The following are the top stories in the Maltese and international press:
The Times leads with the AFM decision to call off the search for Theo Bugeja, two weeks after the reported sinking of the fishing boat Simshar. It also quotes army officers saying that the boat did not send automatic Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) signals except once.
It reports the second meeting on the privatisation of Malta Shipyards between the government and the GWU. The union was presented with early retirement schemes and asked to give its reaction to them.
In another story, The Times reports concern over air pollution expressed in the latest MEPA state of the environment indicators.
In-Nazzjon leads with yesterday’s meeting between the Prime Minister and the MCESD and says the council is satisfied with the level of consultation with the government. It also reports the government-GWU meeting on the dockyard, and the decision to stop the search for young Theo.
l-orizzont also leads with the Simshar tragedy and how the boat did not send VMS signals except once, when requested. On the dockyard meeting, it says the GWU is seeking genuine discussion.
The Malta Independent says the MEPA state of the environment indicators showed high levels of nitrates in groundwater. It also reports the collision between two cruise liners in Piraeus yesterday. One of the liners was registered in Malta. Damage was minor.
The Press in Britain…
Four newspapes – Metro, The Sun, the Daily Mirror and The Daily Express – lead with the story of a 31-yar-old doctor, Catherine Mullany, who died of her injuries after she was shot on the last day of her honeymoon in Antigua. Her husband Benjamin suffered life-threatening injuries after being shot in the neck during an apparent robbery at the newlyweds' hotel.
The Daily Telegraph says new crime maps giving street-by-street details of offences committed across England and Wales are to be published on the internet.
The Guardian reports that the Ministry of Justice will unveil new proposals that will allow people who kill their partners after years of abuse to use a new defence that they have acted in response to "extreme words and conduct".
The Daily Mail also reports on the murder law shake-up, saying that women who kill abusive partners could escape a murder charge if they can prove they feared future violence.
The Times focuses on the murder law overhaul, saying the traditional "crime of passion" is to be swept away. The front page carries a photograph of the pier at Weston-super-Mare, which was destroyed by fire yesterday.
The Independent focuses on so-called wonder drugs that have saved millions of people from heart disease and may also halve the rate of dementia in people at high risk.
And elsewhere…
La Tribune de Genéve reports that nine European Union countries have called on the EU's chief trade negotiator, Peter Mandelson, to take a firmer line in world trade talks to protect the continent's farmers. The move comes after both French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi slammed a proposed deal at WTO talks in Geneva as insufficient and asking too much of Europe.
Kyiv Post says storms and floods in western Ukraine and neighbouring Romania have killed 26 people and forced tens of thousands to flee their homes.
According to South Africa’s Globe and Mail, power sharing talks between Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF party and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change are deadlocked.
USA Today reports US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has met with her Chinese counterpart, Yang Jiechi, ahead of next month's Olympics in Beijing. The United States has urged China against using security concerns in the run-up to the Olympics as a pretext for pressuring political dissidents
Christian Science Monitor says Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama turned his attention to the troubled US economy today after he surged to his largest ever lead over his Republican rival John McCain following his high-profile overseas tour.
Serbia Post reports hard-line supporters of Radovan Karadzic are threatening to bring violent chaos to Belgrade with a huge rally in his support.
Az-Zaman reports that at least 57 people have been killed and scores injured in bomb blasts which targeted a Shia pilgrimage in Baghdad
Milliyet reports that confusion surrounds the identity of bombers who killed 17 people in two blasts in Istanbul, with no militant group claiming responsibility.
Al Jazeera reports that an al-Qaida commander who escaped from a US prison in Afghanistan has urgied Muslims to kill the Saudi king for leading an inter-faith conference in Madrid earlier this month
Sydney Morning Herald says a Qantas flight has been forced to make an emergency landing in Adelaide after a door on the plane opened mid-flight. No one was hurt. It comes after another Qantas plane flying from Heathrow was forced to land in Manila after a hole appeared in the fuselage.
French first lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy says her husband was not upset when he learned of all the nude photos she did during her modelling days. Bruni-Sarkozy told Vanity Fair magazine that she gathered up her past nude shots to show President Nicolas Sarkozy early in their relationship, telling him: “You must know that this is going to come out.” “He said, ’Oh, I like this one! Can I have a print of it?”’ Bruni-Sarkozy told the magazine, which released an advanced copy of the interview yesterday.