These are the main headlines of the local and international newspapers.
The Times leads with a follow-up of the aviation fuel spill at Enemalta’s facility in Ghar Dalam and says that the environmental damage to the Birzebbuga valley is not as bad as one would expect. In a second lead, the paper recounts how a Dutchman received drugs in prison.
The Malta Independent says the ill-fated Spanair aircraft which crashed in Madrid on Wednesday was a charter flight. The plane was in Malta a few days previously.
In-Nazzjon reports that a German company, Adinotec AG – which produces innovative products in pharmaceuticals and in the building of roads – will transfer its operations to Malta.
l-orizzont says that gays in Malta are satisfied that an EU agency report on human rights has called for trans-European legislation which does not differentiate between traditional marriages and same-sex unions.
Church newspaper Il-Ġens Illum asks whether Europe risks moving into a recession and says that for Malta to avoid a “negative economic period”, it must continue the remaining restructuring processes.
The Press in Britain…
Faster, higher stronger. As the Beijing Olympics draw to a close, Great Britain has surged past its dream target of winning 41 medals. The Scotsman weighs up the 44-strong medal haul saying the stash brings high hopes that Britain may return to being a "genuine sporting powerhouse",
The Daily Mirror claims Prime Minister Gordon Brown has promised knighthoods for the successful athletes.
The Independent has an interview with Olympic swimming star Rebecca Adlington.
The Times says the longest period of uninterrupted economic growth in British history has ended, leaving the country on the brink of recession.
The Financial Times also reports on how, after 16 years of an upwards trend, the growth of the UK economy has slowed to zero.
The Guardian looks at how drug companies are shelling out millions of pounds to pay for doctors to attend all-expenses-paid conferences - leading some to question the impact on patient care.
The Daily Express reports actress Helena Bonham Carter was in mourning after four relatives, including a 14-year-old boy, died in a crash on a safari holiday.
The Daily Mail says Home Secretary Jacqui Smith was under fire for failing to sack the contractor who lost personal data on criminals.
The Telegraph quotes shadow chancellor George Osborne declaring that married couples would be offered tax breaks as a priority of a Conservative government.
The Daily Herald says an intensive police operation against gangs in Glasgow has paid off with a dramatic reduction in crime and enhanced feelings of community safety.
And elsewhere…
EU Observer announces that the European Commission has allocated another €5 million in humanitarian aid for victims of the conflict between Georgia and Russia.
Pravda quotes Defence Minister Anatoly Serdyukov saying Russia has fulfilled its pledge to withdraw its combat troops from Georgia in line with a ceasefire deal.
Tbilisi’s Tribuna says the Georgian government has denounced the move as unacceptable.
The International Herald Tribune reports that President Bush and President Sarkozy agreed in a phone call that Russia was not complying with the ceasefire pact.
Jerusalem Post says Israel has issued a tough warning against activists sailing toward the Gaza Strip with a delivery of humanitarian supplies, calling the mission an unacceptable provocation and saying all options were under consideration.
El Pais quotes Spain's aviation chief Manuel Bautista saying he believed a chain of failures, either technical, human or both, likely caused the crash of the Spanair flight on Wednesday.
Asia Times claims that 76 civilians, including women but mostly children, have been killed in a coalition airstrike in western Afghanistan.
Abendzeitung reports East German lawyer Wolfgang Vogel, who oversaw some of the Cold War's biggest swaps of captured spies in Berlin, has died at 82.
Daily Jasarat announces that Pakistan’s main ruling party has proposed the widower of assassinated former premier Benazir Bhutto as the next president.
Pacific Islands News says the Dutch Navy joined with the US to seize 4.6 tons of cocaine from a Panamanian-flagged freighter that had set sail from Venezuela.
South Wales Argus reports a Welshman finally had electricity installed after relying on gas and candles for more than 50 years.
L’Alsace says a court in the northeastern town of Nancy gave a 29-year-old blind journalist a month’s suspended jail sentence and fined him €500 for driving while drunk and without a licence.
Buenos Aires Herald says an eight-year-old dog saved the life of an abandoned newly-born baby, placing the girl safely alongside her own new puppies.