The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press:
The Times reports that the transfer of migrants is on the EU agenda and France is to take 80 migrants from Malta. It also reports that hospital laboratories have been deemed to be of an inferior standard.
The Malta Independent says the Malta Union of Teachers is unbowed by a CMTU warning of suspension. It also reports that EC School has acquired a language school in New York.
MaltaToday Midweek reports that social welfare czar Joe Gerada has resigned. It also reports that the Mcast tender on IT teaching centres will also be awarded to companies which allegedly gave false information.
In-Nazzjon says a pharmaceutical company, Actavis, based in Malta has won a €14 million Algerian contract.
l-orizzont carries a GWU statement saying that the Water Services Corporation wants to get rid of workers. It also carries an article on the number of Blue Sticker holders and asks if there is abuse.
The Press in Britain…
According to The Daily Telegraph, millions of parents will be able to request family-friendly working hours under plans to be announced in the Queen’s Speech.
The Financial Times says British Airways and Qantas are exploring a potential merger in a bold move which would accelerate the consolidation of the global airline industry.
The Daily Express says Gordon Brown is facing embarrassing new questions about his involvement in secret talks to scrap the pound and introduce the euro.
The Daily Mail claims state officials are to be given powers previously reserved for times of war to demand a person's proof of identity at any time.
The Guardian reports that benefit claimants will face lie detector tests and will lose benefits for a month if found guilty of fiddling the system.
The Sun reports that Father Christmas and three of his little elves have been beaten up at a 'Lapland' attraction - in Dorset.
TV star Paul O'Grady has told the Daily Mirror how he feared for his life after being attacked by a venomous snake.
The Daily Star says Britney Spears stunned fans when a too-sexy routine backfired on live TV.
And elsewhere…
The International Herald Tribune reports that NATO's 26 foreign ministers meeting in Brussels have agreed to open informal diplomatic talks with Russia after it broke off formal ties following August's Russian invasion of Georgia.
EU Observer quotes Belgian Foreign Minister Karel de Gucht ruling out a European peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
L’Echo says EU finance ministers have cautiously endorsed a €200 billion public spending plan put forward by the EU commission to stave off a recession.
The Bangkok Post says Thailand has vowed its main airport will be open by Friday after thousands of protesters succeeded in forcing the country's prime minister from office.
The Washington Times quotes a senior US State Department official confirming the US had warned the Indian government that terrorists appeared to be plotting an assault on Mumbai.
Gazeta Besa says thousands of Kosovo Albanians gathered in the capital Pristina to protest against the deployment of an EU police mission to oversee Kosovo's transition in a neutral capacity.
The People’s Daily confirms that 11 girls died of carbon monoxide poisoning at a school in northern China’s Shaanxi province.
Wiener Zeitung reports that the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency has called for more investments to revive nuclear crop breeding saying this could fight world hunger.
Panapress reports that a doctor in the Democratic Republic of Congo has performed an amputation on a boy using text message instructions from a colleague in London. Vascular surgeon David Nott, from Charing Cross Hospital, was working with Médecins Sans Frontières when he came across the 16-year-old whose left arm had been ripped off, either in an accident or due to fighting, and was gangrenous.