The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press:
The Times in a follow-up to a story carried yesterday, says legislation on procreation is being drafted. It also reports that the government has shelved plans for an underground carpark at Palace square.
The Malta Independent says former Qormi barman Owen Bonnici has been jailed for seven years for possession of a kilo of cannabis. It also reports the inauguration of a sewage treatment plant near Mellieha.
l-orizzont says Jews have been offended by the poor state of catacombs in Rabat. In other stories, it reports that three have been arrested for illegal hunting at sea, and the GWU will meet the Maritime Authority to press its claim for sole trade union recognition as port workers’ representative.
In-Nazzjon also features the inauguration of the sewage treatment plant and also reports comments by Finance Minister Tonio Fenech on the rapid growth of the insurance industry.
The Press in Britain
The Daily Telegraph says Gordon Brown attempted to establish himself as an international statesman with the vision to lead the world out of recession with his speech to the joint session of Congress in the US to emphasise the need for international cooperation in hard financial times.
The Guardian reports Brown 'invoked the spirit of American optimism' as he demanded President Obama be allowed to lead the world away from the evils of protectionism and climate change
According to The Independent,a spate of Bernard Madoff-style scams threatens to bring misery to thousands of UK investors.
The Financial Times reports Barclays Bank is facing questions over what happened to £2 billion that were earmarked for bonuses.
The Times says a new report reveals tens of thousands of children are at risk of abuse and neglect, with a quarter of councils providing inadequate services.
The Daily Mail reports on the scale of reoffending by so-called "lifers" – murderers who were freed from life sentences in prison.
The Sun says the mother of murdered Harry Potter star Rob Knox has slammed her son's killer, Karl Bishop, saying she hopes he suffers in prison.
The Daily Mirror says Bishop was free to murder the young actor because police failed to arrest him for an earlier knife crime.
The Daily Express reports ITV is to ditch some of the nation's favourite programmes and axing some 600 jobs,.
According to the Daily Star, Jade Goody has said a final farewell to her closest family as her cancer battle reached a critical stage.
Metro reports a self-styled lord, who was a few computer clicks away from pulling off the world's biggest theft, is facing years behind bars.
Scottish Labour leader Iain Gray has told The Scotsman that a referendum on Scottish independence will not happen until after the next elections.
And elsewhere…
The People’s Daily quotes Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao say his country will strive for an eight percent growth rate this year, despite the global economic downturn.
Al-Ayyam leads with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s meeting with President Mahmoud Abbas and other Palestinian officials in the West Bank. She called on Israel to allow more aid into Gaza, criticisied its plans for demolishing houses in east Jerusalem and vowed to work towards a Palestinian state.
The International Herald Tribune says the International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir over alleged atrocities in Sudan's western Darfur province. The court alleges al-Beshir committed five counts of crimes against humanity, including murder, torture and rape, as well as two counts of war crimes. The United Nations estimates that 300,000 people have died and more than 2.2 million have fled their homes since rebels in Darfur rose up against the Khartoum government in February 2003.
El Mundo says Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has ordered the expropriation of a rice processing plant owned by a US-based company. Chavez said the plant was not distributing rice at government-imposed prices.
De Telegraf reports that Dutch investigators found a technical failure caused the crash of a Turkish airlines flight last month at Amsterdam's Schiphol airport. Investigators found that a faulty altimeter caused the plane's autopilot to shut down the engines as it made its approach to land, causing the Boeing 737-800 to crash a kilometre short of the runway, killing nine people on board.
Ukraine News says armed security forces have raided the headquarters of the country's natural gas company Naftogaz in with a criminal investigation. The company was at the centre of a pricing dispute between Russia and Ukraine at the start of the year.
Dawn reports that the Pakistani police have vehemently denied a British referee's accusations that the victims of Tuesday's attack in Lahore were left "to be sitting ducks". Test match official Chris Broad had claimed the police were unprepared to protect the convoy, including the Sri Lankan cricket team bus and the officials' minivan, when it was hit. A top officer has rejected Broad's claims, saying instead that six policemen died as martyrs to prevent an even greater tragedy.
The Irish Independent reports that a Dublin GP has been acquitted of a charge of professional misconduct at the first-ever public inquiry into a doctor's fitness to practise. The Irish Medical Council found that the doctor had used inappropriate and insensitive language when treating a female patient at his surgery in 2007. He admitted to asking the patient 'if she had been next or near to a willy', in a bid to establish her sexual history. The council said the question was inappropriate, but did not amount to professional misconduct.