The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press today:
The Times says nurses are planning tough industrial action over failure by the Treasury to issue an agreed increase to their allowance on time. The action is expected to affect all government hospitals. It also reports that Malta is under added pressure from the EU to protect Ta' Cenc. In another story it says Bank of Valletta is replacing a number of Visa credit cards as a precautionary measure because of possible fraud.
The Malta Independent quotes the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association saying there were still healthy bookings from the UK despite the weakness of Sterling and adverse comments in a section of the British press claiming that prices in Malta had soared by 10 percent.
Maltatoday Weekly says Labour leadership hopeful Joseph Muscat has promised discussion on divorce laws.
l-orizzont says Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando is to lead a government delegation for a Council of Europe meeting is Stresbourg. It also reports on MLP preparations for its leadership election. It also reports that Louis Galea is on pole position to be appointed Speaker and may be appointed President after a year, with Helen D'Amato taking the Chair.
In-Nazzjon says George Abela is to be allowed to contest the MLP leadership election, after there were fears he would be declared ineligible because he is not a delegate to the general conference.
The Press in Britain...
The Daily Telegraph reports that house prices could fall in Britain by as much as 10 percent in the coming year.
The Times follows the same story, saying the Bank of England is under intense pressure to cut interest rates again after house prices fell by the biggest margin since the early 1990s crash.
The Daily Mail agrees action is needed, claiming millions of homeowners and savers are being short-changed as banks fail to pass on the benefits of interest rate cuts.
The Sun reports that Karen Matthews, the mother of Shannon, has been charged on two counts connected with her daughter's disappearance: child neglect and perverting the course of justice.
The Daily Mirror also leads with the charging of Shannon Matthews' mum. Her nine-year-old daughter disappeared from Dewsbury and was discovered in the base of a bed at an address a mile from her home after a 24-day search.
The Daily Star reports on the request from the Portuguese investigators for Madeleine McCann's parents to return to the country for a reconstruction of May 3, 2007, the night the three-year-old disappeared.
According to the Guardian, the UN's top humanitarian official has warned that rising food prices could spark worldwide unrest and threaten political stability. The paper reports that it follows two days of rioting in Egypt over the doubling of prices of basic foods in a year and protest in other parts of the world.
The Independent reports that all four major candidates in London's mayoral election are due to join religious and business leaders in proposing a radical solution for illegal immigrants.
The Evening Standard reports that Mohamed al Fayed has abandoned his 10-year legal quest to prove his claims that Diana, Princess of Wales and his son Dodi Fayed were murdered. The Harrods owner said he was doing so for the sake of her sons, Princes William and Harry.
And elsewhere...
Washington Post reports that the top US commander in Iraq has told Congress he plans to stop US troop withdrawals in July due to fragile security gains. In a war update that drew scrutiny from US presidential candidates, General David Petraeus said there has been an improvement in security in parts of Iraq but that the situation remains unsatisfactory.
The San Francisco Chronicle says the Olympic torch has arrived in San Francisco for its only North American stop amid heavy security. The flame arrived a day after protests on the Golden Gate Bridge and was immediately whisked away to a secret location. Hundreds of protesters later gathered to call on China to cease its heavy-handed rule of Tibet.
Al Jamahariya leads with the news that Libya has freed 90 members of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, an Islamist group that Al-Qaeda hailed as a new affiliate last November. According to the Kadhafi Foundation, dialogue with leaders of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group resulted in the release of 90 members, one third of the membership of this group.
Al Ahram says Egyptian police have detained independent election monitors and barred rights groups from voting stations during local elections on Tuesday.
The East African reports Kenya's opposition has suspended talks with President Mwai Kibaki's party. Police fired tear gas to scatter opposition supporters protesting against the deepening deadlock over a power-sharing cabinet. Kibaki and rival Raila Odinga traded blame over who was responsible for the deadlock. Britain, the United States, the World Bank and the United Nations said genuine power sharing was required to restore Kenyans' faith in the government.
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung says German police are looking for thieves who stole a mile and a half of the central reservation from a busy motorway. The thieves made off with more than 20 tonnes of the metal strips from the A6 motorway in Vierheim, near Frankfurt after spending hours dismantling the 500 four metre strips of metal. Repair work is likely to mean long delays on the route and cost more than 20 times the value of the scrap they stole.