The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press:
The local press is dominated by the opening yesterday of the first block of SmartCity Malta. The Times quotes the Prime Minister saying this is the start of a renaissance for the area of Ricasoli. In-Nazzjon says a new era of opportunities has dawned. The other newspapers also features pictures of the new block on their front pages.
In other stories, The Times says that people who have not paid their TV licences may incur legal action.
The Malta Independent says AFM fixed wing aircraft have had a €2m refit. A piston-engined Islander had its engines converted to turbines.
l-orizzont says the Opposition will move a motion in Parliament for the repeal of new Mepa tariffs.
In-Nazzjon quotes the Prime Minister saying that education is the best way to create jobs.
The overseas press
The Jerusalem Post reports that the Israeli government has voted overwhelming in favour of legislation requiring non-Jewish new citizens to swear allegiance to the country as a "Jewish and democratic state". The controversial amendment, which has still to be approved by parliament before becoming law, was described as "inflammatory and racist" by the country's Arab minority. Labour Minister Isaac Herzog told the army radio said it took the country to "the edge of a chasm".
Asia Observer reports the wife of jailed Nobel prize-winning dissident Liu Xiaobo has reportedly been allowed to meet her husband. Liu Xia said her husband wept during their prison meeting, dedicating his Nobel Peace Prize to the "martyrs" of Tiananmen Square in 1989.
Meanwhile, according to CNN, Liu Xia has posted a message on the Internet saying that she had been placed under house arrest since visiting her husband. In a posting on her Twitter page, she said she did not know when she would allowed to leave her home or contact anyone. China reacted angrily to the decision to honour Mr Liu, calling him a criminal and protesting to Norway.
Times of Central Asia says the nationalist Ata Zhurt party has a narrow lead in the Kyrgyzstan landmark parliamentary elections, the first since 400 people died in inter-ethnic violence. With nearly 50 per cent of the votes counted, the party has secured about 9 per cent. Four other parties were close behind in the race for 120 seats in parliament. Six or seven parties are expected to dominate, none with a majority. Turnout was reported to be strong across the country.
Blic reports that more than a hundred people were arrested and scores were injured when Serbian riot police fought running battles with far-right supporters who tried to disrupt a gay pride march in central Belgrade. The protesters, chanting "death to homosexuals!" hurled bricks, stones, glass bottles and fireworks at the police. They also hurled Molotov cocktails at the headquarters of the ruling pro-Western Democratic Party.
Horst Seehofer, whose Bavarian CSU is part of governing federal coalition, has told the weekly news magazine Focus that Germany should not welcome more Muslim immigrants as it was clear that immigrants from other cultural circles, like Turkey or Arabic countries, had a hard time adapting. His comments, on the heels of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's meeting with Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin, were denounced by the opposition and some political allies.
Magyar Nemzet says the owners of the metals plant whose reservoir burst, flooding several towns in western Hungary with caustic red sludge, have expressed their condolences to the families of the seven people killed, as well as to those injured - and said they were sorry for not having done so sooner. The also said they were willing to pay compensation in proportion to its responsibility for the damage caused by the deluge.
The Daily Mail reports that the families of the six dead Red Cap military police officers, killed in Iraq in 2003, have reacted angrily to the news that a judge in Baghdad had dropped charges against two Iraqis accused of murdering them due to lack of evidence. The three-judge panel questioned nine people, mostly Iraqi police, but none said they saw the killings British officers.
Metro announces that leading magazine editors have named J. K. Rowling the most influential woman in Britain, judging the Harry Potter author more powerful than Queen Elizabeth, who was pushed into the third place. In second place was pop star turned fashion designer Victoria Beckham, wife of footballer David Beckham. Other women who made it into the top 10 were Prime Minister David Cameron's wife, Samantha Cameron, and fashion designer Vivienne Westwood. The list was compiled to mark the centenary of the National Magazine Company whose publications in Britain include Good Housekeeping, Country Living and Harper's Bazaar.
The New York Post says an Australian businessman acquitted of trying to rape a maid at a luxury boutique hotel in New York is now suing the hotel for $10 million - alleging its racy atmosphere contributed to the false charges against him. Matthew Moorhouse, 42, allegedly attacked the maid when she went to clean his room last November. He claimed she lied after he caught her rifling through his bag. He was acquitted in July. The hotel's floor-to-ceiling windows are well known for allowing nude guests to put on a show for passers-by in nearby park.