The following are the leading stories in the Maltese and overseas press:
The Times says regulations banning alcohol in the streets of Paceville are to be enforced. It also reports Russian advances into Georgia.
In-Nazzjon and l-orizzont both lead with the launching, yesterday, of the international call for the sale of Malta Shipyards. l-orizzont also carries Labour leader Joseph Muscat’s announcement that he will request a meeting of the party general conference to ring in changes in the party’s administrative structure.
The Malta Independent leads with the decision of the hunters’ federation to withdraw from the Ornis committee in protest over the Autumn hunting limits. On the dockyard, it says the new owners will not be obliged to retain the current workers.
The Press in Britain…
The Times leads with the conflict between Russia and Georgia with the paper reporting that the Georgian army "panicked" when it faced the Russians in the town of Gori and fled without firing a shot.
The conflict threatens to spill over into all-out war, according to the Guardian, which reports that many strategic towns have fallen to the Russians.
The Independent carries pictures of Georgian troops in Gori running for their lives as their colleagues are hit by rocket fire. The Daily Telegraph also reports how Russian troops "cut deep into Georgian territory".
According to the Daily Mail, Britain's "drunken and loutish behaviour" has sent the country's reputation abroad plunging to new depths.
The Daily Express reports that the cost of borrowing if finally falling as the housing market shows signs of recovery.
And elsewhere…
The New York Times reports Western diplomats have reached agreement on a draft resolution calling for an immediate truce in the conflict between Russia and Georgia. They have presented it to the full UN Security Council.
Meanwhile, Washington Post reports that President Bush has told Moscow that it must reverse its course in Georgia and withdraw its troops.
Le Monde quotes France's foreign minister Bernard Kouchner’s appeal to Moscow to sign a ceasefire agreement proposed by European envoys. France's president Nicholas Sarkozy will visit Russia and Georgia today.
China's Beijing Times reveals that part of the Olympic official opening ceremony was a computer animation. A series of giant footprints outlined in fireworks proceeded through the night sky from Tiananmen Square to the Bird's Nest stadium was a 3D graphics sequence that took almost a year to produce.
The Herald quotes Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe saying that power-sharing talks with the opposition had failed to make progress. However, after four hours of discussions, Mugabe said that he was hopeful the remaining points will be overcome. Thed talks continue today.
Islamabad’s Pakistan Observer says helicopter gunships killed about 50 Taleban militants near the Afghan border, taking the death toll to nearly 160 in five days of fighting.
Island Connections reports that the number of illegal immigrants travelling to the Canary Islands has increased sharply since last week’s coup in Mauritania. Spanish authorities intercepted 61 off Tenerife, bringing the total reaching the islands to 333 since Friday.
According to Serbia Post, riot police clashed with dozens of army reservists who tried to cross the border into Kosovo to protest over its independence.
Jerusalem Post says a West Bank radio station that sought to bring Israelis and Palestinians together with middle-of-the-road pop music has gone off the air because of lack of funding.
Le Parisien reports that the cash-strapped French National Front is to sell its headquarters, worth up to €20 million, to a Chinese university. In May, Jean-Marie Le Pen, the leader of the anti-immigrant party, sold his bullet-proof car.
The US journal Archives of Internal Medicine says runners have longer, healthier lives. According to researchers at the University of California, running can slow the effects of ageing and give older people a new lease of life.
New York Post says a man was freed after 18 years in jail for raping a 10-year-old girl after a lab re-examined his case and found his DNA did not match evidence.