The following are the top stories in national newspapers today.

Times of Malta says official figures show that sheer loneliness is driving thousands of people to call an emergency support hotline “just to have someone to talk to”. In another story, it quotes documents tabled in Parliament in which Education Minister Evarist Bartolo told the outgoing CEO of the Foundation for Tomorrow’s Schools last April that nobody had immunity or was untouchable.

Malta Today says the Foundation for Tomorrow’s School tenderer had told Mr Bartolo of “defective” procurement system.

In-Nazzjon says the Prime Minister is saying he did not know when he learnt about the alleged corruption involving the minister.

The Malta Independent says the Maltese government will be meeting with Skanska, the company which was entrusted with building and providing a seismic design of Mater Dei Hospital which ended in a controversial political storm earlier this year following the revelation by government that sections of the concrete pillars at Mater Dei are allegedly defective.

L-Orizzont says that two JobsPlus inspectors close to the Nationalist Party are being investigated on claims by Economy Minister Chris Cardona that they visited a Swieqi shop owner who had told Nationalist Party leader Simon Busuttil to "stop being so negative".

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