The following are the top stories in the local and international press today.
The Times, like all the other Maltese papers, leads with yesterday’s tragedy in Zejtun in which a mother, father and their daughter lost their lives.
The Malta Independent also gives front page coverage to the court hearing on the warrant of prohibitory injunction for gaming arcades.
In-Nazzjon reports on an agreement reached between Qatar Airways and Lufthansa Technik.
l-Orizzont says that the government is offering 47c for every trip as compensation to those going in for the Public Transport Reform.
The Press in Britain…
The Daily Mail says that 10 British soldiers were killed during Operation Panther's Claw so that 80,000 people could vote in the recent elections, but only 150 Afghans from that area of Helmand went to the polls.
The Times reports the Electoral Commission in Kabul estimates the number of people voting in the former Taliban stronghold Lashkar Gah was well below the several thousand who could have gone to the polls.
The Daily Telegraph has a survey which suggests one million NHS patients have been the victims of appalling care in hospitals across Britain, suffering from poor nursing which is often "neglectful, demeaning, painful and cruel".
According to The Sun, Kerry Katona has been questioned by police after being accused of punching her accountant and throwing tea over him.
The Daily Mirror alleges that Katona 'showered blows' on David McHugh and damaged office equipment during the attack.
Metro's lead story claims that during 2008, the number of people being killed by taking cocaine has risen by 20 per cent to 235 people.
The Independent reports that inherited diseases could soon be a thing of the past after scientists devised a new technique for swapping genes between unfertilised eggs before IVF embryos are implanted in the womb.
The Daily Express says the technique could pave the way for disease-free, designer babies born without any inherited disorders such as heart disease.
According to The Guardian, FSA Chairman Lord Turner is backing plans for a multi-billion pound tax being imposed on banks as a way to tackle the City's bonus culture.
The Financial Times leads with the same story, with Lord Turner describing the debate on bonuses as "a populist diversion" and saying that more drastic measures may be needed to cut the financial sector down to size.
The Daily Star claims Katie Price, aka Jordan, is 'furious' that her estranged husband Peter Andre has landed a job as a showbiz reporter for ITV show GMTV.
And elsewhere…
The Washington Times reports that the State Department might bar Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi from pitching a tent in the grounds of the Libyan Embassy in New Jersey where 38 victims of the Lockerbie bombing lived before their deaths.
USA Today says tributes have poured in from all over the world hailing veteran US politician Ted Kennedy as the "senator of senators" and “the liberal lion of the Senate”, following his death at the age of 77.
According to El Mundo, President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela has instructed his foreign minister to “begin preparing for the rupture with Colombia” over its plan to give US troops greater access to its military bases.
El Universal says that at 130 murders per 100,000 inhabitants, Mexico’s volatile border city of Ciudad Juarez has the world's highest murder rate.
Vanity Fair announces the death of author Dominick Dunne, who told stories of shocking crimes among the rich and famous through his magazine articles and best-selling novels such as “The Two Mrs Grenvilles”.
Al Bab says that Iraqi special forces have recovered a Picasso painting looted during Saddam Hussein's 1990 invasion of Kuwait.
Malaysia Today says the Social Affairs minister has praised an Islamic court for indefinitely suspending the caning of a woman found guilty of drinking beer, saying the sentence made the country appear cruel.
Sydney Morning Herald reports kangaroos bounding into the path of oncoming cars are the biggest animal threat to Australian drivers.
EU Observer says old-style 100-watt light bulbs will be banned in Europe's shops from next week in favour of new energy-saving models, with the European Consumers Association expressing concerns about the high mercury content of the new bulbs.