The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press.
The Times carries a full front page picture and says Labour achieved a crushing victory in the European Parliament elections. In the inside pages it carries an analysis of the voting pattern in the various districts.
The Malta Independent says Labour won an absolute majority.
MaltaToday says Muscat trounced GonziPN.
Illum says 35,000 votes separated the PL from the PN.
l-orizzont carries a picture and heading over the front and back pages saying the PL had won a big victory and Gonzi and the government had lost the people’s confidence.
In-Nazzjon quotes the Prime Minister saying the government would be sensitive to the people and responsive to the country’s needs. It also reports that the European Popular Party remained the biggest party in the European Parliament.
The Press in Britain
The Daily Telegraph says Gordon Brown is on a knife edge as he faces a showdown with backbenchers today after disaster in the European elections piles on the pressure.
Under the heading “Euro trashed”, the Daily Mirror says Mr Brown is braced for a humiliating defeat in the Brussels vote.
The Times claims Labour is out for the count as the UKIP is placed to come second after the Conservatives.
The Daily Mail focuses back to Westminster and the plots to oust Mr Brown.
And according to The Guardian, it’s now judgement day for the Prime Minister.
The Daily Star says he is already doomed as 70 MPs plan a rebellion.
The Daily Express concentrates on the soaring price of petrol, set to become £1.15 a litre.
Metro has a special report on young children being smuggled into the country to work in illegal drugs factories.
And elsewhere…
EU Observer notes that across the EU voter turnout hit a historic low of 43 per cent. Turnout in the last EU elections in 2004 was 45.4 per cent.
The Irish Times says Ireland’s ruling centre-left party Fianna Fail looks set to lose one seat to the anti-Lisbon Treaty group.
In Spain, El Pais reports that the conservative People’s Party won 43 per cent of the vote against 40.5 per cent for the Socialist Party. This means that the conservatives will send 24 MEPs to the EU parliament and the socialists will send 22.
According to Corriere della Sera, early exit polls show that Berlusconi has won between 39 per cent and 43 per cent of the vote against between 27per cent and 31 per cent for the socialists.
Le Parisien says that whilst other national governments reel from a drubbing in the polls, Nicolas Sarkozy and his ruling UMP – Union for a Popular Movement – have triumphed, winning 28.3 per cent of the vote.
Berliner Morgenpost reports that in Germany, the Christian Democrats and the Bavarian Christian Democrats are celebrating having jointly won 38 per cent maintaining their leading role in Brussels.
De Telegraaf says the Dutch Animals Protection party won 3.5 per cent of the Dutch vote meaning that they maintain their 2 seats at the EU Parliament.
Kurrier reports that the Austrian liberal and Euro-sceptic party “Liste Martin” have improved their performance, picking up an extra 4 per cent of the vote to win a total of 18.2 per cent.
Aftonbladet announces that the Swedish Pirate’s Party has won 7.4 per cent of the vote meaning they will have a seat in the EU parliament. The party aims to legalise internet downloading.
In other news…
O Globo announces that four more bodies have been found in the sea near the spot where an Air France jet is believed to have crashed a week ago, bringing the total number of bodies plucked from the water to six.
Az-Zaman says a Palestinian woman could face the death penalty after prosecutors charged her with spying for Israel.
Expreso quotes Peru’s defence minister raising to 34, including 23 police officers, the number of people killed over the weekend in an explosion of violence between Indians and security forces in the country's northern Amazon.
El Universal says 15 gunmen and a Mexican soldier have been killed in a two-hour shoot-out in the heart of Acapulco’s hotel zone.
The People’sDaily reports that rescuers blasted through mud and debris today to try and reach 27 miners trapped after a massive landslide buried an iron ore plant and several homes in south-western China, leaving 26 people dead and dozens missing.
Dawn says Islamabad is on high alert after a deadly suicide blast killed two policemen, as clashes break out in the northwest between Taliban fighters and angry vigilantes.
Times of India reports at least 24 people were feared dead after a bus they were travelling in skidded off a road and plunged into a fast-flowing river in Indian Kashmir today, police says.
Jerusalem Post says Isreali police fired water cannons at ultra-Orthodox Jews who threw stones in protest against the opening of a public parking lot.
Pravda quotes Russian President Dmitry Medvedev urging countries to switch to non-food sources of biofuel to prevent the spread of hunger in a world where every sixth person is malnourished.