it reports on the Juve players' visit to children's wards.

L-orizzont says Malta could become one of the most expensive European resorts. It makes a comparison of wine prices here and abroad. It also reports an MUT press conference where the teachers' union insisted that agreement had been reached with the management of the Institute for Tourism Studies on a new collective agreement. The Ministry of Education has denied the MUT claim. The stalemate is over teachers' contact hours, which the ministry says should not be reduced.

In-Nazzjon leads with the Prime Minister's flying visit to Geneva yesterday, where he signed a research cooperation agreement with CERN, the European nuclear research organisation. The newspaper also says that the GRTU has belied Labour press claims that there are widespread price rises as a result of euro adoption.

The Malta Independent also leads with the PM's CERN talks and the MUT press conference. On the back page it reports the government's announcement that it will subsidise broadband internet for residences which currently do not have Internet access.

The Press in Britain...

The Times reports that as the UK government has called for tenders to build 10 new nuclear plants, French, German and British energy companies are vying for the £36bn contracts. The plants will provide a significant part of Britain's energy beyond 2020.

The Metro also leads on the nuclear story quoting critics, including Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace, saying nuclear power remains dangerous and should give way to renewables such as wind and solar power.

The Independent devotes its whole front page to the development by Indian automaker Tata Motors of the world's cheapest car, which costs €1,700. But it ponders the damage to the environment caused by millions of new road users.

The Telegraph reports hundreds of adults and children need hospital treatment every week after taking cannabis.

The Express says MPs will dodge a new bin tax which could cost families £1,000 a year.

The Mirror leads on the horrific death of baby Rhianna Hardie, who suffered 95 percent burns when she was covered in boiling water in an explosion of a faulty boiler.

and elswhere...

Jerusalem Post notes that on the second day of his Middle East tour, President Bush hardened his tone towards Israel, using language that few US leaders use. He urged the Israelis to end the occupation of the West Bank, pushing for a peace treaty to be signed within a year to create a Palestinian state. After meetings with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah, Bush also called on Palestinians to rein in militants, saying any peace deal with Israel would have to ensure a secure Jewish state.

Le Figaro quotes President Sarkozy saying European defence will be a priority when France takes over the EU presidency in July. Mr Sarkozy said Europe is not making all the efforts needed to protect Europeans, adding that France "could not be satisfied with this situation".

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung says the European Central Bank has left its main interest rate unchanged at 4 percent. Last year inflation in the 15-nation eurozone reached 2.5 percent, above the ECB's target of two percent. At yesterday's ECB meeting in Frankfurt, the bank's council was expanded to 21 members to include Malta and Cyprus, which joined the eurozone at the New Year.

Caracas' El Nacional reports two high-profile woman hostages, former congresswoman Consuelo Gonzalez and Clara Rojas, have arrived in Venezuela after being freed by Marxist rebels in Colombia. Gonzalez and Rojas, who had been in captivity for the past six years, appealed to President Chavez to help to free some 40 other hostages still in rebel hands, including presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt.

Teheran Times reports the arrival in the Iranian capital of UN's atomic watchdog chief Mohamed El-Baradei to discuss outstanding issues about Iran's nuclear ambitions.

Nairobi's Daily Nation says Ghanaian President and African Union chief John Kufour has left Kenya after his mediation efforts in the presidential election dispute failed

Wellington's Dominion Post announces the death of Sir Edmund Hillary, the first climber known to conquer Mt. Everest. The 88-year-old mountaineer passed away in his native New Zealand on Friday. Together with Nepalese Sherpa Tenzing Norgay, Hillary became a mountain climbing legend after ascending the world's highest peak in 1953.

Philadelphia Enquirer reports a man who mailed a cow's head to his wife's lover has been sentenced to two years' probation and 50 hours of community service. Authorities in Lower Pottsgrove, northwest of Philadelphia, charged Jason Michael Fife with stalking, terrorist threats, disorderly conduct and harassment after he allegedly sent threatening messages and pictures to the victim, apart from the package containing a cow's head with a puncture wound in its skull. Fife and his wife, who have a young child, later reconciled.