The following are the top stories in the Maltese and international press:
The Times leads with a parliamentary Social Affairs Committee recommendation for gaming arcades to be closed if they allow unlicensed gambling. It also reports the fatal shooting of at least 15 pupils in a school in Germany yesterday.
The Malta Independent leads with a rare bomb threat in the law court in Gozo. Gozo does not have a bomb disosal unit. It also says that Malta intends going ahead with the Spring hunting season but the EU is expected to refer to the European Court to again stop hunting. In a third story the newspaper looks into GDP figures issued yesterday and says Malta is in recession.
In-Nazzjon says the EU decision to allow Malta not to charge VAT on food and medicines was broadly welcomed.
l-orizzont's focus is on yesterday's debate in parliament on the utility tariffs, saying a call for the tariffs to be repealed was ignored by the government. The debate started on Tuesday. It also reports MUMN President Paul Pace saying there is a plan byt he governemnt and the UHM to distract the people.
The Press in Britain
The Independent reports that an Afghan journalist sentenced to death for blasphemy, for downloading an article on women's rights, has been told he will spend 20 years in jail.
The Times reports the Taliban commander responsible for sophisticated bomb attacks on British soldiers in Afghanistan is a former detainee of Guantanamo Bay released from prison in Kabul last year by President Karzai's government.
The Daily Mirror reports how a teacher was killed as she shielded her students from a gunman who shot 15 people dead in Germany.
The Guardian has a picture of the German gunman but leads with the news that security forces on both sides of the Irish border have been hunting for a bomb after intelligence reports that the Real IRA had smuggled a large device into Northern Ireland.
The Daily Record says thousands took to the streets to protest at the return of terrorism to Northern Ireland. A peace rally in Belfast was told that the gunmen who shot dead two soldiers and a police officer have committed crimes against humanity,
After a protest at a soldiers' parade, the Daily Mail reports how a preacher has mocked the victims of friendly fire, insulting the war dead.
The Daily Express denounces the Muslim protesters who call British troops cowards.
The Daily Star declares Britain is standing firms against Muslim extremists.
The Daily Telegraph suggests that patients will face significantly longer waiting times for operations because European rules will slash doctors' hours.
The Scotsman reports that an innovative scheme to get new medicines to patients under cut- price deals and money-back offers from drug companies is set to win approval.
The Financial Times says Chancellor Alistair Darling has given a clear sign that he would not mount a big new fiscal boost in next month's budget.
The Sun reports Jade Goody has gone home to die, clinging to her husband Jack’s hand, saving strength for the last precious moments with her sons.
And elsewhere…
Newspapers throughout Germany express shock and horror after a 17-year-old gunman shot dead 16 pupils, staff and bystanders at a German school before apparently turning his pistol on himself. The gunman, a former student of the school, appeared specifically to have targeted girls.
Le Monde leads with President Sarkozy’s plans to bring France back into NATO's integrated military command, more than 40 years after former President Charles de Gaulle withdrew the country from the alliance's inner circle.
L’Osservatore Romano says Pope Benedict has issued a letter to Church leaders admitting mishandling of the case of Holocaust-denying Bishop Richard Williamson. The Pope also called for unity, in a letter described as "anguished".
El Pais says Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero has led parliamentarians in a minute's silence, to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the Madrid train bombings, which killed 191 people and injured nearly 2,000 others.
Al-Zaman reports that two relatives of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein have been sentenced to death for their roles in the killings of 42 merchants in 1992 accused of breaching state price controls Former deputy prime minister Tariq Aziz was also sentenced in connection with the event, but received a jail term. He faces further, unrelated charges.
Pakistan Times quotes former Pakistan prime minister Nawaz Sharif warning that the country was moving towards a state of political crisis. He defied a government ban on protests and held a massive rally in Abbottabad where he urged people to come forward and save the country from further turmoil.
Berliner-Zeitung says the German cabinet has approved plans to introduce limitations on the wages and bonuses paid to corporate executives.
Forbes reveals that the global economic downturn has hit the highest earners with the number of billionaires dropping by almost a third, from 1,125 in 2008 to 793 this year. Nine in 10 billionaires lost money over the past 12 months, with the average hit being 23 per cent of total wealth. Britons Sir Richard Branson and Sir Philip Green both saw their fortunes slashed while two-thirds of Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich's fortune was wiped out. Bill Gates has regained his position as the world's richest man, with a personal fortune of $40 billion (€31.2 billion).