The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press today:
Nearly all the newspapers lead with the visit to Malta yesterday by EU Competition Commission Neelie Kroes.
The Times leads with the commissioner’s objections to the Malta Shipyards privatisation. It also reports how a teenaged motorcyclist died in Cospicua yesterday.
l-orizzont leads with the same story and also reports American sanctions on an Iranian company, IRISL. which uses Malta Freeport.
The Malta Independent, apart from its coverage of Ms Kroes’s visit, also reports concerns by the Malta Hotels and Restaurants' Association over tourism in the coming winter.
In-Nazzjon leads with the rise in the gainfully occupied and the decrease in unemployment reported in April.
The Press in Britain…
The Times reports on the power-sharing deal agreed between President Mugabe of Zimbabwe and Morgan Tsvangirai which could end the former’s monopoly on power.
The Independent leads on an interview with a "combative and confident" Vladimir Putin as he defends Russia's invasion of Georgia.
The Guardian says George Bush has given a secret order to US special forces to mount counter-terrorism operations inside Pakistani territory.
The Daily Telegraph focuses on the explosion on a lorry inside the Channel Tunnel which caused a major fire that nearly turned to disaster.
The Daily Express says tens of thousands of travellers were caught up in the chaos caused by the fire in the Channel Tunnel, which severed rail services between Britain and France.
The Scotsman reports that misery for Eurostar passengers looks set to continue after the operator said that it "has no expectation" of resuming services today.
The Sun pictures female prisoners at a horror-themed party which the newspaper describes as "the sickest jail knees-up ever".
Metro says drivers will be handing over more than £400million to the Treasury just to renew driving licences many did not realise would ever expire.
The Herald reports Gordon Brown's energy package has been described as "too little, too late". Energywatch said there was a "lack of political will" to tackle fuel poverty while Help the Aged said the package would do "little to help" the elderly.
The Daily Mirror says Theo Walcott’s mum Lynn had to stay up until 4am to let her son in after his World Cup hat-trick – because he forgot his key.
And elsewhere…
Gazeta Polska reports on the "confidence building" talks in Warsaw between Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his Polish counterpart Radek Sikorski in the light of tensions over issues including the planned US missile shield.
The New York Times quotes UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon saying he is considering setting up peacekeeping missions in Georgia's separatist areas of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, where Russia seized control with thousands of troops.
USA Today leads with the activities commemorating the terrorist attacks on the cities of New York and Washington on September 11, 2001.
Washington Times says that in a separate ceremony at the Pentagon, President Bush inaugurated the first official memorial to the victims of the 9/11 attacks. It consists of 184 benches each bearing the name of an individual killed when terrorists rammed a third plane into the Pentagon.
According to El Mundo, Spain's Constitutional Court has blocked a plan by Basque authorities to stage a referendum on the self-determination of the northern region.
French far-right firebrand Jean-Marie Le Pen has told Valeurs Actuelles he plans to retire from politics before the next presidential race in 2012.
Jerusalem Post quotes a report by an influential Israeli human rights group suggesting that Jewish settlers have seized thousands of acres of West Bank land by widening their communities’ perimeter fences or scaring Palestinian farmers off their fields through harassment.
Le Soir says that a Belgian charity that trains rats to sniff out landmines has secured a three-year Skoll Award, worth €630,000, to develop its initiative.