The following are the leading stories in Maltese and foreign newspapers.
The Times leads with news that the hunters' federation will be holding two pre-election mass meetings - one in Malta and another in Gozo - to inform hunters and their families about their latest position, particularly regarding the coming spring season.
The Malta Independent features a half-page picture of the eight-kilometre underground tunnel linking the Marsa distribution centre to the Delimara power station, quoting Enemalta chairman Alex Tranter describing it as the "central nervous system" of Malta's future electricity distribution system.
In-Nazzjon quotes NSO statistics which show that registered unemployed last month fell by 845 to 6,463. The number of those looking for work in 2007 was 640 less than that of 2006.
Il-Gens illum quotes analysts saying that the March 8 general election should be a quiet one after the 2003 one which hammered the country's political direction for a long time to come.
l-orizzont reports that the shortage of beds at Mater Dei Hospital resulted in men and women patients ending up in the same wards.
The Press in Britain
After Ipswich killer Steve Wright and the murderer of model Sally Anne Bowman were both jailed for life, police have called for a national DNA database.
The Telegraph says officers investigating Miss Bowman's murder said it would have led to Dixie's arrest within 24 hours. DNA also led Suffolk Police to Wright. However, the Home Office said there were no plans to make the existing DNA database compulsory for non-criminals.
In a twist to the tale, The Times reports the DNA profiles of more than half a million people could be wiped off the national database on privacy grounds.
'Your heart will go on' is the Daily Mirror's headline as Sally Anne Bowman's dad pays tribute to his teenage daughter.
And as Sally Anne Bowman's mother demands her 18-year-old daughter's killer be executed, The Sun asks whether Britian should bring back the death penalty.
The Daily Express refers to the Princess Diana inquest and challenges former royal butler Paul Burrell to tell the truth as he is ordered back to court to explain "discrepancies" between his comments to the jury and others attributed to him in The Sun, which claimed Mr Burrell held back certain facts and introduced "red herrings".
The Daily Mail says it is no wonder that Home Secretary Jack Straw is asking the courts to jail fewer criminals: for the first time, Britain's jails are full to capacity and there's "not one prison cell to spare". There are 82,068 inmates in England and Wales, almost 100 above the normal ceiling set by the Prison Service.
The Guardian reports the government wants all passengers travelling between EU countries to hand over their personal details to tighten security measures.
The Independent says a new crisis is emerging in Iraq after more than 10,000 Turkish troops launched an incursion into Kurdistan, threatening to destabiliuse the country's only peaseful region.
And elsewhere...
Moscow Times reports President Putin warning the West about the consequences of recognising Kosovo independence. The Russian president said the move will "come back to knock them on the head".
Washington Post says the US State Department has ordered non-essential diplomats and the families of all American personnel at the US embassy in Belgrade to leave Serbia. The move came as US diplomats across the Balkans went on alert amid fears of more anti-American violence after Serb rioters stormed the Belgrade embassy.
Chumhuriyet quotes the Turkish military saying five of its troops and 24 Kurdish rebels were killed during a ground offensive into northern Iraq and more rebels were killed by artillery and helicopter gunships.
Meanwhile, International Herald Tribune quotes United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urging Turkey to respect Iraq's border and called on the PKK to end its raids into the country. Chief EU diplomat Javier Solana called Turkey's action "not the best answer", adding that Iraq's territorial integrity was "very important"..
Christian Science Monitor reports Hillary Clinton has denied that comments at the end of her debate with rival Barack Obama marked the beginning of the end of her tilt at the White House. The Democratic debate last night between the two candidates was particularly important for Mrs Clinton going into March 4 primaries in Texas and Ohio, where polls show the two rivals in a tight race. The New York senator is in desperate need of a win after 11 consecutive losses sapped much of the momentum from her campaign and propelled Mr Obama into the lead in the delegate count.
Meanwhile, USA Today says the White House sided with Republican John McCain and accused The New York Times of repeatedly trying to "drop a bombshell" on Republican US presidential nominees to undermine their candidacies. The newspaper had drawn fire from Mr McCain and even some of his conservative critics for publishing a report yesterday suggesting that he had an improper relationship with a female lobbyist. Mr McCain said the report was not true.
Cuban leader Fidel Castro said he is relieved to be stepping down and will take a well-earned holiday. Writing again in the Communist Party organ Granma, just three days after announcing his retirement, Castro said that the "days of tension" before taking the decision "had left me exhausted."