The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press:
The Times quotes Home Affairs Minister Carm Mifsud Bonnici saying that the imposition of a moratorium on fireworks production was risky. In other stories, it says that a US pastor’s plans to burn the Koran have been called off.
The Malta Independent asks if fireworks factories are following regulations. It also says that five women have died as a result of fireworks since 1882.
In-Nazzjon says the funerals of the fireworks victims have been postponed. It also reports that a new car park will be built at Victoria, Gozo, as part of the Ninu Cremona School complex.
l-orizzont says a quarter of births in Malta are out of wedlock.
The overseas press:
Fox News announces that the American pastor who said he would burn copies of the Koran tomorrow, has backed down. Terry Jones said he had been told the group planning an Islamic study centre near Ground Zero in New York would build it elsewhere. But the group has denied the pastor's claim.
The New York Post reveals Donald Trump has offered to buy out one of the major investors in the real estate partnership that controls the site, where a Muslim group wants to build a 13-storey Islamic centre and mosque. But the real estate investor said that as part of the deal, the backers of the mosque project would need to promise that any new mosque they constructed would be at least five blocks farther away from the World Trade Centre site. The current planned location is just two blocks north of the site.
The New York Times says the UN General Assembly has adopted a resolution calling for dialogue between Serbia and Kosovo. The resolution, agreed after weeks of intense negotiations, opened the way for direct talks between the two sides – the first since Kosovo became independent.
Le Parisien quotes French Immigration Minister Eric Besson saying France would not stop deporting Roma people. He was reacting to a call by the European Parliament for France to suspend the deportation immediately.
Aftonbladet says the EU has welcomed Iran's decision to suspend a sentence of death by stoning for a woman charged with adultery. In Sweden, the Iranian ambassador was summoned to Stockholm to assert the government's concerns. However it is unclear whether the woman still faced the death penalty, or if the sentence could be applied at a later date.
Le Soir reports a Belgian court has ruled that police raids conducted as part of the inquiry into clerical sexual abuse allegations and their subsequent cover-up by the Catholic church, were illegal. The ruling meant prosecutors must now hand back documents taken from the home of the former archbishop of Belgium, Cardinal Godfried Danneels, and other evidence gathered from church offices during raids last June.
Ha’aretz says Israel has confirmed it carried out airstrikes on two Hamas sites in the Gaza strip in retaliation for rocket and mortar attacks on Israeli towns from Palestinian territory. Palestinian security officials told Az-Zaman five were injured in the attacks.
Abrar announces the Iranian government would tomorrow release one of the three Americans held after they crossed into Iran from Iraq more than a year ago and imprisoned in Iran ever since. Their families say they strayed across the border while they were hiking.
Pravda says at least 17 people were killed and another 130 injured in a suicide car bombing at a market in Russia's North Caucasus region. Footage from the scene showed widespread damage around the market with many cars destroyed.
China Today reports a Chinese court has sentenced a provincial official responsible for rooting out corruption to death for accepting more than €780,000 in bribes. But he was given a two-year reprieve, which means if he showed good behaviour the sentence would probably be commuted to a life term.
USA Today says American marine commandos have stormed a cargo ship held by pirates at the Somali coast, regaining control and taking nine prisoners without firing a shot. The crew of the German-owned ship shut down the engines and took refuge in a secure room, leaving the vessel to drift.
El Mundo reports that a bull has killed a female spectator who poked her head through a barrier during a town bull run in central Spain. The town hall said it would hold a minute's silence for the victim and expressed its condolences to her family. But it said the town festival would not be suspended.
The Times says a rare copy of John James Audubon's “Birds of America”, billed as the world's most expensive book, is up for sale alongside a first edition of Shakespeare's plays at an auction at Sotheby's on December 7. One of only 100 or so remaining copies of “Birds of America” is valued at between 4.86 million euros and 7.3 million euros, while a Shakespeare First Folio from 1623 is expected to fetch at least 1.2 million euros.
NRC Handelsblad quotes a study by Dutch scientists which suggests high levels of the stress hormone cortisol damages the cardiovascular system and increases the risk of dying from heart disease. They said it was the first time cortisol, produced by the body in stressful situations to help it react quickly, had been directly linked to an increased risk of death from heart disease.
Trouw says Amsterdam's city council was considering raising the minimum age for prostitutes from 18 to 23. Councillors in favour of the idea say it would help ensure that those plying their trade in the city were doing so of their own free will.