The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press:

The Times leads with the announcement that Malta will continue to be exempt from an EU requirement to charge VAT on food and medicines.

The same story features in The Malta Independent and most of the other newspapers. The Malta Independent also reports that the GRTU yesterday called for a once only 40% cut in energy bills of SMEs. The Opposition in a parliamentary debate also called for a reduction in the bills.

MaltaToday quotes Vince Farrugia saying that Joseph and Michelle Muscat had asked him to stand for the European Parliament elections as a Labour candidate.

l-orizzont leads with the debate on the water and electricity tariffs in Parliament yesterday.

In-Nazzjon says Lufthansa Technik has started using a second hangar of three being built at their new facility at the airport.

The Press in Britain...

The Daily Express carries pictures of a Muslim protest in Luton during a homecoming parade by British troops.

'Hate filled Muslim fanatics' is how The Sun describes the unofficial protesters at the troops' homecoming.

The soldiers had just returned from Iraq - and the Daily Mail describes their reception as 'some welcome'.

The Daily Star says the protesters screamed abuse at the soldiers from the Royal Anglian Regiment.

The Daily Mirror features Jade Goody's 'last ever interview' – the Reality TV show former presenter says she is scared to fall asleep in case she never wakes up.

The Daily Telegraph reflects the wave of revulsion felt across Northern Ireland to the recent spate of shootings.

The Guardian predicts thousands of people are expected to join peace rallies across Northern Ireland.

The Times reports that security experts believe the attacks by dissident republican terrorist groups may have been co-ordinated.

The Independent reports a dramatic warning from scientists about the speed of climate change.

The Financial Times says Britain's economy is likely to shrink by at least another 1.5 per cent in the first quarter of the year, economists are warning.

And elsewhere...

The International Herald Tribune leads with US Vice-President Joe Biden urging NATO allies to help the United States tackle increasing security problems in Afghanistan.

Berliner Zeitung quotes German Defence Minister Franz Josef Jung saying the Afghan government must decide for itself whether to negotiate with moderate elements of the Taliban.

The Washington Post says the US Congress has voted to lift restrictions on relations with Cuba imposed by the Bush administration. Cuban-Americans will now be allowed to travel to the island once a year and send more money to relatives there.

USA Today reports a gunman in Alabama has killed nine people in homes and stores in the southeastern towns of Samson and Geneva, then shot himself dead. Before beginning the shooting spree, the assailant is believed to have set fire to his mother's home, where her dead body was found. Several people were injured in the rampage.

Colombo Page says 15 people have been killed and 60 wounded in a suicide bombing at a mosque in the southern Sri Lankan town of Akuressa.

In Iraq, Al-Zaman reports that a suicide bombing has killed at least 33 people and injured over 45 at a market in Abu Ghraib, west of Baghdad. The assailant set off his explosives near a group of tribal elders and members of the Iraqi security forces, who had been attending a reconciliation conference.

Berliner Morgenpost says Germany has agreed to accept 2,500 Iraqi refugees currently living in Jordan and Syria. Last November, after months of negotiations, the European Union agreed to take in around 10,000 Iraqi refugees.