The following are the leading stories in the Maltese and overseas press today:
The Times, like most of the other newspapers carries Silvio Berlusconi's election victory on the front page. It reports that a bid to stop the abortion debate in the Council of Europe was narrowly defeated.
In-Nazzjon says a man accused of the murder of local warden Fortunata Spiteri in Gozo has insisted he is innocent. The trial has been scheduled for October 6.
The Malta Independent leads with a large picture of Mr Berlusconi. It also asks if party members will be able to participate in the MLP leadership elections.
l-orizzont continues to follow the progress of young Jamie Zammit, who is suffering a blood condition.
The Press in Britain...
The Daily Mail leads with news that families 'already struggling to cope with the credit crunch' face huge increases in food bills 'because of global shortages'. Meat and dairy products have soared in price. It also carries a picture Greg and Louise Swann mourning for their daughter Indira, one of the gap-year victims of a bus crash in Ecuador.
The Daily Mirror prints an extract from a poignant last email from Indira to her grieving parents, received only hours after her death, saying, "Thanks for giving me the chance to do this and for giving me such a lovely home so nothing could stop me wanting to come back."
The Times reports that despite the tragedy, Mr and Mrs Swann have defended the benefit of student travel. The paper also reveals that Gordon Brown's Trade Minister has told businessmen he will resign before the next election because he is not prepared to support the Prime Minister publicly during the campaign.
The Daily Telegraph announces house prices are experiencing 'their most widespread decline' since records began because of the fallout from the credit crisis, according to a new report.
The Guardian's lead story also concerns the rapid fall in house prices - the fastest rate of decline since records began 30 years ago - as the mortgage lending freeze continues to undermine the housing market.
The Sun reports of a 'devastating new blow' for brave Ben McBean, who lost an arm and a leg in a Taliban mine blast. The Royal Marine, hailed a hero by Prince Harry whom he served alongside, has contracted MRSA.
The Independent takes the government to task for its decision to use more biofuel, when its production is 'devastating huge swathes of the world's environment'.
Metro reports that girls as young as 12 are being treated for sexually transmitted infections, with doctors blaming binge drinking. It pictures the youngest person in Britain to suffer liver failure after a 'three-day wine, spirits and cider bender'.
And elsewhere...
The media in Italy - and most of the European capitals - lead with Silvio Berlusconi's decisive victory in Italy's parliamentary elections to become prime minister of Italy for a third time. His centre-left rival, Walter Veltroni, conceded defeat and called Mr Berlusconi to congratulate him. Mr Berlusconi was projected to have won a 30-seat majority in the 315-seat Senate. In the lower house of parliament, Berlusconi's conservative bloc was leading by a margin of seven percentage points, or 46 percent of the vote to 39 percent. Mr Berlusconi said he was open to working with the opposition.
Washington Post says President Bush has ordered $200 million in emergency aid to help alleviate a global food crisis. It said the assistance would be made available through the US Agency for International Development. The move comes a day after the World Bank warned that a doubling of food prices over the past three years could push 100 million people in developing countries further into poverty.
Irish Times quotes German Chancellor Angela Merkel urging Irish voters to accept the Lisbon Treaty. On her first official visit to Ireland Ms Merkel told the National Forum On Europe that the proposed reforms would mean the European Union would continue to flourish. She said if ratified the Treaty would enable states to challenge major issues together with the weight of 500 million people behind them. Dr Merkel also maintained a Yes vote by the Irish in the June 12 referendum could bring peace and stability in Europe.
Zimbabwe Independent says the opposition has called for a general strike in protest at the continuing chaos over the country's delayed presidential election results. The Movement for Democratic Change failed in a legal attempt to force Robert Mugabe to reveal the results. The High Court rejected an application which would have forced the electoral commission to reveal the truth more than two weeks after the ballot.
According to a report on the official Iraqi TV network al-Iraqiya, a British photojournalist held in captivity in Basra for more than two months is celebrating after a dramatic rescue by Iraqi forces . Richard Butler was taken hostage by militia outside a hotel on February 10 while working as a cameraman and producer for CBS. He was found bound and hooded but apparently unharmed during a raid on a house in the Jibiliya area of the city.
A New York Post exclusive reports that an illicit copy of a 15-minute steamy film footage which shows Marilyn Monroe with an unidentified man was sold to a New York businessman for $1.5 million. The footage appears to have been shot in the 1950s. According to declassified agency documents and interviews, when it came to light in the mid-'60s, then-FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover had his agents spend two weeks futilely trying to prove that Monroe's sex partner was either John F. Kennedy or Robert F. Kennedy.