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

The Times says this has been a horrible summer for language schools. It also gives prominence to the relegation of former champions Marsaxlokk to Division One after a football corruption investigation.

The Malta Independent looks into Festa Bnadar and says the festival may involve costs to the government which has to pay workers to raise flags at government departments. It also says a tree bearing the shape of a crucifix, on the Rabat Road, may be dead.

In-Nazzjon also features the Marsaxlokk corruption case. It also reports on a San Lawrenz council scheme which sees 80% of households having solar heaters.

l-orizzont leads with a report that says that children's personalities suffer when they live outside the family environment, particularly in their early years. It also says workers are being deceived to join unions other than the GWU.

The press in Britain...

According to the Daily Express, Britain will soon be forced to accept an extra 30,000 refugees every year as part of a new EU regulation.

The Daily Telegraph claims SAS soldiers are to train Libyan special forces despite the country having armed the IRA.

Climate change and the first commercial navigation of the fabled Northeast Passage feature on The Independent's front page.

The Guardian reports on last Friday's NATO airstrike that killed dozens of people in Afghanistan.

The Sun claims the same council that failed Baby P sent a foster child to live with the leader of the liquid bomb plot.

FT Weekend says a row broke out after a report into the collapse of MG Rover criticised the £42 million in financial rewards extracted by the so-called "Phoenix Four" directors.

The Daily Mail is demanding government action against what it calls 'the menace of cowboy wheel clampers who milk £1 billion a year from drivers".

The Times reports students are facing a new academic year without funding as the student loans company is in crisis.

The Scotsman says a middle-aged man has become the first person in Scotland to die from swine flu without having an underlying medical condition.

The Daily Mirror reports that Katie Price, aka Jordan, pleaded with her husband to take her back - just two weeks before they divorced.

And the Daily Star claims the glamour girl is in hiding after she was spat at and abused by a furious former fan.

And elsewhere...

Most of the world media lead with the commemoration marking the eighth anniversary of the September 11 atrocities with a call from President Barack Obama to find "common purpose". Vowing to never falter in the pursuit of al-Qaida and its allies, President placed a wreath at the Pentagon in memory of the victims of "the day that changed the world".

Al-Quds Al-Arabi reports that two rockets have been fired from Lebanon into Israel, prompting Israel to respond and fire at least two rockets back. No deaths of injuries were reported in the exchange - the latest in persisting tensions between the two arch enemies.

De Morgen says the EU has reaffirmed its sanctions policy over Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe ahead of a landmark visit by EU diplomats to the crisis-ridden country.

Asia Observer says former Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian and his wife Wu Shu-chen were sentenced to life imprisonment after being found guilty of embezzling millions from a special presidential fund, receiving bribes in connection with a government land deal, laundering some of the money through Swiss bank accounts, and forging documents. They were also fined a total of 500 million Taiwan dollars (€10.4 million).

Clarin quotes Argentine President Cristina Fernandez proposing to decriminalise libel and slander as a way of "guaranteeing even more" freedom of expression in Argentina.

Meanwhile, Le Soir reports that EU broadcasters have criticized a €1.7 billion-fine imposed by Turkey's tax authority on the country's largest media group, saying Ankara is trying to muzzle media critical of the government.

Afghan Times says the chief challenger to President Hamid Karzai, former Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah, has called for a full investigation into hundreds of reports of fraud in the country's presidential election.

Los Angeles Times reports a multimillion dollar collection of Andy Warhol paintings has been stolen from a home in Los Angeles.

USA Today reports that the world's oldest known person has died in Los Angeles at the age of 115. Gertrude Baines was born in 1894 in Shellman, Georgia.

Globe and Mail reports that South Africa has reacted angrily to a report that tests on its world champion runner Caster Semenya had found she was a hermaphrodite. Athletics' governing body declined to confirm the report in The Daily Telegraph which said the 18-year-old runner had both male and female sexual characteristics. The IAAF said medical experts were examining the results of gender tests on Semenya, who won the women's 800 metres at last month's World Championships in Berlin. No decision would be taken until late November.

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