The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press:
The Times reports that the Italian Constitutional court has struck a law granting immunity to Prime Minister Berlusconi. The prime minister said he woudl nto resign. The newspaper also reports MEP Simon Busuttil saying it should be mandatory for EU member states to accept migrants.
The Malta Independent carries a picture of a French ship which is in Malta to start a voyage of cultural dialogue in the Mediterranean. It also reports Finance Minister Tonio Fenech saying there was more that the banks could do to help their clients in current tough times.
l-orizzont says Infrastructure Minister Austin Gatt is in panic over revelations over how the contract for the power station extension was awarded. He has ordered full-page adverts on the issue. It also reports that there are two burglaries on elderly people every day.
In-Nazzjon says Alfred Grixti has been sidelined in the PL but has shown an interest in standing for general secretary. It also reports that 800 new trading licences were issued this year, a figure which the Finance Minister said reflected confidence in the economy.
The Press in Britain...
The Guardian says Royal Mail has lost its £25-million-contract with Amazon, its second largest customer, as strikes threaten parcel deliveries in the pre-Christmas period.
Union sources have told The Daily Telegraph there was strong support among Royal Mail workers for a national postal strike.
According to The Independent, David Cameron will set out "an optimistic vision of the nation's future" in his speech to the Tory party conference, declaring he is ready to be prime minister even if he would be tested by the economic crisis.
A poll for the Metro suggests a quarter of "young urbanites" have still not decided who they will vote for in the next election.
The Financial Times says the Lloyds banking group has begun sounding out investors about a £15-billion-rights issue.
The Daily Express leads with a warning by a top cancer professor that anti-ageing creams could increase the risk of the disease.
The Daily Mirror reports police are searching for a drug dealer's estimated £300-million-fortune after he was convicted of plotting to flood Jersey with cannabis.
The Sun says Robbie Williams has admitted bingeing on prescription drugs and being just "24 hours away from dying".
The Daily Star leads with a story about Katie Price, the model previously known as Jordan, who the paper says lashed out at photographers during a shopping trip.
And elsewhere...
Radio Pacific reports a tsunami warning covering 11 nations and territories, issued after two powerful earthquakes rocked the South Pacific near the Vanuatu archipelago, has been cancelled. The quakes registered magnitudes of 7.8 and the 7.3. Residents were evacuated from beaches on Tuvalu, New Caledonia and Fiji.
Corriere della Sera says the Italian Constitutional Court has paved the way for Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi to be prosecuted for corruption by throwing out a law which protected him while in office. After the ruling, Berlusconi accused the court of being "a political organ" and vowed he would continue to "govern for five years with or without the law".
EU Observer says the European Commission has warned nine member nations for flouting the bloc's Stability and Growth Pact which requires them to keep budget deficits under three percent of gross domestic product. It began a budget scrutiny process against Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia and Slovenia. According to the Commission, 20 of the bloc's 27 members would break that limit this year. Last July, Brussels launched action against Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland and Romania following earlier procedures against France, Greece, Ireland and Spain.
De Standaard quotes Czech Prime Minister Jan Fischer saying the Lisbon Treaty is being "fast-tracked" through the Czech constitutional court to end the uncertainty over its future.
Berliner Zeitung says police have searched some 25 buildings in Berlin as part of an investigation into alleged Islamic extremists, confiscating computers and data carriers. Authorities suspect a group in the city is plotting attacks in Russia. No arrests have been as yet been made.
New Straits Times quotes Malaysian apposition leader Anwar Ibrahim offering some insight for the US on dealing with the Muslim world: "Do not label all Islamics as extreme". Speaking in Washington, he said the US should highlight successes, fund education, and not fear openly debating radicals.
Al Ahram says Egypt has cut all cooperation with France's Louvre Museum until it secures the return of five "stolen" Pharaonic relics in the latest row involving the exhibits of a major European institution. In France, Le Monde quotes Culture Minister Frederic Mitterrand saying they were ready to return the relics to Egypt if they were indeed stolen.
Asia Observer says three children - aged eight, six and three - have died in Malaysia after being stung by hornets while walking with their mother.
Al Arabiya says a Russian MiG-23 fighter jet, on a demonstration flight at an air show, has crashed into a house in a suburb of the Libyan capital Tripoli, killing its two-man crew and injuring several people on the ground. There was no immediate word on the cause of the accident.
Gulf News reports that a Saudi court has sentenced a man to five years in prison and 1,000 lashes for boasting about his premarital sexual conquests on a TV talk show.