The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press today:
The Times says a Somali woman who gave birth on a boat three days before coming to Malta nine months ago is now seeking a Maltese birth certificate. It also reports on the protests held yesterday at Hal Far open centre.
The Malta Independent features the open centre protest and the escape of five migrants from a detention centre. It also reports that a 16-year-old boy is in danger of dying after being injured at home on Sunday.
In-Nazzjon says a court rejected an application by karozzini owners to stop the removal of their stand on the Palace square. It also highlights the publication of new construction site regulations.
l-orizzont carries the 12th article in a series about the contract for the extension of the Delimara power station.
The Press in Britain…
The Times leads on the big profits made at Barclays and HSBC and the controversy over bonuses being paid to staff.
The Independent has bosses responding by declaring big bonuses were "essential" to keep the best people in the industry.
The Guardian claims there is anger over a return to "bonus culture".
Under the heading “The Bank Robbers”, the Daily Mirror reports fat cats are still raking in big bonuses.
The Daily Express has a more positive outlook on bank profits, saying Britain is "bouncing back to wealth".
According to the Financial Times, global stock markets soared to their highest levels in a year following the announcement of the bank results.
The Daily Mail turns to the medical scene saying some GPs are earning nearly £400,000 a year while out-of-hours doctors are on £200 and hour.
The Daily Telegraph reports that guidelines on assisted suicide will apply to those who help their loved ones die in Britain as well as abroad.
Metro reports a mother was charged £86 by a crematorium for spending too much time grieving at her baby's coffin.
And elsewhere…
Le Parisien reports French farmers would have to pay back some €330 million in subsidies between 1992 and 2002 after the EU ruled the state aid amounted to unfair competition.
The Australian says the police have arrested four men after they raided 19 homes across Melbourne in a counter-terror operation to thwart a suspected suicide attack by Islamic extremists on an army base in Sydney. The newspaper said the raids involved a suspected terrorist cell of Australian nationals of Somali and Lebanese backgrounds.
El Universal reports that four earthquakes, the strongest registering 6.9, have struck near the coast of Mexico in Baja California. There were no immediate reports of damage and the US Geological Survey said there did not appear to be no imminent threat of tidal waves.
South Wales Echo reports that a woman is on a life-support machine and a three-year-old girl is being treated in hospital for renal failure after a suspected E-coli outbreak in Wales.
Entekhab says Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has formally endorsed President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for a second term as president in a ceremony that was snubbed by prominent critics of the disputed election.
The Washington Times quotes US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton calling on Iran to ensure the safe return of three missing Americans thought to have been detained by Tehran after straying across the Iraq border. I
Toronto Star confirms thousands have fled uncontrolled forest fires which raged through western Canada. Several small towns and Aboriginal communities are under threat.
Dawn reports Pakistani fighter jets have bombed Taliban hideouts and killed at least five militants near the Swat valley in the northwest of the country.
Asia Observer says India has registered its first swine flu death. The victim was a 14-year-old girl from the western city of Pune.
The Evening Standard reports that England rugby star Mike Tindall has confirmed he will marry the Queen's granddaughter Zara Phillips – “but only when she can squeeze it into her busy schedule”, he said.
USA Today says a man claiming to be the father of a baby cut from her murdered mother's womb has said he wants custody of the child and of an 18-month-old girl he had with her. The babies are in the care of the state authorities. DNA tests would be carried out to establish paternity.
Il Tempo says an Italian thief thanked police officers for arresting him and putting an end to a beating from Korean tourists whom he had robbed in Rome. Two men from the family, in their 20s, chased him for several hundred metres before they got him down with tae-kwondo moves. They disarmed the thief and continued to beat him.
According to Asia Times, Japan’s finalist for the Miss Universe pageant has modified her costume after triggering a storm of protest with her outfit – a black leather kimono so short it exposed her underwear. The blog of Emiri Miyasaka, 25, who is set to represent her country at the contest in the Bahamas this month, was flooded with indignant comments over the daring creation which also featured lacy garter belts.
The Post-Cresent, a Wisconsin newspaper, reports that a married man has had his penis glued to his stomach by three women who had discovered he was romantically involved with each of them at the same time.