The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press:
The Times said Opposition leader Joseph Muscat yesterday made a series of proposals for the utility tariffs to be eased. It also reports that a former prison warden is seeking higher compensation after a court confirmed that he was tortured by the police and kept under arrest unlawfully.
The Malta Independent quotes Joseph Muscat saying the budget was the result of convenience politics. It also carries a picture of a balcony brought down by lightning in Gozo yesterday.
l-orizzont says Joseph Muscat made proposals and criticism in his reply to the budget speech yesterday. It also reports that more organisations have said they will join in Thursday’s GWU protest over the tariffs.
In-Nazzjon quotes Finance Minister Tonio Fenech saying Dr Muscat in his comments on the budget had not recognised that the world was going through a financial and economic crisis. It also reports that Dr Muscat had not proposed alternative power tariffs.
The Press in Britain…
A poll for The Times shows Gordon Brown would comfortably beat David Cameron as the leader seen as best able to handle the recession.
The Financial Times says that last month, High Street sales suffered their sharpest annual fall in nearly four years.
The Independent reports that banks have increased interest rates on credit and debit cards despite the Bank of England's interest rate cut.
According to The Guardian, Lord Mandelson is urging Gordon Brown to save the Post Office network by allowing it to provide government services and financial products.
The Daily Telegraph reports that plans to charge motorists increased vehicle duty will be delayed as part of the Government's tax-cutting package to revive the economy.
The Daily Mail leads with news of a scheme designed to encourage Manchester's obese residents to get active by giving them rewards for taking walks or attending keep-fit classes.
The Mirror reports that an MP has blasted British broadcasting chiefs for turning airwaves into "sewer" of bad language.
The top story in the Daily Express is the claim that a single mother-of-five, living on benefits, has been given a five-bedroom detached house in north London worth £1m to live in.
Metro says criminals are posing as friends of Facebook users in a bid to get them to hand over cash.
And elsewhere…
The International Herald Tribune reports that the EU is ready to restart talks with Russia over a stalled partnership agreement. Many EU nations see the resumption of the talks as a way to defuse tension with Russia.
Berliner Zeitung quotes German Chancellor Angela Merkel calling upon NATO members to give Russia a sign that the alliance valued it as an important partner. Addressing a conference of the German Atlantic Society in Berlin, she said she had high expectations of the cross-border NATO summit to mark the alliance’s 60th anniversary. The meeting would constitute Barack Obama's first appearance as US president in Europe.
A picture of the Barack and Michelle Obama meeting President Bush and the First Lady adorns the front page of many world newspapers. The Washington Post says the global financial crisis and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were high on the agenda of their first face-to-face encounter following Obama's victory in Tuesday's presidential election.
Gazeta Besa reports that Kosovo's leaders have rejected Serbia's conditions for allowing a proposed EU police and judicial mission to operate in Kosovo's Serb-dominated north.
Le Monde reports France has failed to secure support from other European Union nations, notably the UK and Germany, to send 1,500 EU troops to support UN forces in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo
Panapress says EU foreign and defence ministers have agreed to launch the bloc's first-ever naval mission – a seven-ship, anti-piracy operation off the coast of Somalia.
Abidjan’s Ivoir Soir says Ivory Coast's presidential elections set for November 30 are to be delayed because of difficulties over voter-identification and security.
Times of India reports that a senior UK union leader is to meet farmers as part of a fact-finding mission over the amount of water used by drinks giant Coca-Cola.