The following are the top stories in the Maltese newspapers today:
The Times leads with the request by the social partners for the proposed new electricity tariffs to be postponed to early next year. It also reports comments by Parliamentary Secretary Chris Said that the proposals by the government are not written in stone.
The Malta Independent also leads with the call for the postponement of the MCESD decision.
l-orizzont says the MCESD warned the government of the economic consequences of raising utility tariffs at this time of turmoil. It also reports Glenn Bedingfield’s election as an MEP.
In-Nazzjon says there is disagreement within the MLP as efforts are made for fourth district candidates not to contest the election to succeed Karl Chircop, thus opening the way for Joseph Cuschieri to be co-opted back into Parliament.
Il-Gens Illum says the Dominican Sisters are preparing to reopen Lourdes Home for Children in Gozo.
The Press in Britain…
The Financial Times reports on the pound sterling’s collapse yesterday which it says was a result of investors reacting to the worst decline in UK economic output since 1990.
The Independent says that Britain took a battering as the UK economy shrunk for the first time in 16 years.
The Times argues that Britain is in recession as markets swung wildly and the pound plunged.
According to The Guardian, the Bank of England is under intense pressure to slash interest rates after new figures showed the economy had contracted.
The Daily Mirror reports a storm brewed up as Opec oil chiefs cut production by five per cent or 1.5 million barrels per day and pumped up oil prices. Crude oil is selling for 50 per cent less than this year's highs because the economic crisis has put a huge dent in demand.
The Daily Mail claims consumers are facing higher shop prices, dearer fuel and more expensive holidays after the pound slumped yesterday.
The Daily Express adds further gloom, this time on the weather front, as Britain is set to be battered by an onslaught of bitter Arctic weather.
The Daily Star says Michael Jackson is planning a new £50m comeback tour, an album and...a new wrinkle-free face.
And elsewhere…
The People’s Daily reports that heads of more than 40 European and Asian countries meeting in Beijing have pledged to swiftly reform the global financial system in an effort to head off the financial crisis currently enveloping most of the world’s major economies.
Morgunbladid says Iceland's government is to receive a two billion dollar loan from the International Monetary Fund as part of a rescue package aimed at stabilising the country's financial system.
Pravda reports that Russia has denounced as unlawful new US sanctions which target Russia's arms monopoly exporter for allegedly passing sensitive material to Iran. The US sanctions target 13 firms from a range of countries, including China, Venezuela and Sudan.
Jerusalem Post says a key Israeli ultra-Orthodox party has announced it will not join a coalition led by Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, seriously damaging her chances of forming a government by early next week.
Jakarta Post quotes the Indonesian attorney general's office saying three Islamist militants, convicted of the 2002 Bali bombings, would be executed in early November.
According to Pakistan Times, police have arrested four men in connection with “indirect involvement” in last month's suicide bomb-attack on the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad which killed 54 people.
The New York Times says the US military is turning to the realms of science fiction in a bid to invent a flying submarine. Designs for a £1.9bn submersible aircraft are wanted by the agency which commissions advanced research for the US Department of Defence. The new machine needs to carry eight men a combination of 1,150 miles by air, 115 miles by sea, or 22 miles underwater – in under eight hours.
Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin has blamed gender bias for the controversy over $150,000 (€117,589) worth of designer clothes, hairstyling and accessories the Republican Party provided for her and her family.
Corriere della Sera reports a thief dressed as a window cleaner removed the front window of one of Milan's top jewellery stores and cleaned out its contents.