The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press:
The Times says overtime is safe as EU ministers agree on the Working Time directive. It also carries a picture of the rescue of a group of illegal immigrants including a mother and two children airlifted to hospital.
l-orizzont says Joseph Muscat has promised to seek out supporters who have moved away from the MLP, in an effort to get them back. It also reports that counterfeit items were found in four containers inspected by Customs at Malta Freeport. The items were being shipped to Morocco. In a third story the newspaper says the fishermen’s cooperatives are to meet the Prime Minister on Thursday to discuss rising diesel prices.
In-Nazzjon quotes NSO figures which show a record in the number of gainfully occupied persons.It also reports that the MLP machinery and Joseph Muscat are working for the election of Chris Cardona as deputy leader (parliamentary affairs) of the MLP.
The Malta Independent also reports on the agreement on the Working Time Directive. It also reports how Labour MP Anglu Farrugia has presented the police with a second report on voting irregularities during the general elections.
MaltaToday says Jason Micallef is being pressured to step down. It carries a picture of Archbishop Paul Cremona and Joseph Muscat during a meeting at a TV production house.
The Press in Britain...
President Bush has told the Times he “regrets his legacy as a man who wanted war” and that his aim now was to leave his successor a legacy of international diplomacy on Iran.
Meanwhile, German Chancellor Angela Merkel has told the Financial Times that Central Europe should devise new rules for financial markets because the Anglo-Saxon model of regulation has failed.
The Daily Express claims that petrol stations will run dry over the weekend because of a strike by tanker drivers.
The Guardian says the Prime Minister has urged motorists not to panic but leads with a story showing that a rise in poverty among children and pensioners means Britain is a more unequal country than when Labour came to power in 1997.
The Daily Telegraph reports that petrol sales have fallen by 20 percent because of record rises in the price of fuel. In a second lead, a poll for the paper shows that the public is in favour of plans to hold terror suspects for up to 42 days without charge.
The Independent says the head of the world's biggest energy firm has warned the price of oil will double.
The parents of a 22-year-old Daniel Gamble, one of the three British soldiers killed in Afghanistan, have backed the Daily Mirror's campaign for a new honour for troops who died in action.
The Sun claims the Royal Navy is under suspicion over the deaths of 26 dolphins off Falmouth. It was carrying out live firing exercises before a pod of dolphins beached themselves in apparent panic and died.
And elsewhere...
Berliner Morgenpost reports that the German and Finnish foreign ministers have called on the Irish electorate to vote "yes" in tomorrow’s referendum on the European Union's Treaty of Lisbon. At at joint news conference in Berlin they said that they both hoped for a positive result. The Irish are the only EU members to vote on the treaty.
Die Welt leads with President Bush’s arrival in Berlin on the second stage of what's probably his final tour of Europe before leaving office. He's scheduled to hold talks with Chancellor Angela Merkel. At a US-European Union summit in Slovenia, he and European leaders warned Iran they would add further sanctions if Iran does not abandon its nuclear ambitions.
Vienna’s Kurier says Saudi Arabia will host an OPEC meeting on June 22 to discuss record-high prices, possibly with energy ministers of consumer nations. Yesterday, crude traded around 133 dollars a barrel, down from last Friday's peak of 139 dollars.
Wall Street Journal quotes the World Bank forecasting economic slowdowns in industrial nations, coupled with soaring prices for energy and foodstuffs, will dent recent growth in developing countries this year, especially growth rates in Latin America and East Asia. Until recently, the World Bank had forecast that developing economies could escape the worst.
International Herald Tribune reports widespread protests by truckers against rising fuel prices. Two hauliers died in Spain and Portugal when they were struck by vehicles while manning pickets. There have also been protests in Indian Kashmir and Hong Kong and in Ireland, fishermen protesting soaring fuel costs have blockaded the entrance to Cork harbour.
Zimbabwe Independent says opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai has insisted that he will contest the presidential run-off election against Robert Mugabe despite mounting violence. Tsvangirai also dismissed talk of a unity government.
Al-Rayaam says a Sudanese airliner carrying more than 200 people caught fire while landing at Khartoum's international airport in bad weather. More than 100 passengers may have been killed, even if the official death toll stands at only 28. The authorities said that 123 people survived the fire and another 66 people were still unaccounted for.