The following are the top items in the Maltese press:

The Times leads with the death of a man in a house fire in Paola yesterday, saying he had been heard crying for help. It also reports national celebrations to mark the end of the Pauline Year.

The Malta Independent asks if a new Liberal Party is to be formed. It also says the Moby concert caused traffic chaos.

l-orizzont reports on the fatal fire in Paola. It also features a farmer who destroyed a field full of cabbages because he could not sell them.

In-Nazzjon leads with the Pauline Year celebrations with the statues of St Paul and St Publius in Valletta. It also says the long weekend was good for Gozo tourism.

The Press in Britain

The Sun has a picture of Michael Jackson looking happy during rehearsals for his series of shows in London, hours before he died.

The Daily Mirror also pictures a "happy and fit" Jackson during rehearsals and asks what went wrong.

The Daily Express leads with claims that two of Jackson's children, now in his mother's temporary custody, were fathered by another man.

The Daily Star is more specific: it says that a "Mafia pal" is their real father.

The Independent quotes the world's central bankers warning that the British economy faces a new recession as the economy is set to relapse into the dreaded ''double-dip'' downturn.

The Daily Telegraph leads with Tory leader David Cameron's claims that Gordon Brown is being dishonest over potential cuts to public spending.

The Times says the prime minister plans to pay for extra housing by raiding health, education and transport budgets.

The Guardian reports that Brown's manifesto is overshadowed by charges that the government is hiding cuts.

The Daily Mail says the Queen had to dip into her reserves for crumbling palaces as other members of the Royal family splurge even more on luxury travel.

Metro says a six-year-old girl has become the first child in Britain to die after contracting swine flu.

And elsewhere...

The Wall Street Journal leads with the 150-year jail sentenced imposed on international fraudster Bernard Madoff for swindling investors out of billions of dollars.

Meanwhile, Texas Observer reports that a US judge will today decide whether to revoke a bond for financier Allen Stanford which would allow him freedom while he awaits trial on charges he swindled investors out of $7 billion.

Iran's state television reported that the Guardian Council has declared the hotly disputed presidential vote to be valid after a partial recount, rejecting opposition allegations of fraud and calls for a new vote.

La Prensa says presidents from Latin American countries are gathering in Nicaragua to discuss how to resolve the situation following the military coup in Honduras, the first in Central American for 16 years.

Clarin reports that President Cristina Fernandez of Argentina and her husband, former President Nestor Kirchner, have suffered a stunning setback in an election seen as a referendum on their political dynasty, losing control of both houses of Congress.

Afghan Daily quotes President Hamid Karzai claiming guards working for the US coalition at a base in Kandahar city killed the province's police chief.

The People's Daily said authorities in China are holding nine people in an investigation into why a 13-storey apartment building in Shanghai collapsed. The developer's bank account was also frozen as home buyers demanded their money back.

Crete Gazette reports that a British woman has been acquitted of killing her newborn son after giving birth alone in her hotel during a holiday in Crete.

Kourier says European Ombudsman Nikiforos Diamandouros has ruled that Brussels should have interfered in a case where Austria banned wild animals from circuses. The European Circus Association had claimed the ban breached EU rules on the "free movement of services". Mr Diamandouros ruled the Commission must now either take legal action against Austria, or give the Circus Association a valid reason for not doing so.

Brazil's Jornal dos Sports quotes FIFA President Sepp Blatter saying that the discussion surrounding the introduction of technology into football remains an open one. But he insists that it should be restricted only to reviewing controversial goal-line calls.