The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press:
The local press is dominated by the resignation of Parliamentary Secretary Chris Said yesterday.
The Times leads with a comment by Dr Said: "I did nothing wrong". He also admitted he made a genuine mistake.
The Malta Independent says Dr Said stepped down to be free to fight perjury charges.
In-Nazzjon says Dr Said's decision to resign showed political correctness and seriousness.
l-orizzont leads with the PL comment that Dr Gonzi's statement of support to Dr Said amounted to pressure on the judiciary.
In other stories, The Times reports how two boys admitted their involvement in the involuntary homicide of a boy who died in an explosion when they playfully lit a fire.
The Malta Independent, like The Times, also features the inauguration of the Hagar Qim and Mnajdra temples protective tents and visitors' centre yesterday.
In-Nazzjon gives prominence to the major aircraft modifications contract awarded to Lufthansa Technik Malta by Lufthansa.
l-orizzont says flour prices are expected to rise again, putting more bakeries out of business.
The overseas press
The Financial Times reports that members of the eurozone would be forced to pay punitive fines if they did not keep their public finances under control. According to documents seen by the newspaper, the proposed legislation, to be presented on Wednesday by European commissioner for economic and monetary affairs, Olli Rehn, fines equivalent to 0.2 per cent of the gross domestic product would be levied on eurozone members who consistently fail to bring down their public debt levels. Other penalties could also be imposed on member states that fail to control their annual spending or fail to reform their economies to improve their competitiveness.
The New York Times reports UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has warned of growing political polarisation and social inequalities and implored UN members to show greater tolerance and mutual respect to bring the world together. In his keynote speech to the opening of the General Assembly's annual ministerial meeting, the UN chief told leaders from the 192-member nations that people everywhere were living in fear of losing their jobs and too many were caught in conflict.
The International Herald Tribune says the US delegation, closely followed by 27 European Union delegations, left the UN general assembly in protest against Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. In his address, Mr Ahmadinejad claimed that the US government had orchestrated the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington in order to firm up its grip on the Middle East and stimulate the American economy. President Obama described Ahmadinejad's remarks as "outrageous and offensive."
CNN reports Mr Obama urging world leaders to unite behind efforts to find a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He warned that if the US-backed initiative that was launched three weeks ago failed, Palestinians would never get a state and Israel would never know true security.
The left-leaning Liberation daily paper leads with the second round of strikes against President Nicolas Sarkozy's plan to raise the retirement age from 60 to 62. Trains, planes and schools across France were affected. Mr Sarkozy has indicated he is willing to make marginal concessions but remains firm on the central pillar of the reform: increasing the retirement age from 60 to 62 and pushing back the age from 65 to 67 for those who want to ensure full retirement benefits.
Pakistani Times says protests broke out across Pakistan after a court in New York sentenced a Pakistani scientist to 86 years in prison for trying to kill Amrican agents and military officers in Afghanistan. The woman, Aafia Siddiqui, was convicted earlier this year. Prosecutors in New York called her an al-Qaeda sympathiser and sought life imprisonment.
MSNBC reports that Teresa Lewis, the 41-year-old murderer who used sex and cash to persuade hitmen to kill her family, has become the first woman to be executed in the United States in five years and in Virginia since 1912. Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell said medical and psychological reports provided no compelling reason to grant clemency to Lewis, who admitted to conspiring to murder her husband and stepson.
Le Monde quotes a new OECD report which reveals that obesity levels have reached endemic proportions and that extreme overweight was fast becoming the prevalent public health problem in many of its 33 member states. If recent trends continued, more than 2 out of 3 people would be overweight within the next 10 years. The reasons for the obesity surge included a reduction in the price of calories, altered living and working conditions that have reduced the amount of daily physical activity, increased stress levels and longer working hours.
The Irish Independent says a drug used to treat diabetes has been withdrawn by the Irish Medicines Board after a warning from the EU. There are fears Rosiglitazone, also known by the brand names Avandia, Avandamet and Avaglim, may impact on cardiovascular health. The IMB is urging patients who are currently taking these medicines to make an appointment with their doctor. However, they are advised not to abruptly stop taking the drug, while doctors are advised not to issue any new or repeat prescriptions.
Metro features the story of a woman in Canada, diagnosed with an 'untreatable' form of bone cancer, who survived being 'cut in half' to remove a tumour that doctors deemed the biggest they'd ever seen. Janis Ollson, a 31-year-old mother of two, was diagnosed with sarcoma - a form of bone cancer that cannot be treated with chemotherapy or radiotherapy. The operation involved removing the tumour, the lower half of Janis' spine, her left leg and part of her pelvis. It took 20 hours, 12 specialists and 20 units of blood to carry out the initial procedure. The second part of the operation took place after a week's rest, lasting eight hours and requiring over 240 staples to put Janis back together.