The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press:
The Times reports a European Court decision against monopolies which will benefit the Maltese e-gaming industry. It also says that the aims of a fund-collection at Xagħra is unclear.
The Malta Independent quotes Vince Farrugia, GRTU Director General, expressing concern about the contraction of the construction sector. It also reports that the Gharb fireworks factory claimed its sixth victim yesterday.
In-Nazzjon says the Gozo diocese will issue directives on fireworks in feasts.
l-orizzont says the nomination of Silvio Camilleri as Chief Justice was not well received by some members of the judiciary.
The overseas press:
Sky News says it has learnt that radical Muslim groups around the world intend to burn American flags in protest at plans by a Christian church in the US to burn copies of the Koran next Saturday on the anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks on the US.
Deutsche Welle reports that the introduction of a new €11 surcharge for travellers to the United States has drawn the ire of the European Commission, which has called the levy "regrettable" and "inconsistent" with visa-free travel. EU Home Affairs Commissioner Cecilia Malmstroem has warned the new US fees amounted to introducing visas through the backdoor.
El Universal leads with the Mexican government's angry reaction to US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton's suggestion that drug-related violence in Mexico increasingly resembled that of Colombia 20 years ago, when the narco-traffickers controlled certain parts of the country. Mexican government spokesman Alejandro Poire said the only aspect that the Mexican and Colombian conflicts shared was their root cause - a high demand for drugs in the US. Mr Poire also denied that the presence of drug cartels was tantamount to an insurgency.
The Financial Times says the oil rig owner, partly blamed by BP for the Gulf of Mexico spill, has hit back, claiming BP's cost cutting put safety at risk. Transocean was criticised in BP's internal inquiry, along with cement contractor Halliburton. But the Swiss group attacked the investigation, as "a self-serving report" that attempted to conceal the critical factor for the Macondo well incident - BP's fatally-flawed well design. Halliburton also attacked the report for ‘substantial omissions and inaccuracies'.
Lagos' The Guardian reports a radical Muslim sect used assault rifles to free more that 750 prisoners in an armed attack on a Nigerian prison. Five people - a soldier, a police officer, two prison guards and a civilian - died in the attack and six others were in critical condition.
Metro says the Pope has thanked the British people for the "vast amount of work" they had carried out for his upcoming UK next week's visit. Speaking in English at his weekly general audience, he said he was looking forward to beatifying Cardinal John Henry Newman, a 19th century Anglican convert to Catholicism whose beatification on September 19 was a central reason for the trip.
The Irish Times quotes the Samaritans warning of an increase in the rates of suicide among men between their thirties and fifties because of the recession. The charity said the implications of the economic downturn were now playing havoc with people's lives: these men are most likely the main breadwinners and struggle if they lose their jobs
Bloomberg says one of the world's leading scientists believes cancer could be cured within a decade. Dr James Watson, who cracked the genetic code more than 50 years ago, said enough knowledge might already exist to stop the killer disease. The 82-year-old said it was now up to the scientific community to speed up testing on living patients.
Nassau Guardian reports fishermen who caught a 3.6-metre-long tiger shark in the Bahamas found two severed human legs in its stomach and two arms and a severed torso inside its belly. Police are awaiting DNA results to tell them if the remains belong to two men aged 62 and 47 who were reported missing at sea recently or a fisherman whose boat capsized.
Buffalo News says a 90-year-old man has been jailed for 17 years for battering his wife of 67 years to death with a hammer. John Bunz had admitted last July hitting 89-year-old Virginia about 30 times with a hammer after the couple argued in March at the retirement village apartment they shared. Bunz, a retired chemist, was admitted to hospital briefly after the attack for injuries described as self-inflicted.