The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press:
All the Maltese newspapers give prominence to yesterday's blackout. The Times says the outage was caused when an old boiler failed. l-orizzont says this was the second major power failure in four-and-a-half months. In-Nazzjon says the link to the power grid in Italy and the extension of the Delimara power station are government priorities.
In other stories, The Times, The Malta Independent and In-Nazzjon report that Palumbo, the Italian company which is to take over the dockyard, does not want to be bound to retain the current workforce. The workers have been offered early retirement or employment by the government.
The Times features a demonstration against Switzerland held by Libyans in Valletta yesterday.
In-Nazzjon reports the traffic fatality in one of the Kirkop tunnels yesterday morning and Commissioner John Dalli's meeting with the Prime Minister during which the EU's new Strategy 2020 was discussed.
l-orizzont says that the House Public Accounts Committee yesterday started discussing the dockyard's Fairmount ship conversion contracts. It resulted that only three persons were involved in the negotiation of the contracts. The newspaper also features the Kirkop fatality. It says the fatality was caused when a van overtook a car and crashed into a wall at the tunnel entrance.
The overseas press
The International Herald Tribune reports that EU foreign ministers have increased the pressure on Israel, calling for a total freeze on Jewish settlements in Palestinian territories.
Meanwhile, The Washington Times quotes Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in Washington for talks with President Obama, asserting Israel's "right to build" in Jerusalem, amid a row with the US over plans for new homes in the city. "Jerusalem is not a settlement, it's our capital," he said. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had earlier urged Israel to make "difficult but necessary choices" for peace.
EU Observer says EU foreign ministers have called on Iran to end state censorship. They condemned the jamming of a number of major European broadcasters as "unacceptable" and called for an immediate end to the interference.
The EU's condemnation comes a day after Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, launched a fierce attack on the US and other Western countries in his address to the nation. Abrar says Khamenei accused the West of supporting and siding with anti-government rioters last year.
Le Parisien reports President Sarkozy has reshuffled his cabinet after a heavy defeat for his party in regional polls. Labour Minister Xavier Darcos has been replaced by Budget Minister Eric Woerth, whose place is being taken by Francois Baroin.
Xinhua says China has criticized Google's decision to stop censoring its search engine results, accusing it of violating a "written promise" it made when entering the market to abide by laws requiring it to filter its search service. The US company had earlier said its Chinese users would be redirected to the uncensored pages of its Hong Kong website.
Metro announces that the British Labour Party has suspended three former Cabinet ministers and a backbencher over allegations they were prepared to use their position to influence government policy for cash. Stephen Byers, Geoff Hoon, Patricia Hewitt and Margaret Moran had been suspended pending a full investigation following the screening of a Channel 4 documentary.
Turkey's NTV television news network quotes the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) saying new legal reforms were essential for bringing the country's political system in line with the criteria for joining the European Union. But senior judges have called the proposed reforms unconstitutional and accused the government of using liberal reform ideas as a cover for the encroachment of religious rule.
Afghan Times reports President Hamid Karzai has met a major Taliban-linked insurgent group in a step toward national reconciliation. Officials of the group presented 15-point peace plan, which called for all foreign troops to leave Afghanistan within six months beginning from July and the replacement of the current Afghan parliament by an interim government which would hold local and national elections within a year.
London's Evening Standard reports that a prisoner in the UK, addicted to tobacco, is seeking damages after he was banned from smoking for swearing at a prison officer.
USA Today says a jilted North Carolina woman had a good measure of revenge after a jury ordered her unfaithful husband's mistress to pay her $10 million (€7.4 million) for destroying her marriage. The 60-year-old woman said she gave up her teaching career to raise the couple's two children and support her 62-year-old husband in his career. She insisted that they were still in love when the 49-year-old college administrator came along. The mistress said she planned to appeal the "ludicrous" judgment, insisting the couple met after his marriage had ended.