The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press:
The Times says a rise in food prices in Malta was the second highest in the eurozone. It also reports an appeal by the Peace Lab for the Labour election candidates to commit themselves to safeguarding the constitutional provisions on neutrality.
The Malta Independent Malta says food prices rose 9.7 percent over a year, according to an EU report. It carries a front page picture of the bronze bust of Grand Master Nicolas Cottoner being returned to the top of Notre Dame Gate in Vittoriosa.
L-orizzont asks if there is a hidden plan to lead the public to admit the need to privatise parts of the dockyard. The questions were posed by the Campaign for National Independence.
In-Nazzjon says the government is investing in local training for doctors in an attempt to stem the brain drain. It also reports that Jason Micallef, the MLP general secretary, is refusing to comment on the MLP election defeat report.
The Press in Britain...
The London Evening Standard says Oxfam has called on world leaders attending the UN food summit in Rome, to draw up a global action plan to address the international food crisis. Its report reveals 290 million people are under threat by rising food price which are up by 83 percent compared to three years ago.
The Times also concentrates on the Rome emergency summit, reporting on a call by a top food adviser to lift an EU ban on animal remains being fed to pigs and chickens so that grain can be diverted to starving people. It also pictures President Mugabe and his men dining out in Rome.
The Guardian compares President Mugabe’s presence in Rome for the UN food conference to “inviting (former Cambodian dictator) Pol Pot to a human rights coinference”.
The Daily Mail focuses on the latest victim of knife crime, a 15-year-old girl who died yards from her front door in London as she returned from school.
The Record says children who boasted about their crimes on internet sites have been targeted in a massive police operation.
The Daily Telegraph quotes senior aviation industry figures warning that airline passengers face having to pay extra for everything – from luggage to meals on board.
The mental state of Paul Gascoigne is the Daily Star's front page story, revealing that he has been in a stupor for a month.
The Sun adds its own emotional plea for doctors to save Gazza.
And elsewhere...
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung quotes the president of the European Central Bank hailing the euro as “a remarkable success“. Jean-Claude Trichet was speaking at an event near the ECB's headquarters in Frankfurt to mark the 10th anniversary of its founding. The euro, now used by more than 320 million people, has become the world's second-most important currency.
Meanwhile, The International Herald Tribune says the Europe-wide tax cut proposed by France to combat soaring fuel prices received a cool reception from ministers from the 15 eurozone nations in Frankfurt for talks at the European Central Bank.
Pakistan’s The Times reports that a car bomb explosion in front of the Danish embassy in Islamabad has killed at least six people and injured around 30 others. Most of the dead are believed to have been Pakistanis. The attack is believed to be linked to the controversy surrounding caricatures of the prophet Mohammed. Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen has described the bombing as cowardly and said it would not change Danish policy.
Al-Hayat quotes the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency saying Damascus has agreed to allow its inspectors to travel to Syria to investigate allegations that the country is building a nuclear reactor.
The New York Times says the UN Security Council has unanimously adopted a resolution authorising foreign ships to enter Somali waters and take all necessary means to stop piracy and armed robbery
Washington Post reports Senator Edward Kennedy has had surgery to treat a cancerous brain tumour, and his doctor said the procedure “was successful and accomplished our goals”.
La Tribune de Genéve says six children were killed when a train slammed into a bus carrying schoolchildren at a railway crossing in the French Alps. Another 30 people were injured, three seriously. The bus was carrying 50 students on a field trip to the shores of Lake Geneva.