The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press:
The Times says that Arriva, the majority shareholder in the consortium that is leading bids for the new public transport service contract, has issued a call among its overseas staff wishing to be seconded to Malta, including managers and a driver trainer. It also reports growing criticism in the EU to plans on GM crops announced by Commissioner John Dalli.
The Malta Independent says the best bus drivers are expected to leave the bus service once Arriva takes over. It also says that according to BirdLife, the prime minister is having false hopes about a longer spring hunting season.
l-orizzont focuses on difficulties faced by persons with disability to get medicines from Paola health centre.
In Nazzjon says a record number of students have applied to join Mcast. It also reports that the ETC has made 800 job placements as a result of EU funds used by the ETC to subsidise the salaries of recruits.
The overseas press:
The Washington Times reports President Barack Obama has confirmed the end of all combat operations in Iraq by the end of the month. Speaking at the national convention of the Disabled American Veterans in Atlanta, Georgia, Mr Obama said some 50,000 of 65,000 US troops currently in Iraq were set to remain until the end of 2011 to advise Iraqi forces and protect US interests. He said America's commitment in Iraq was changing from a military to a civilian effort.
The Jerusalem Post says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has informed UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon of Israel's decision to take part in a UN investigation of its deadly raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla in which nine Turkish activists died after being shot by Israeli commandos boarding their ship. Mr Netanyahu said Isreal had no problem whatsoever with a credible, objective panel".
Frontier Post says hundreds of survivors of devastating floods in Pakistan have gathered in Peshawar to protest against the government's slow response. They accused the government of failing to provide adequate shelter, food and medicine in the aftermath of the disaster, which has killed at least 1,500 people. According to the Red Cross, some 2.5 million people across the country have been affected by the floods.
The Washington Post says the the blown-out well in the Gulf of Mexico gushed 12 times faster than the government and BP estimated in the early weeks of the crisis and has spilled a whopping 4.9 million barrels, or 205.8 million gallons. The new flow rate figures came as engineers made final preparations for a "static kill" operation that might plug the well permanently.
Asia Times reports nine workers have been killed and seven others were trapped after lethal gas leaked into a coal mine in central China. The paper said 127 miners were underground and 111 escaped unharmed. Over the weekend, 24 workers were trapped in a flooded mine in northeast China's Heilongjiang province, while a blast at a workers' dormitory at another mine in the northern city of Linfen in Shanxi province killed at least 17 people.
China Daily says a drunk man killed 11 people when he went on an hour-long rampage driving a tractor in China, smashing into shops and vehicles. Eight people were killed outright and 20 the three others died in hospital. The man had earlier killed a customer at the coal depot where he worked driving the shovel loader. He will face the death penalty if convicted of murder.
Corriere della Sera reports Italian opposition no-confidence motions against Justice Undersecretary Giacomo Caliendo would be taken tomorrow, paving the way for the possible collapse of the government after last week's split between Premier Silvio Berlusconi and the co-founder of his People of Freedom (PdL) party, House Speaker Gianfranco Fini. Caliendo, who is being probed by Rome prosecutors for alleged involvement in an influence-peddling lobby known as the P3, denies wrongdoing and is staunchly defended by Berlusconi.
The New York Times says a Brooklyn federal jury has convicted two men of plotting to cripple the US economy and kill thousands of people by blowing up the fuel pipeline at JFK. It took the jury five days to convict Russell Defreitas, 67, and Abdul Kadir, 58, a Shite convert and former member of the Guyanese parliament, of plotting what the US attorney called "one of the most chilling plots imaginable". They face life in prison.
RadarOnline reports Hollywood starlet Lindsay Lohan is at the UCLA Medical Centre under police guard to begin a 90-day rehabilitation stint. Lohan, 24, arrived at the facility less than 20 minutes after she was released from jail, after serving just 14 days of her 90-day stint in prison after for violating terms of her probation related to her 2007 drink-driving conviction.
Meanwhile, The New York Post says actor Charlie Sheen has pleaded guilty to assault in a Christmas Day argument with his wife Brooke and was sentenced to 30 days in a rehabilitation centre, 30 days of probation and 36 hours of anger management. He has 30 days to report to the Promises Treatment Center in California.