The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press:
The Times reports that the Prime Minister has promised stronger anti-corruption laws. He was speaking yesterday at the PN mass meeting to mark Independence. It also reports that nurses have suspended industrial action and talks have started with the government.
The Malta Independent focuses on the Prime Minister's call for Independence Day to be celebrated by everyone. It also reports on the meeting between the government and the MUMN.
In-Nazzjon highlights the call by the Prime Minister for the people to be proud of their achievements and to continue taking the necessary decisions for change.
l-orizzont says the Prime Minister's declarations on the power station extension contract were not well received and were censored by his own party, among others.
The overseas press:
The New York Times quotes UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon urging world leaders to lift millions of people out of poverty despite the global economic downturn. Opening a special summit to review the progress on UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), Ban said budgets should not be balanced on the back of the poor. He told some 140 presidents, prime ministers and scores of foreign ministers attending the three-day summit that the goals were achievable, even if they were "badly behind schedule".
France 24 says that in response, President Sarkozy pledged to increase his contribution to the global fund to fight Aids, tuberculosis and malaria by 20 per cent over the next three years. And he urged other developed countries to do the same.
Frettabladid says the far-right Sweden Democrats, who secured 5.7 percent of the vote in Sunday's election, have taken seats from the ruling coalition and might hold decisive votes in a hung parliament. The ruling coalition led by Fredrik Reinfeld was set to fall three seats short of a parliamentary majority. The leader of the Sweden Democrats, 31-year-old Jimmie Akesson, dismissed popular concern that his party's new-found success could destabilize Swedish politics.
In the UK, The Times, The Guardian and The Independent devote their front page to Nick Clegg's keynote speech at the Liberal Democrat Party annual conference, saying the coalition with the Tories had not destroyed the party's soul. Speaking a few hours after delegates voted to boycott government plans over school reform and amid fears over sweeping cuts, the deputy prime minister insisted this was "the right government for right now".
Deutsche Welle reports the German Bishops' Conference has begun its annual autumn meeting by apologising for the Catholic Church's sex abuse scandal. Yet one demand for financial compensation of €80,000 to each victim was dismissed as "unrealistic". The meeting of 67 bishops and auxiliary bishops from 27 dioceses was set to discuss how sexual abuse of minors can better be prevented in the future.
El Tiempo says the Colombian Farc group leader Sixto Cabana was among the 27 rebels killed in an attack on a camp near the Ecuadorean border on Sunday. Cabana, 55, was wanted in the US for alleged cocaine trafficking and a reward of $2.5 million (€1.9 million) had been offered for information leading to his arrest.
Az Zaman reports that more than 600 antiquities have been returned to the Iraqi National Museum after they were found in boxes in Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's office. The missing historical artefacts, some dating back thousands of years, had been smuggled out of Iraq at various times and ended up in the US. They were moved back to Iraq in early 2009 but went missing after that.
According to Metro, a ferry boss landed himself in hot water when he described Britons wanting jobs on his ships as ‘fat and covered in tattoos'. Pim de Lange, a Dutch director at Stena Line, said British jobseekers were overweight and not fit enough to staff the company's ferries. His comments followed reports that Stena was hiring Filipino workers at a rate of €2.61 an hour - a fraction of the minimum wage of €6.90.
Le Togolais reports the former coach of Togo's national football team has been suspended for three years after hosting a fake match in Bahrain earlier this month. Togo's football federation said Tchanile Bana organised a friendly game in Riffa, which was played without the sports body being informed. A group of players pretending to be the national team lost the match 3-0. Bana had already been suspended for two years for hosting a fake match against Egypt in July.