The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press:

The Times reports how some 70 migrants are feared missing in the Mediterranean, according to accounts by migrants who were rescued yesterday. It also says that the Church commission on the environment had adopted a wait and see attitude on the proposed extension of St John’s Museum.

The Malta Independent says the government is considering all forms of environmental technology as part of the transport reform

The Malta Business Weekly reports on the increasing popularity of performance bonuses to strengthen motivation.

l-orizzont says the chairman of the Malta Tourism Authority has been discredited by the government following comments he made on the environment.

In-Nazzjon reports that the EU has granted €1 million to the Malta Qualifications Council.

The Press in Britain…

The Independent delves in the political past of Barack Obama and looks at his vision for the future.

The Guardian says Britain declared that Europe faced a moment of truth in deciding whether to stand up to Russia's campaign to redraw the map of Europe.

The Financial Times reports that Britain has led a chorus of support for Ukraine as fears rise of possible Russian threats to neighbouring states.

The Sun says police believe a millionaire, his wife and daughter died in a massacre before their mansion was torched.

The Daily Telegraph says the Business Secretary John Hutton has admitted households will struggle to pay heating bills this winter as the "era of cheap energy is over".

The Daily Express claims lower-income households are being hardest hit by "a punishing new round of stealth taxes". It reveals one in seven children in Britain lives in a household where no one works.

According to the Daily Star, Britons are forced to pay £20bn a year too much in "needless" green tax.

Metro leads with the story that an underworld gunsmith is to be jailed for converting replica weapons into working Mac-10 machine guns that were later used in criminals in shooting attacks.

The Daily Mail reports that the head of the NHS rationing watchdog has said he is "genuinely sorry" for a delay in approving a new treatment for blindness.

The Times has the news that two paintings by Renaissance master Titian could be lost to the nation unless £100 million are found to keep them.

The Daily Record reveals that a martial arts champion whose life was "destroyed" by multiple sclerosis has been refused benefits because she can still talk.

And elsewhere...

USA Today leads with the official nomination of 47-year-old Illinois senator Barack Obama to be the Democrats’ candidate for president, making him the first African-American to lead a major party ticket. His former rival Hillary Clinton called for the roll call of votes to be suspended and for Mr Obama to be nominated by acclamation during the party’s national convention in Denver. He will give his acceptance speech tonight, coinciding with the 45th anniversary of Martin Luther King's famous "I have a dream" speech.

Washington Times says a US Coast Guard cutter, carrying humanitarian aid, has docked in Georgia after it bypassed its original destination, the Georgian port of Poti, which is controlled by Russian troops. The ship is delivering aid as part a $20-million programme, which has criticized by Russia as “devilish”.

EurasiaNet reports Georgia’s reduction of its diplomatic relations with Russia to a minimum following the decision and cut staff at its Moscow embassy. Meanwhile, Russia says its navy is monitoring the build-up of NATO troops in the Black Sea.

Al-Jamahariya says the two men who hijacked a Sudanese Boeing 737 as it left Darfur last Tuesday surrendered in Libya after freeing all 95 people on board. The men said that they wanted refugee status in Paris.

Die Welt reports that a German World Food Programme was halting aid deliveries to almost half a million people affected by civil war in northern Darfur province in Sudan due to increasing attacks on relief staff.

According to Hague News, the UN war crimes court has charged Florence Hartmann, a former spokeswoman for its prosecutor, with contempt for allegedly divulging confidential information in Slobodan Milosevic’s trial.

Sydney Morning Herald quotes an environmental report showing that nearly half of Australia is largely untouched by Man, making it one of the biggest wildernesses in the world. After 200 years of European settlement, an area 12 times the size of mainland Britain has been left pristine.

El Pais says that according to a new research, the rain in Spain falls mainly at the weekend in summer due to the effects of human activity.

Jerusalem Post reveals that scientists in Israel will use infra-red imaging and other “noninvasive” techniques to study thousands of illegible fragments of the Dead Sea Scrolls. They will publish images of their work online.

Al-Ayyam says a Palestinian couple locked up two disabled children for nearly 40 years, afraid they would ruin the marriage prospects of a healthy child if discovered. Police found them while searching for Hamas loyalists and criminals.

Fridolin says the last woman to be beheaded in Europe as a witch has been exonerated. The Swiss canton of Glarus declared that Anna Göldi, who was executed in 1782, had been a victim of “judicial murder”.

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