The following are the top stories on the Maltese and overseas newspapers:

The Times reports on growing opposition to the proposed EU ‘return directive' which provides for the extension of administrative or judicial detention of illegal immigrants to 18 months. Protests were held yesterday outside the European Parliament. The newspaper also reports the five arrests made after a drugs find in a Sta Venera apartment and the discovery yesterday of the corpse of a man at sea. He is believed to have been a migrant. The grim discovery was the second in 24 hours.

l-orizzont leads with reports of abusive applications by politically-connected architects for development on scheduled properties and criticism from various quarters over the government's decision to wind down the rebate scheme on power-efficient appliances.

In-Nazzjon says EU figures show Malta was the country which most kept prices stable in the EU over the past year. It also reports that Lufthansa Logistics, a subsidiary of Lufthansa Teknik, is to set up operations in Malta and take responsibility for the purchase of spare parts for use by its parent company. It will employ 50 people.

The Malta Independent highlights the arrival of more migrants yesterday and reports comments by Finance Minister Tonio Fenech that promised tax cuts have to be tailored to the current world economic scenario.

The Press in Britain

The Daily Mail leads with the death on Tuesday night of a barrister during a shoot-out with police in a smart area of Chelsea in London. The last poignant message of seige gunman Mark Saunders was that he loved his wife, fellow barrister Elizabeth Clarke, dearly.

The Mirror also features Saunders' death but leads on the first publicised comments from Josef Fritzl, the Austrian man who imprisoned and repeatedly raped his daughter in a cellar. His defence, it seems, is that he did not kill his daughter or her seven children he fathered.

The Guardian leads on expected comments from the Home Secretary Jacqui Smith later today that police should harass badly-behaved youths by filming them and making their lives as uncomfortable as possible.

The Daily Express leads with the forecast that domestic energy costs will soar by this coming winter: one expert says the typical annual household bill will be £1,300.

The Daily Telegraph claims that thousands of foreign workers are employed in high security jobs at Britain's airports without having passed proper criminal record checks.

The Times' main photo conveys the appalling impact of the cyclone which hit Burma and notes fears the death toll could hit 100,000.

The Independent leads on the amount of still edible food, thrown out by British households. It is estimated to be worth £10bn a year.

The Daily Star reports on the latest troubles of former England footballer Paul Gascoigne. The grim headline - "Gazza dead and gone for good" - comes from his stepdaughter Bianca who says his mind is tormented by demons.

And elsewhere...

The International Herald Tribune quotes a top US diplomat saying as many as 100,000 people may have died in the Burma cyclone and 95 percent of buildings in the affected area are demolished.

Moscow Times leads with the swearing-in of Dmitry Medvedev as the Russia's third president, promising to bring greater ‘civic and economic freedom' to Russians and to overcome the country's endemic corruption. He nominated his predecessor, former President Vladimir Putin, to become prime minister. The Russian parliament is expected to confirm Putin in the post in a vote today.

Corriere della Sera leads with the formation of the new Silvio Berlusconi' government - Italy's 62nd post-war government and his third - following the centre right alliance's victory in last month's general elections. The government will be sworn in this afternoon, but must still be approved by parliament, where Berlusconi's centre-right enjoys a comfortable majority. Berlusconi's list of ministers include the European Union's current top security official, Franco Frattini, as foreign minister as well as Giulio Tremonti who is to return to the post of economy minister, which he held in Berlusconi's last government from 2001 to 2006.

The Irish Times leads with the formal election later today of outgoing finance minister Brian Cowen as prime minister Cowen would be the 12th head of government since the foundation of the State, in succession to Bertie Ahern, who resigned after 11 years in office.

Washington Post reveals Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama will focus more attention on November's general election fight with John McCain. The Illinois senator beat rival Hillary Clinton by 14 points in North Carolina and lost by just two points in Indiana. Mr Obama's strategist David Axelrod said Republican Mr McCain had been able to "run free" because of the prolonged battle for the Democratic nomination.

Meanwhile, The Washington Times says Hillary Clinton has loaned her presidential campaign US$6.4m (€4m) over the past month. The money more than doubles Mrs Clinton's personal investment in her bid for the Democratic nomination. She gave her campaign US$5m (€3.2m) earlier this year.

European Voice says the EU executive has delayed a decision on allowing farmers to grow more genetically modified crops. The delay for two strains of genetically modified maize and one of potato comes amid mounting pressure from the United States, Argentina and Canada for Europe to open up to GM crops. The EU has not approved any GM crops for growing since 1998 because of deep divisions within the bloc over their safety.

Slovak Spectator leads with the decision of the European Commission and the European Central Bank that Slovakia can adopt the euro next year, even if Bratislava was warned of concerns that inflation may rise more than the euro average in the future due to tight labour market restrictions and surging energy prices. The European Commission will ask EU finance ministers and EU leaders to approve Slovakia's membership in June, making the country the 16th "euro" nation.

Bild reports that a 22-year-old German woman was jailed for nine years after she was convicted of killing her three newborn babies by stuffing them into plastic bags. The woman had claimed the three babies, each having a different father, were born dead - a boy in 2002 and two girls in 2004 and 2005. The bodies of the babies were found in cartons in the garage of her parents' former house in the town of Thoerey, in the eastern state of Thuringia, in January last year.

Lisbon's Diario de Noticias reveals that Alipio Ribeiro, the head of the police force probing the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, has resigned and will be replaced by Almeida Rodrigues. Mr Ribeiro has come under fire for his handling of the McCann case in the past and was reported as saying the naming of Gerry and Kate McCann as official suspects may have been hasty.

Ohio's The Times-Reporter says police are investigating a video showing about a dozen officers beating three suspects pulled from a car during a routine traffic check in Philadelphia. The footage was filmed by a TV station's helicopter crew. Meanwhile, the Irish News reports that the Eire's police commissioner has apologised after detectives were found to have faked evidence, made wrongful arrests and mistreated detainees.