The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press:
The Times says a study has shown a rise in older drug users. It also says that the government is again insisting that medicine prices have to go down.
The Malta Independent says two Enemalta employees were hospitalised after a Marsa power station explosion yesterday morning. It also features the MHRA insistence that bus fares discrimination against tourists cannot be allowed.
In-Nazzjon says full time Development Control Commissions have been appointed at Mepa. It also reports on the violent student protests in London yesterday.
l-orizzont leads with the hospitalisation of DomMintoff. It also says that new evidence shows that the government had no intention of reducing the legal emission levels before BWSC appeared on the scene.
The overseas press
EU Observer says the European Union's executive has called for a trillion-euro investment in the bloc's infrastructure to meet growing demand this decade, and to overcome the inefficient legacy of separate national grids. Presenting the bloc's energy strategy for the next 10 years, EU Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger called the investment essential for Europe's future.
Die Presse announces that Austria has protested to Turkey after the Turkish ambassador suggested Turks living in Austria were treated "like a virus" and were denied the chance to integrate. Ambassdor Kadri Ecved Tezcan also told the daily newspaper that Austrian politicians were not doing enough to counter the rise of the far-right movement.
L’Osservatore Romano says the Vatican appealed to the Iraqi government to protect Christians after fresh attacks in Baghdad left at least six dead and dozens injured. The bombings of Christians' homes came after an October 31 suicide bomb attack on a Baghdad church in which 52 people died.
Meanwhile, Avvenire reports Pope Benedict XVI has replied to a letter from Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that called for "close cooperation" in defending religious liberties. The reply was presented to the Iranian head of state by Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, head of the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue. The Vatican did not disclose the contents of the Pope’s message.
Deutsche Welle quotes German Chancellor Angela Merkel saying she expected "tricky" discussions at the upcoming meeting of the Group of 20 top rich and emerging nations in Seoul. Major powers are likely to disagree on currency policy and plans to end exceptional economic stimulus measures. Merkel also pressed her fellow leaders to avoid any form of protectionism, amid criticism that certain countries, notably China and Japan, are keeping their currencies artificially low to encourage exports.
The British nationals focus on the student protests in Westminster, during which 33 people were arrested after they stormed the Tory headquarters. The Daily Telegraph reports the Metropolitan Police Commissioner has ordered an urgent inquiry into why his officers failed to prevent hundreds of student protesters storming Millbank Tower. Police admitted they were taken by surprise when violence erupted as 50,000 students protested against a rise in tuition fees. The Independent says the demonstrations brought violence to the capital's streets on a scale not seen since the poll tax riots 20 years ago.
The Times reports that the cargo bomb found at a British airport was timed to explode over the east coast of the US. A Scotland Yard spokesman cities such as New York, Boston, Washington DC, Philadelphia and Orlando could have been targeted by the explosive that had been hidden in a printer cartridge.
Le Point says French President Nicolas Sarkozy is set to board his €175-million luxury plane for the first time today with criticism of its extravagance ringing in his ears. Dubbed Air Sarko One, it is fitted with a double bedroom, an air-conditioned smoking room and an anti-missile system. It has been made ready just in time to whisk Mr Sarkozy to South Korea for the G20 summit. But opposition politicians have said the aircraft is ‘too flashy’ after nationwide protests against the government’s austerity measures. Government officials insisted the purchase of the Airbus A330 was a ‘necessary expense’.
The Washington Post says packs of US cigarettes are to feature new, graphic warning pictures including corpses and diseased lungs in the hope of deterring smokers. The images also include cancer patients. About 46 million adults in the US, or 20.6 per cent, smoke cigarettes, along with 19.5 per cent of high school students.
The New York Times reports the Metropolitan Museum of Art will return to Egypt 19 artefacts taken from the tomb of Tutankhamun. They include small figurines and jewellery, including a miniature bronze dog, a sphinx-shaped bracelet ornament and a necklace. Antiquities chief Zahi Hawass said the items would return to Egypt next year and become part of the permanent King Tutankhamun collection at the new Grand Egyptian Museum, which is under construction near the Giza pyramids and is scheduled to open in 2012. The pieces were sent to New York in 1948.