The following are the top stories in the local and international press today:
The Times says the audit officer's inquiry has damned DCC board A of the Planning Authority over the Mistra outline permit for an open air disco. It also reports that an EU survey has shown that the Maltese are the most satisfied with care of the elderly
In-Nazzjon says the Labour parliamentary group and the party executive are to hold what is expected to be a heated meeting today, the first following the general election. The Cabinet held its first meeting yesterday, when it discussed the government's programme for the next five years. The newspaper also reports that George Abela, who is expected to bid for the MLP leadership, put the GWU before the MLP as the priorities of his life in a TV interview.
l-orizzont says pressure is being brought to bear on Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando to resign following more revalations on the planned Mistra disco.
The Malta Independent leads with the first Cabinet meeting and the Mepa Audit officer's report.
The Press in Britain...
Money problems of a different scale dominate the day's papers. On the one hand, there's continuing concern in the world's money markets over the credit crunch. On the other there's discontent following the McCartney-Mills' £24.3m divorce settlement.
As billions are wiped off shares and the value of sterling plummets, The Daily Telegraph says that the present financial crisis is the worst for decades. It also carries a picture of Heather Mills ranting after a £24 million divorce payout.
"Dash for cash as banks feel squeeze" cries The Times. Apart from a least flattering shot of Heather Mills after the case against the former Beatle, the paper also shows two pictures of McCartney's lawyer, seemingly before and after an incident involving a glass of water in court.
The Daily Mirror uses a pun as its headline: "Wet it be" - in reference to the incident in which Heather chucked water over Macca's lawyer.
The Daily Mail divides its front page in two: it calculates that Heather got £700 for every day of her marriage to Sir Paul (...and she's still moaning) and the asks how bad will the global financial crisis get, pointing out that yesterday was one of the worst days in economic history.
The Guardian notes economic worries have driven Labour to a 24-year low as Torys fly 13 percent ahead and were winning the fight for financial trust. The paper also reports that Heather Mills said she was happy with the deal... even though her picture on the front page is far from convincing!
The Herald has the thumbs-up from Heather Mills but leads with the fact that £51bn were yesterday wiped from Britain's shares after a grim day of trading.
The Independent appears to be one of the few national newspapers without the divorce case on its front page - but there's no getting away from the general concern about financial problems worldwide as it claims that "Fear Stalks Bear Market".
The Financial Times also ignores the Mills-McCartney divorce settlement. It's far more concerned at global efforts to shore up investors' confidence in "the scramble to calm markets".
The Metro claims the Budget increases in booze means that a line of cocaine is now around the same price as a pint of beer!
And elsewhere...
Frankfurter Allgemeine reports Europe's main stock markets were all down sharply in yesterday's trading as fears spread about stability in global financial markets. Bank shares posted large losses after the US investment bank JPMorgan Chase offered to buy its rival Bear Stearns for less than 10 percent of what it was worth last Friday. The unease in securities is pushing up commodities and pressuring the dollar. Gold is trading at record levels, far above the 1,000 dollar mark. The euro reached an all-time high against the greenback in Asia at one dollar fifty-nine cents.
The Wall Street Journal quotes President Bush's assurance that his administration is on top of the situation in dealing with the slumping economy after supporting the Federal Reserve's cut in its emergency lending rate to financial institutions from 3.50 to 3.25 percent.
China Daily quotes government officials saying the country would fight if necessary to protect its territorial right over Tibet after a Monday midnight deadline for anti-Chinese protesters to turn themselves in passed without any apparent surrenders. Meanwhile, European Voice says the EU is urging China to consider the damage the Tibet crackdown is doing to its image as host of the Bejing Olympics Games.
Pristina's Ilaria Post reports NATO has said it will respond firmly to any further unrest in Kosovo and urged all parties to exercise restraint. Clashes between UN police and Serbs in the northern divided town of Mitrovica yesterday left more than 100 people injured, including 33 international security force members. NATO troops moved into to assist UN police who came under attack as they stormed a UN-run court building occupied by Serbs who are opposed to Kosovo's independence.
Bild Zeitung reports from Jerusalem that German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert have held their first-ever joint cabinet meeting between the two states, marking the start of a new phase in relations between the two countries. Earlier, Merkel and seven of her ministers visited the Yad Vashem memorial in Jerusalem. Merkel wraps up her three-day visit to Israel today with an historic address to the Israeli parliament, the first ever by a German chancellor.
Gazeta E Tirana leads with the resignation of the Albanian Defense Minister Fatmir Mediu after a series of explosions at a weapons depot killed at least 15 people and injured nearly 300 at the weekend. More than 120 people are still reported missing. Mediu is the leader of the Republican Party, which is part of Prime Minister Sali Berisha's governing conservative coalition.
Al-Ahrar says that at least 43 people have been killed when a female suicide bomber blew herself up amid a group of Shia worshippers near a mosque in Iraq. Dozens more were injured in the blast in the city of Karbala.
New York Times reports that rescuers have pulled three more bodies from the rubble at the site of a crane crash in New York, raising the death toll to seven. The crane crashed down in an area of Manhattan on Saturday, injuring dozens and damaging six buildings.