The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press.
Times of Malta reports that a boutique and spa will be developed instead of a proposed shooting range near Mt St Joseph. It also reports that the UN chief will be in Malta for CHOGM.
The Malta Independent quotes the prime minister saying there will be no surprises in the Budget.
In-Nazzjon reports that €160,235 were raised in a marathon for Net TV HD yesterday. It also says the Police Commissioner is to investigate how a businessman was arrested for a crime he did not commit.
l-orizzont reports how President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca told a conference on sustainable development at the United Nations that dignity, integrity and freedom should be the focus of activity.
The overseas press
ABC News reports Pope Francis has left Philadelphia and is headed back to Rome. In his final speech at the airport, he said he was leaving the US with “a heart full of gratitude and hope”.
La Vanguardia says separatist parties have won Catalonia’s regional election, which they say, gives them a mandate to seek independence from Spain.
Space.com reports Nasa is preparing to unveil a “major science finding” from its Mars exploration programme, amid speculation it could have found water flowing on the Red Planet. The space agency has scheduled a press conference 5.30 p.m. (Malta Time), in which it promises to announce a “Mars Mystery Solved”.
Ansa says Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi has advocated a common European asylum system as “the only solution possible” to Europe’s refugee crisis. Speaking at the United Nations on sustainable development goals, Renzi said he hoped the EU would agree on a “common European asylum system because this is the only solution possible”.
German President Joachim Gauck has distanced himself from the action taken by Chancellor Angela Merkel in accepting 800,000 migrants. According to Der Spiegel Gauck stressed that “the country’s capacity was limited” and called for a change in policy of welcoming migrants in future.
Blick reports Austria’s Freedom Party of has made striking gains in regional elections amid fears over the migrant crisis. The right-wing populists appeared to gain 31.4 per cent of the vote in the state of Upper Austria, the country’s industrial heartland.
Euronews says thousands of people in Poland took part in anti-immigration rallies, organised by the far-right, in several major cities including the capital, Warsaw. The protests were organised in response to a decision by Prime Minister Ewa Kopacz to accept 7,000 migrants.
Tribune de Genève quotes an International Organization for Migration report saying that over 3,000 people had drowned in the Mediterranean Sea since the beginning of the year. The number of migrants that attempted to cross the sea between the Middle East and Northern Africa and Europe on their own stood at some 505,000 by September 25 – twice as high as the number registered in the entire 2014.
New Zealand Herald quotes former justice minister Judith Collins saying singer Chris Brown was “just another wife-beater” and should not be allowed into New Zealand because of his fame and riches. She said allowing Brown in would cut across all the messages authorities were putting out to curb family violence. Brown was convicted of beating up ex-girlfriend