Press digest

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

The Times quotes the prime minister saying a longer spring hunting season is possible next year. It also reports that 13 CityGate shop tenants who were not given alternative premises, got a total of €1.7 million as compensation for moving out.

The Malta Independent says spring hunting rules will not be changed.

In-Nazzjon says there is a possibility of a three-week spring hunting season next year. In other stories, the newspaper says a number of Maltese will this week start training in Switzerland for work with SR Technics.

l-orizzont says hunters will boycott the limited spring hunting season. The newspaper also reports the story of a pensioner who was billed for specialised treatment which involved the rental of equipment from the private sector by Mater Dei Hospital.

The overseas press:

Warsaw Times reports tens of thousands of mourners lined the streets as the coffin bearing Polish President Lech Kaczynski arrived in Warsaw. The president's twin brother Jaroslaw, Poland's Acting President Bronislaw Komorowski and Prime Minister Donald Tusk met the coffin at Warsaw's military airport, where it was draped in the national flag. Also on the tarmac was Marta Kacyznski, the only child of the president and his wife, Maria, who also died in the crash.

In Moscow, Pravda quotes Russia's transport ministry saying Russian and Polish investigators had begun to decipher flight data recorders of the Soviet-built Tu-154 airliner that crashed on Saturday while trying to land in deep fog in Smolensk, killing all 96 people on board.

EU Observer reports Greece has been handed a financial lifeline by fellow eurozone governments. when they pledged to make 30 billion euro in loans available this year alone - if Athens asks for the money.

Magyar Post reports that Hungary's center-right opposition party, led by Victor Orban, has secured 206 of the 386 parliamentary seats. The ruling Socialists, headed by Prime Minister Gordon Bajnai, came a distant second, marginally ahead of the far-right Jobbik party.

The Washington Times quotes President Obama saying that if al-Qaida acquired nuclear weapons it "would have no compunction at using them". He was speaking on the eve of a summit of more than 40 world leaders in Washington aimed at finding ways to secure the world's nuclear stockpile.

Belfast Times reports a car bomb has exploded near an Army base in Holywood, County Down, forcing the evacuation of several homes. The blast came as policing and justice powers devolved from Westminster to Stormont.

Az-Zaman reports three schoolchildren have been killed and a fourth injured in a roadside bombing north of Baghdad in Iraq's Diyala province. The bomb went off as the children, aged between eight and 12, were heading to school.

Clarin says students in Argentina could be allowed to watch World Cup matches live while in the classroom in a measure aimed at cutting out truancy. Alberto Sileoni, the country's minister of education said the World Cup was a very important cultural event, a party and had a great educational interest. "Watching a match at school takes up two hours of class time. But if students stay at home that's six hours at least." Argentina start their World Cup group campaign against Nigeria on Saturday, June 12, a non-school day, but face South Korea on Thursday, June 17 and then Greece on Tuesday, June 22.