The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press.
The Times says Malta is holding out on an EU agreement on an Immigration Pact, insisting it should include a reference to burden sharing. It also reports that Bank of Valletta shares dropped sharply yesterday in the wake of the impact on its profitability of the collapse of Lehman Brothers in the US.
The Malta Independent says Labour MP Joseph Cuschieri is to resign and give up his Parliamentary seat to Joseph Muscat.
In-Nazzjon leads with the publication by MEPA of a development brief on the site of the former Hal Ferh complex. It also reports that around 1,000 dockyard workers have applied for the early retirement schemes.
l-orizzont focuses on plans by a Maltese resident in New York, Denis Catania, to hold a protest against migration and against the exploitation of workers.
The Press in Britain…
The Times says the architects of the HBOS rescue were accused of playing politics with jobs after a clause was inserted protecting the jobs in Scotland.
The Daily Telegraph reveals Andy Hornby, the chief executive of crisis-hit HBOS, is to receive shares worth almost £2m in Lloyds TSB following a takeover.
The Herald says the short-selling of shares was banned by City regulators as Gordon Brown promised a new era of financial security in the wake of HBOS takeover.
The Daily Express says traders who make profits from falling stock prices, accused of bringing the financial markets to their knees, have finally been outlawed.
The Guardian says the Government stunned the City when it banned short-selling of bank shares by speculators.
The Financial Times claims Morgan Stanley is in talks to sell a stake of up to 49 per cent to China Investment Corp in a bid to reverse a slump in investor confidence.
According to The Independent, a poll shows the Labour Party's grassroots have turned decisively against Gordon Brown and a majority want him to stand down.
Daily Star says experts proclaimed Gordon Brown an "economic disaster".
The Daily Mail reports that supermarket chain Morrisons started a fuel price war by slashing 3p a litre off its petrol and diesel prices.
The Sun claims killers and rapists were raking in state handouts behind bars.
And elsewhere…
Washington Post say US stocks have made a strong comeback following reports that the federal government would hammer out a "comprehensive" plan to tackle what has become a global financial crisis.
Wall Street Journal reports that earlier, President Bush vowed that his administration would continue to take action to promote financial market stability. The Fed joined with five other central banks around the world in a coordinated action to boost liquidity.
Il Sole 24 Ore quotes Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi saying Alitalia could be looking into a precipice after rescue consortium CAI withdrew its plan for the failing airline because of union resistance.
Napoli’s Il Mattino reports that seven men have been killed in two western-style shoot-outs near the town of Caserta, home to the Camorra-organised crime group.
Avvenire quotes Cardinal Ennio Antonelli of the Pontifical Council for the Family saying Pope Benedict was too old to attend an event in Mexico City because of its high altitude
Washington Times quotes US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice saying the United States and Europe must "stand up to" Russian aggression and convey to Moscow that it was on a path of international isolation.
The New York Times reports South African Nobel Peace prize winner Desmond Tutu has sharply criticised the international community for failing to speak out against the suffering in Gaza.
Corriere della Sera says Zinedine Zidane was sorry he headbutted Italy defender Marco Materazzi in the 2006 World Cup Final. Zidane has never publicly apologised for the incident which ended his career but, according to a tell-all book on the France legend coming out next week, he confided his feelings to a relative.