The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press:
The Times says Italy and Libya are due to start joint anti-immigration patrols this week. It also reports that bus owners have threatened a stoppage because they were not paid a subsidy during the days they were on strike, according to the Transport Ministry.
The Malta Independent leads with the bush fires in Australia and the fear that a man of Maltese descent might have been a victim.
In-Nazzjon says the police and sanitation officials have closed the canteen at the GWU.
l-orizzont says no offers have been made for the purchase of Selmun Palace Hotel.
The Press in Britain
The eight two-week-old babies win top place on the The Daily Telegraph’s front page as the first pictures are released of the octuplets born to American mother Nadia Suleman, who revealed she wanted a huge family to make up for the isolation she felt as an only child.
One of the eight octuplets, only the second case of octuplets surviving more than a few hours, is also on the front page of The Daily Mail alongside news that the Royal Bank of Scotland chief executive is set to receive £4m if he is sacked.
The Financial Times focuses on Barclays bank overhauling its pay structures following a proposal by RBS to put a £25,000 cash cap on bonuses.
The Guardian says the RBS proposal is being considered by the Treasury to silence the public outcry against rewards and risk-taking in the City.
The Scotsman claims tens of thousands of staff at HBOS have seen savings worth millions disappear after being pressured into buying the bank's shares.
The Daily Express declares black bags are spilling onto Britain's streets after rubbish collections were cancelled because of snow.
The Sun leads with the sensational sacking of Felipe Scolari as Chelsea manager after the club suffered a series of disappointing results. According to the Daily Mirror, the Brazilian coach is set to collect a whopping £7.5m after getting the boot seven months into his three year contract.
Daily Star claims pop star Rihanna was attacked hours before the Grammy Awards in Los Angeles.
And elsewhere…
The Italian media leads with the death of 38-year-old Eluana Englaro, the comatose woman whose case sparked a fierce right-to-die debate, as the country's parliament fought over a controversial government Bill aimed at keeping her alive. Her death came four days after doctors, acting on a court order, disconnected tubes supplying her body with nutrients and water. Englaro's family fought to let her die for the past 10 years
The Age says the death toll from bushfires across southeastern Australia has climbed to at least 173 and officials say the number of fatalities could rise to over 200. Officials in Victoria State say fires near Melbourne had destroyed more than 750 homes, left 5,000 people homeless, and burned 850 square miles of land.
Israelis are voting in a snap election called by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who is stepping down. The Jerusalem Post says the favourite to become prime minister is Binyamin Netanyahu, leader of the right-wing opposition party, Likud.
The Washington Post reports US President Barack Obama's economic stimulus plan has cleared a crucial Senate hurdle, as lawmakers voted 61-36 to end its debate, paving the way for a final vote on the Senate's version of the bill later today. Obama has called the $827-billion-package crucial to pulling the battered economy out of a paralyzing recession.
According to Al-Quds al-Arabi, the United Nations will resume aid shipments to the Gaza strip after the Hamas movement returned parcels of food and blankets seized last week by mistake. Most of Gaza's 1.4 million residents are dependent on UN food aid.
Asian Tribune quotes Sri Lanka's military saying at 22 people have been killed and 90 wounded in a suicide bomb attack carried out by a female Tamil Tiger rebel at a checkpoint for refugees fleeing the country's war zone.
Le Monde says passenger flights from Paris airports – Charles de Gaulle, Orly and Le Bourget – have been suspended due to a storm. The French weather office has warned much of northern France will be battered by gales in excess of 100 kilometres an hour.
The International Herald Tribune reports the ultra-traditionalist British bishop who denies the Holocaust has been removed from his post as the head of a Roman Catholic seminary in Argentina.
The Wall Street Journal says Bernard Madoff has reached an agreement with regulators over a civil fraud case, "without admitting or denying the allegations".
O Globo of Brazil reports that almost four tons of cocaine, hidden in containers of wood bound for Romania, have been seized in the Brazilian port city of Paranagua.
Al Ahram reports that Egyptian archaeologists have found 30 mummies inside a 4,600-year-old tomb, in the latest round of excavations at the vast necropolis of Saqqara near Cairo. The new tomb was found at the bottom of a 36 foot deep well. Eight of the mummies were in sarcophagi and the rest had been placed in niches in the wall. Excavations have been continuing at Saqqara for 150 years.
The Lancet reports that according to latest US research, middle-aged women who take multivitamin pills to guard against heart disease and cancer may be wasting their time. The largest study of its kind ever conducted among post-menopausal women has shown multivitamins have no effect on the risk of either killer illness. Scientists assessed multivitamin use among almost 162,000 women aged 50 to 79 in the major US public health study.