The following are the top stories in the local and foreign press.
The Times says Maltapost shares were sold out without hours of being issued. It also reports GWU pre-election proposals including a call by the union for the government to have a five year plan.
L-orizzont says the GWU has made serious and concrete proposals to the political parties for the general elections. Union general secretary Tony Zarb said there was a need to rebuild public confidence in politicians and in public governance. The newspaper also reports a noisy protest by Nadur residents outside the Gozo Curia following the transfer of a priest from Nadur to Kercem.
In-Nazzjon says airport passenger movements rose by over 19 percent in the first two weeks of this year. It also says a man, 32, was jailed for stealing from 16 churches over a number of years.
The Malta Independent says 93 percent of the people now have euro in their wallets, according to a report by the NECC.
Maltatoday says the election is likely to be held in May, not March.
The Press in Britain
The Daily Express says desperate residents in dozens of areas face a critical next 48 hours after a new wave of floods.
The Daily Mirror speculates that a little girl who has disappeared from a Spanish frontier town may have been taken by the same person(s) who took Madeleine McCann.
The Sun heralds a 'world exclusive'. The tabloid reveals an alleged suicide note from the singer Britney Spears, who has recently lost full custody of her two young children.
The Daily Telegraph says independent schools could be forced to open their doors to poor children to prevent them being run as 'exclusive clubs'. The Independent reports on the 'ultimate hypocrisy' of an American weapons deal signed hours before the bloodiest day of violence in Gaza, while President Bush continues a peace mission in the Middle East.
The Guardian says the BBC director general has warned the Government it will have to provide more money for public service broadcasting if it wanted the system to survive in the digital age.
The Metro warns that house prices are tumbling at a rate 'not seen since the market crashed in the early 1990s'.
The Times says Microsoft is developing Big Brother-style software capable of remotely monitoring a worker’s productivity, wellbeing and competence.
The Financial Times reports Citigroup and Merrill Lynch turned to foreign investors for a bail-out, saying they will raise £10.7bn in the wake of the subprime mortgage crisis.
And elsewhere…
Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney has won the Republican primary in Michigan. The International Herald Tribune reports that Romney, who is battling to save his White House campaign after taking some earlier losses, managed to beat his main challenger in Michigan Senator John McCain.
According to US Homeland Security head Michael Chertoff, one of the biggest threats to US security may now come from within Europe. In an interview on the BBC's World News America, Mr Chertoff said it was likely security checks on travellers from Europe would be increased. But he said steps would be taken to ensure travel and trade were not hit.
Asharq Al-Awsat, London’s Pan-Arab daily, says Israeli forces have raided the Gaza Strip, killing 18 Palestinians, including Hussam Zahar, the militant son of hardline Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar.
Italian newspapers lead with Pope Benedict’s cancellation of a planned visit to a Rome’s La Sapienza University. Il Tempo reports that this followed protests by professors and students over his alleged hostility to scientists' freedom of research. In their letter, physics professors had highlighted Benedict's defence, when he was still Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, of the Catholic Church's trial of great Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei.
The East African reports Kenya's opposition party has won a close victory in the first parliament session since the disputed re-election of President Mwai Kibaki last month. In a narrow vote the opposition candidate Kenneth Marende managed to gain the prestigious post of parliament Speaker. Calcium supplements may increase the risk of heart attacks among older women. Previous research has shown that calcium may protect against vascular disease by improving levels of good cholesterol in the blood. Auckland’s New Zealand Herald says researchers from the University of Auckland have found that the supplements could actually increase the chances of suffering an attack.