The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press:
The Times like the other newspapers, features the Mepa decision to issue an Outline Development Permit for the power station extension. It also says the fight against the prohibition of international bluefin tuna trade has weakened.
The Malta Independent says the power station equipment to be introduced in Malta features untried technology. It also says that Air Malta made a €31m loss last year.
In-Nazzjon says Toni Abela has become all powerful within the PL administration. It also reports a strong response by bus drivers to the offer to sell their buses to the government.
l-orizzont says Malta Freeport may be planning to dismiss 30 workers even while it speaks of investment. It also carries calls for trade union rights for the police, soldiers and other uniformed personnel.
The international press
Tribune de Genève reports that Greece's Prime Minister George Papandreou has denied speculation that it would have to be bailed out of its financial crisis by the European Union. Spain's Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero denied Greece would be kicked out of the euro. A report in Le Monde on Thursday had suggested that the EU was considering bailing out Greece because the Hellenic nation's woes had shaken the euro.
The Washington Times says the US Senate has backed legislation allowing President Barack Obama to extend sanctions against Iran.
France 24 reports bankers at the World Economic Forum in Davos have reacted negatively to Barack Obama's State of the Union speech, in which he called for tighter financial regulation. They called it "populist" and "worrisome".
Isna news agency says Iran has executed two men arrested during the period of widespread unrest that erupted after June's disputed presidential election, reports say. They had been convicted of being "enemies of God", members of armed groups and trying to topple the Islamic establishment.
The Times says former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who will be questioned for six hours today on his decision to take Britain into war with Iraq in 2003, will express regret over the lives lost and the anger that the invasion in 2003 still generates. Mr Blair is accused he exaggerated intelligence reports about Iraqi weapons and pressured the then-Attorney General to conclude that the invasion would not be a violation of international law.
The International Herald Tribune reports world leaders meeting in London have agreed a timetable for the handover of security in Afghanistan, starting later this year. They also pledged $140 million toward a fund towards a plan to reintegrate moderate members of the Taliban, a figure that could rise to $500 million.
The Guardian says it has received official confirmation that Taliban commanders held secret exploratory peace talks with a United Nations special envoy in Dubai earlier this month.
Le Parisien reports former French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin has been cleared of charges that he had tried to smear Nicolas Sarkozy during their campaigns for president. The acquittal was a clear victory for the former prime minister, who has set his sights on the 2012 presidential elections.
News 24 says Hamas, rejecting charges of war crimes in a UN report, has said three Israeli civilians killed in rocket attacks by its members during Israel's Gaza offensive last year were hit by mistake. The explanation was part of its 52-page response to a UN report on last year's Gaza war by a panel led by jurist Richard Goldstone, which accused it of targeting civilians.
The New Hampshire announced the death of JD Salinger, the reclusive author of "The Catcher in the Rye". He was 91. Salinger was a giant of American literature whose seminal novel lent a voice to the angst and despair felt by generations of rebellious adolescents.
The New York Post reports a psychotic neighbour was arrested for brutally butchering - and stealing organs from - a New York woman who owned an employment agency and declined to find him a job. Police said the killing was the culmination of a campaign of harassment and assault that the man waged against the victim since 2006. Huang Chen, 47, allegedly ripped Qian Wu's lungs and heart from her body, and the organs still have not been recovered.
The Daily Telegraph quotes a British MP suggesting that people who administer bone-crushing hand-shakes to prove the strength of their personalities should be charged with assault. Paul Flynn, Labour MP wrote in his blog, that shaking hands was getting less popular. He aid they were unnecessary, unhygienic, germ-spreading intrusions.
Maariv says Israeli soldiers are getting new odour-free socks that can be worn for two weeks straight without smelling. The socks, which will be distributed to all new infantry recruits beginning in March, also prevent athlete's foot. The fabric includes metal components to keep bad odours and fungal infections at bay.