The following are the leading stories in the Maltese and international press:
The Times reports a press conference by Environment Minister George Pullicino on amendments to the Development Planning Act to strengthen public participation in development planning. The amendments also give more importance to the role of NGOs.
l-orizzont says the PN election billboards have been copied from those used by French president Sarkozy. It also says the election writ is expected to be published on Friday.
The Malta Independent reports a press conference by Education Minister Louis Galea who said the MLP proposal to have a reception class before primary school would only be a needless repeated year for all children.
In-Nazzjon also leads with Dr Galea’s press conference. It also carries a statement by the National Statistics Office which showed 2007 to be a record year for tourist arrivals.
The Press in Britain….
Five men who staged Britain's biggest bank robbery have been convicted over the £53m raid on a Securitas depot in Kent almost two years ago. The gang kidnapped the depot manager, tied up 14 staff and threatened to kill them during the robbery. They are all due to be sentenced today. The police have described the heist as a crime of violence in which people's lives were put at risk.
Five newspapers lead with the story:
The Times claims almost £32m of their haul is now beyond the reach of the law in a fugitive's paradise in northern Cyprus.
The Metro prints a picture of a man and asks whether he was the one who fled with the millions still missing from their heist.Under the heading “Robbing Hoods”, the Sun says police have condemned the five armed robbers for their "pitiless thuggery" in pointing a gun at the heads of a young child and his terrified mother.
The Daily Mirror says the woman who helped put the raiders in jail is in hiding with a multi-million pound contract on her head. The Star also reports she is living in fear.
The Daily Telegraph is concerned Britain is in danger of becoming a "surveillance state", with 1,000 people a day being bugged.
The Daily Express says taxpayers are forking out £21m a year for the child benefit of 27,000 youngsters of Polish migrants still living in Poland.
The Financial Times says French investigators claim the Eurex derivatives exchange raised the alarm last year over trading by Jérôme Kerviel, at Société Générale. An investigating Fench judge has released the trader on bail under judicial supervision.
The Guardian says President Musharraf of Pakistan has argued that Islamist extremism is a home-grown problem for Britain rather than a Pakistani responsibility. He claimed Britain lacked a long-term counter-terrorism strategy.
The Independent carries “a chilling dispatch” on Kenya's slide towards civil war. At least 15 more people have been killed in ethnic clashes, pushing the death toll to 49 in the past 24 hours.
And elsewhere…
Acknowledging the United States were "undergoing a period of economic uncertainty", President Bush has sought to reassure the nation by saying Americans can be confident about their long-term economic future. US news organisations report that in his final ‘State of the Union address’, delivered early this morning (Malta time), the president said his troop "surge" in Iraq is succeeding after a long, costly war and that "al-Qaeda is on the run". He also called on Iran to cease its "support for terror abroad".
El Pais reports that a suspected mastermind of the 2004 Madrid train bombings, which killed nearly 200 people, has been arrested in Morocco. He is expected to go on trial in Rabat following the filing of a petition by a Spanish judge – the first time Morocco has agreed to arrest and try one of its own citizens for a crime carried in a foreign country.
European Voice reports EU foreign ministers, meeting in Brussels have invited Serbia to sign an interim political agreement. Many European diplomats believe signing at least an interim deal on trade would boost Serbia's pro-European President Boris Tadic in second round run-off of the presidential election next Sunday against nationalist challenger Tomislav Nikolic, a pro-Russian hardliner. The election is dominated by the future status of the Serbian province of Kosovo.
Il Tempo reveals allies of former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi have urged Italy's president to call snap elections. President Napolitano has been holding crisis talks since the resignation of left-leaning Prime Minister Romano Prodi last week. Berlusconi is due to meet Napolitano later today.
Ashar Al-Awsat reports Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has received European and Arab backing for taking control of Gaza's ruptured border with Egypt. The border was breached last week by Hamas militants in defiance of an Israeli blockade that was issued in response to rocket attacks from Gaza.
Vancouver Sun quotes Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper threatening to pull 2,500 troops out of Afghanistan early next year unless NATO partners deploy at least 1,000 additional troops to Afghanistan's embattled south. Harper said NATO's failure to station enough forces in Afghanistan was jeopardising the success of the military mission.