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

The Times says a Maltese-Arab woman, Sanaa El-Nahhal, resident in Malta, is collecting supplies and intends to go to Gaza in the next fortnight.

The Malta Independent says a government promise of January payment is little comfort to medicine importers. It also reports that bakers will meet the Finance Ministry today as efforts continue to stave off an increase in bread prices.

Malta Today Midweek says President Eddie Fenech Adami is pushing EU Commissioner Joe Borg to succeed him. It also reports that Israel has attacked a UN school in Gaza, killing 30.

l-orizzont says 83 claims for marriage annulment are pending in Gozo and the wait for decisions by the Church Tribunal is getting longer. It also features the situation in Gaza.

In-Nazzjon’s focus is on an article by Alfred Sant yesterday where he criticized the MLP election defeat report. It also says that a recruitment agency was also deceived in the fraud case involving a group of Maltese supposedly recruited to serve as crew on a cruise liner, only to find on going to France that it was a scam. The police are investigating possible white slavery.

The Press in Britain

The Sun claims businessman and Apprentice star Alan Sugar has become a target for Hamas terrorists.

The Financial Times says Chancellor Alistair Darling has been warned the recession will be even deeper and last longer than first feared.

The Times says thousands of people have been bankrupted by local authorities for failing to pay their council tax.

Metro reports an increasing numbers of workers are using the economic downturn as an excuse to report sick.

According to the Express, the British are not letting the credit crunch stand in the way of their summer holidays.

The Daily Mail refers to what it calls “the great light bulb revolt” and claims there is a stampede to buy traditional light bulbs as they are being phased out in favour of the low energy variety.

And elsewhere…

Arutz Sheva reports Israel will open a "humanitarian corridor" to allow more aid into Gaza as the UN Security Council meets on truce proposals and Egypt floats its own initiative.

The New York Times points out Israel had insisted it had allowed enough supplies into the territory during 11 days of conflict. However, the UN says there is already a humanitarian crisis there because of shortages of food, fuel and medicine.

Al-Quds Al-Arabi says international outrage grew over civilian deaths in Gaza after an Israeli bombardment killed at least 34 people, many of them children, near a UN school. Hundreds of Palestinians had sought safety at the school after fleeing from a refugee camp in the face of Israeli advances. The army declined to comment, but said Hamas often used schools, mosques and civilian areas for cover.

Al Jezeera reports Al-Qaeda's second-in-command has called on Muslims to strike Western and Israeli targets around the world in response to Israel's military offensive in the Gaza Strip. Ayman al-Zawahiri made the announcement in an audio tape posted on Islamist websites.

The International Herald Tribune quotes President Yushchenko of the Ukraine warning the EU that Russia may entirely cut off Russian natural gas shipments to Europe through Ukraine. The warning came as Russian gas giant, Gazprom, announced that Moscow was ready to resume gas talks with Ukraine on Thursday. The argument has pushed US crude oil prices up $1.50 to $50.33 a barrel, and British gas market prices up more than 10 per cent.

The Washington Times says that as the newly-elected Congress has convened, President-elect Barack Obama braced Americans for the unparallelled prospect of "trillion-dollar deficits for years to come".

Tribune de Geneve quotes the World Health Organisation saying Zimbabwe's cholera epidemic is widening. The Geneva-based body estimates that 1,700 people have died and more than 34,000 people are infected.

Pakistan Times says the country’s foreign ministry has rejected accusations by Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that the Mumbai terror attacks must have been backed by "official agencies" in Pakistan. The November attacks killed more than 170 people.

The People’s Daily reports police in central China have launched a huge manhunt for a suspected mass killer after finding eight bodies, including a two-year-old boy and his grandmother.

Women can stop worrying about pear-shaped figures – fat bottoms have been scientifically proven to be a sign of good health. New research, published in the journal Cell Metabolism, suggests the fat responsible for producing the pear shape may be active in protecting women from diseases by releasing certain hormones. People with the apple shape, where fat is stored around the tummy, can be more prone to type 2 diabetes and heart disease. Those with pear-shaped bodies, where fat is collected in the buttocks, are less likely to have these disorders. Researcher Dr Ronald Kahn insisted that not all fat was bad for health.

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