The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press:
The Times says the EU Commissioner for Competition Affairs is to visit Malta to look into the shipyards privatisation process. The EU is concerned that the proposed write-off of dockyard debts amounts to state aid and violates EU laws. There is also come concern over the early retirement schemes. The newspaper also reports that a Eurobarometer survey found that Maltese youths feel there is easy access to drugs.
MaltaToday says the Office of the Prime Minister has backtracked on an ultimatum given to Victor Galea, the secretary of Alternativa Demokratika to choose between his teaching job and his political position.
l-orizzont highlights a legal battle by two foreign gaming operators based in Malta, which has made it to the specialised media. It says the corpse of a Birkirkara woman found in the sea off Dingli Cliffs appeared to have signs of having been hit by a vessel's propellor.
The Malta Independent says an on-the-job training programme appears to have slowed the brain drain of doctors, but the Medical Association warned there is no room for complacency.
In-Nazzjon says Air Malta saw a 15% increase in passenger numbers in the first six months of this year. It also reports that James Piscopo, a close associate of Joseph Muscat, is expected to be appointed CEO of the Labour Party.
The Press in Britain…
The Daily Mail contrasts Chrstine Ohuruogu's Olympic gold for Team GB with the return of shamed rock star Gary Glitter.
The Daily Mirror also splits its front page, with Britain's 16 gold medal winners on one half and released paedophile Glitter, travelling back to Britain from Vietnam in Club Class, on the other.
The Independent celebrates a day in which British athletes powered their way to four more gold medals in Beijing by stating “It just gets better”.
The Times leads with the news that computer game developers are to sue people who have illegally downloaded releases.
The Guardian has a special report on the UK's 'water footprint', which reveals that each person uses 4,645 litres a day.
The Daily Express leads with news of a scientific study that suggests red grapes reduce blood pressure, cholesterol levels and even the risk of heart disease.
And elsewhere…
USA Today quotes Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice saying after a Nato foreign ministers’ meeting in Brussels that the alliance “intends to support the territorial integrity, independence and sovereignty of Georgia”. Nato insisted the tiny Caucasus nation remains on track to join Nato despite Moscow’s opposition.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev says his country's forces will pull out of most of Georgia by Friday. Pravda quotes him saying in a telephone call with his French counterpart, Nicolas Sarkozy, that 500 soldiers would be re-deployed as peacekeepers on both sides of South Ossetia's regional border in compliance with the French-brokered ceasefire.
Meanwhile, Moscow Times says Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has responded by accusing NATO of pursuing anti-Moscow policies and supporting an aggressive Georgia.
The New York Times says Russia's ambassador to the United Nations Vitaly Churkin has rejected a draft Security Council resolution that would demand an immediate Russian military withdrawal from Georgia.
All Zambian media pay tribute to President Levy Mwanawasa who has died in a French hospital weeks after suffering a stroke. The Times of Zambia says seven days of national mourning have been declared.
Afghan Daily says 10 French soldiers were killed, and another 21 injured, in an ambush by Taliban militants. At least 13 militants were also killed in the fighting after warplanes were called in.
El Watan says a car-bomb attack 60 kilometres east of Algiers has killed at least 43 people and injured 38 others. The bombing targeted a paramilitary police training centre.
Hague News reports that former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic has applied to the UN war crimes tribunal to disqualify a Dutch judge from his genocide case. Karadzic accused judge Alphons Orie of bias and of having a personal stake in his case.
Times of India reports that a girl of 10 has been murdered by a 14-year-old classmate for her iPod.
The Jerusalem Post reports that a stillborn baby that “came back to life” after spending hours in a hospital morgue refrigerator, has died. The little girl was delivered 23 weeks into her mother’s pregnancy, weighing only 610 grams.
The National Post quotes Canadian researchers claiming that fruit juices including grapefruit, orange and apple can dramatically reduce the effectiveness of heart and cancer drugs. Patients consuming fruit or juice to be healthy run the risk of wiping out the benefits of their medicines – among them vital treatments for heart disease, cancer, organ transplant rejection and infection, the scientists warned.