The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press:
The Times leads with a follow-up on the attempted robbery at the HSBC Centre in Qormi. It also interviews a man hit by a horse during the Mnarja races.
The Malta Independent reports that within two minutes the people were told yesterday after increases in gas prices and Mepa tariffs.
l-orizzont raises questions over whether the robbers in the HSBC case had inside information. It also asks how the government is considering buying St Philip's Hospital from Frank Portelli when it has three empty hospital buildings.
In-Nazzjon says immigration will top the agenda of talks between Prime Ministers Gonzi and Berlusconi in Rome.
The overseas press
The Wall Street Journal reports that manufacturing around the world lost momentum in June, adding to worries that global economies are poised for slower growth in the months ahead.
Kathemerini says Greece is bracing itself for its sixth general strike this year as the biggest private sector labour union has called a new nationwide stoppage next week to protest against proposed reforms to the debt-laden country's pension and labour systems.
Lahore Times says 35 people have been killed and 35 other wounded - 25 of them critical - as at least two suicide bombers attacked a popular Muslim shrine in Pakistan's second largest city. The blasts ripped concrete from the walls, twisted metal gates and left wires hanging from the ceiling.
The Jerusalem Post quotes Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying that he was prepared to set free 1,000 Palestinian prisoners if the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas released Gilad Shalit, the soldier its militants captured four years ago. In a live address to the country, Netanyahu warned the nation could not "pay any price" because past experience showed that many Palestinians released had returned to carry out attacks on Israelis.
The Guardian said a referendum would be held next May as part of the British government's promise to undertake electoral reform. The decision comes after the Conservative Party promised to restructure the voting system as part of its coalition agreement with the Liberal Democrats, who have long considered the first-past-the-post method as unfair.
Asahi News says Toyota would recall 270,000 vehicles worldwide to fix faulty engines. Of the 270,000 recalled cars, some 180,000 were sold overseas and 90,000 in Japan. The latest quality lapse comes as the world's largest car manufacturer scrambles to repair its reputation following the recall of 8.5 million vehicles around the globe because of problems with sticking accelerator pedals. Toyota was slapped with a record $16.4 million (€13.1 million) fine in the United States for acting too slowly to recall vehicles with defects.
According to Austrian newspaper Der Standard, some 20,000 protesters demonstrated in Vienna yesterday in support of a Kosovan family which was due to be deported. After a 10-year battle to stay in the country, their case has led to claims the country's asylum laws were inhumane. In the run-up to the protest, Austria's Green party collected over 10,000 signatures petitioning for the family to stay in Austria.
Frettabladid says Finland's parliament has overwhelmingly approved government plans to allow a consortium of national utility groups and a German partner to construct two more nuclear power plants in the country. The two new reactors would make the country self-sufficient in electric power generation by 2020.
The Age says a surgeon, dubbed "Dr Death" in Australia for a string of botched operations, has been sentenced to seven years in prison for killing three patients and causing permanent harm to another. Indian-born US citizen Jayant Patel, 60, was convicted of three counts of manslaughter and one of causing grievous bodily harm while he was a surgeon at a hospital in Queensland state from 2003 and 2005.
Bild reports that a 25-year-old woman who was abducted in Hamburg last month and sexually abused by her captor for a week has been found and returned to her family. After questioning the victim, the police tracked down the house where she had been held. There,the police found her alleged captor dead. They said the 49-year-old man appeared to have killed himself.
Metro says Ryanair has announced it would introduce standing passengers on its short duration flights within the next two years. CEO Michael O'Leary aid travel in vertical seats fitted with seat belts would cost just four euros. He said they planned to remove the last 10 seats to make room for 15 seats vertical. Aviation experts are skeptical whether the CAA would approve the plan.
France 24 says that as the first two quarter finals of the 2010 World Cup tournament kick-off later today, South Africa's National Union of Mineworkers has notified the power utility company it was staging a strike over wage increases next week. However, it maintained the workers would only plunge the tournament in darkness only as a last resort. The strike has been declared illegal since electricity supply was an essential service. Two other unions involved in providing electricity are considering their positions.