The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press:
The Times quotes Finance Minister Tonio Fenech defending his private visits with entrepreneurs Joe Gasan and George Fenech to watch a football match. The minister said he had a clean conscience on the issue. The newspaper also reports that France has described the Frontex operation off Malta as a failure.
The Malta Independent quotes the GWU saying the Fairmount contracts cost Malta Shipyards €80 million in losses, twice what was claimed in a government-commissioned report.
In-Nazzjon says Joe Vella Bonnici is among the favourites for general secretary post because he is close to Joseph Muscat. It also reports that Jason Cassar, of Mosta, was jailed 16 years for drug trafficking.
l-orizzont also leads with the GWU comments on the Fairmount contracts, saying the GWU wants a public inquiry.
The Press in Britain...
The Daily Express claims MPs are facing a public backlash for trying to avoid repaying hundreds of thousands of pounds in 'fiddled' expenses. The paper says leading the pack is former Home Secretary Jacqui Smith, being let off despite "clearly" breaking the rules.
The Guardian also leads with MPs' expenses, focusing on Gordon Brown being ordered to pay back more than £12,000 under the new rules imposed retrospectively by an outside auditor.
The Daily Telegraph concentrates on the Prime Minister, breaking down his repayments into more than £10,000 claimed for cleaning costs and over £2,000 for other claims.
The Scotsman opines that the expenses scandal returned to plague the Commons.
The Daily Mail claims senior backbenchers are threatening a "mutiny" following the audit by Sir Thomas Legg, who, as a former civil servant and Whitehall man, was expected to deliver an anodyne report.
The Independent reports how all of the main party leaders have been affected by the new expenses rules, leaving "Westminster reeling on the first day of new term."
The Financial Times says ITV's latest candidate to become its new chairman, Sir Michael Bishop, has pulled out of the race following talks with major investors, plunging the business further into crisis.
The Sun leads with the story of the man who claims to have found Boyzone singer Stephen Gately's body. The Bulgarian, Georgi Dochev, met Gately and his partner Andy Cowles in a nightclub in Majorca and ended up going back to their holiday flat.
According to the Daily Mirror, an expectant mother of eight has been charged with child sex offences in the ongoing Little Ted's nursery probe.
The Herald says elderly people across Scotland are now being placed on ‘at risk' registers because of neglect and abuse fears.
And elsewhere...
The Jerusalem Post leads with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's resolve never to allow Israeli leaders or soldiers to stand trial for war crimes over their actions during last winter's military offensive in the Gaza Strip.
The Washington Times reports US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is due in Russia today, hoping to win Moscow's backing for a strong stance on Iran's nuclear programme and looking for progress on a new arms control pact.
Pravda reports Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's party has tightened its grip on Russian politics by winning a sweeping victory in local elections. However, the opposition alleged widespread fraud.
Le Parisien quotes the results of a study by consumer website uSwitch.com showing France has the best quality of life out of Europe's biggest countries.
Dawn reports a suicide car bombing targeting Pakistani troops has killed 41 people, the fourth militant attack in just over a week
Corriere della Sera says a Libyan man lost a hand as he set off a bomb while trying to enter an army barracks in Milan. A guard who stopped him was slightly wounded. Authorities said the man appeared to be acting alone. Some of the 2,800 troops that Italy has deployed in Afghanistan are based in the army barracks that was attacked.
Dominion Post reports police in New Zealand have found a body in a drain near where two-year-old Aisling Symes went missing a week earlier. They stressed, however, that it had not been confirmed the body was Aisling's.
Thai Post reveals a rubbish collector in Bangkok has found the decapitated and dismembered body of a six-year-old child in plastic bags at an abandoned housing development. The boy had also been shot. Police had no suspects.
Wall Street Journal reports Americans Elinor Ostrom and Oliver Williamson won the Nobel economics prize for their work in economic governance. Ms Ostrom was the first woman to win the prize since it was founded in 1968, and the fifth woman to win a Nobel award this year - a Nobel record.
Variety says a new Michael Jackson single debuted online, prompting a hasty response from the singer's estate after Paul Anka revealed he was the song's co-writer. "This Is It" is featured on the soundtrack to the upcoming documentary featuring the late superstar, but its genesis was actually in 1983 when it was written for a duets album Anka was recording.
New Muscal Express reports that Dame Vera Lynn has received a standing ovation as she was presented with a lifetime achievement award. The 92-year-old legend's album "We'll Meet Again - The Very Best of Vera Lynn" hit the top spot in the UK album chart last month, usurping Bob Dylan as the oldest artist to grace the position.