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

The Times says three migrants trying to escape Malta had carried fake passports which included the words issued by ‘The State of Sabotage' and the 'Government of World Citizens'.

The Malta Independent focuses on the increase in LPG gas prices and says that the GRTU had forecast the increase.

l-orizzont says Malta has, per capita, the fifth highest rate of H1N1, with 27 cases having been reported in one day. It also says the increase in LPG gas prices will have an impact on the economy.

In-Nazzjon asks why a development permit was issued in haste to Joseph Muscat in 1998. It also says a Nigerian man was kept in prison after being accused of planning to traffic cocaine.

The Press in Britain...

A leading energy economist tells The Independent that the world is heading for a catastrophic energy crunch that could cripple a global economic recovery because most of the major oil fields have passed their peak production.

The Daily Express says Britain's benefits system, amounting to £186 billion a year now eats up a quarter of all government spending.

The Guardian predicts Barclays and HSBC are expected to demonstrate it is "business as usual" again in the City by reporting bumper revenues in their investment banking divisions that could unleash big bonuses for top bankers.

The Daily Mail says bankers are set to pocket a record £4 billion in bonuses, less than a year after bringing the economy to the brink of meltdown.

The Financial Times reports Wall Street banks are reaping outsized profits by trading with the Federal Reserve, raising questions about whether the central bank is driving hard enough bargains in its dealings with private sector counterparties.

The Times says hospitals will receive less money for operations and treatments under Conservative plans to squeeze the NHS budget.

The Daily Telegraph reports more than 1,500 people have been wrongly branded as criminals or mistakenly given a clean record by the government agency set up to vet those working with children.

The Daily Mirror reveals what it calls are "the secrets of (Michael) Jackson's deathbed" but leads with Armed Forces Minister Bill Rammell admitting that Britain blundered in Afghanistan by underestimating the Taliban.

Metro claims drugs and alcohol are routinely being smuggled into Britain's biggest military base in Afghanistan.

And elsewhere...

Times of Central Asia quotes Kai Eide, the Norwegian diplomat who heads the United Nations mission to Afghanistan, calling for talks with Taliban leaders at the highest level.

The Washington Times says the Pentagon wants to build a new 30,000-pound bomb that is 10 times more powerful than its predecessor. Amid concerns over perceived nuclear threats from North Korea and Iran, the US Air Force said the non-nuclear, 30,000-pound Massive Ordnance Penetrator, which is still being tested, is designed to destroy deeply-buried bunkers beyond the reach of existing bombs.

The Washington Post reports that the remains of the first American lost in the Gulf War nearly two decades ago have been found buried in the desert in Iraq and positively identified. Navy Captain Michael "Scott" Speicher's disappearance had puzzled investigators since his fighter was shot down over the Iraq desert on the first night of the 1991 Gulf War.

El Pais says strong winds are fanning fierce forest fires for a second day on the Canary Island of La Palma while a fresh outbreak has been detected on nearby La Gomera island.

China Daily says a town in a Tibetan area in northwest China has been sealed off after two of its residents died from pneumonic plague. About a dozen people were infected with the highly contagious deadly lung disease.

USA Today reports a Wisconsin man, accused of killing his 11-year-old diabetic daughter by praying instead of seeking medical care, has been found guilty of second-degree reckless homicide. Prosecutors argued he should have rushed the girl to a hospital because she could not walk, talk, eat or drink.

Die Presse reports Austrian pianist Florian Birsak has played two recently-identified childhood compositions by the legendary composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in Salzburg. One is an extensive concerto movement and prelude probably created when Mozart was aged between seven and eight years old. Analyses confirmed that Mozart's father transcribed the pieces as his young son, not yet versed in musical notation, played them on the keyboard.

Der Spiegel reports that Pax Bank, a Roman Catholic bank in Germany, has apologised after admitting it bought stocks in defence, tobacco and birth control companies. The bank apologised for behaviour "not in keeping with ethical standards".