The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press:
The Times says a severe flu outbreak is stretching hospitals to the limit. The newspaper and the papers also report on how a light truck almost fell off a bridge on the Regional Road.
The Malta Independent says Malta outperformed other countries in new industrial orders in October.
In-Nazzjon says full time workers increased in July and industrial orders were up strongly in October. It also gives reasons leading to the increase in milk prices.
l-orizzont says there is a crisis of overcrowding in the Emergency Department of Mater Dei Hospital. It also reports a Labour statement on the increase in government debt.
The overseas press:
London’s Independent leads with the warning from the United Nations that a surge in world food prices could cause riots, geopolitical tensions and increasing hunger among the world’s poorest people. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization's monthly food price index rose for the sixth consecutive month to 214.7, surpassing even the peak 213.5 of the June 2008 food crisis, which prompted civil disturbances from Mexico to Indonesia.
The Wall Street Journal leads with the partial publication of the findings of the US presidential commission which found that the explosion that triggered last year's Gulf of Mexico oil spill was an avoidable disaster that resulted from management failures by BP PLC and its contractors, Transocean and Halliburton.
The Republicans have taken control of the US House of Representatives, setting up what The Washington Times says are likely to be fierce clashes with Democrats over spending, debt and healthcare. The 112th US Congress was sworn in two months after mid-term elections saw President Barack Obama's Democrats routed by the Republicans.
The Sydney Morning Herald reports more heavy rain were forecast for eastern Australia, threatening flash floods for communities where hundreds of homes were already under water. Forecasters predict central and southern Queensland would be worst hit by the latest deluge which would last into the weekend. In the city of Rockhampton, some 500 homes were evacuated as the Fitzroy river peaked at 9.2 metres. The town of St George is braced for the Balonne river to peak by Sunday.
Sweden’s English-language news website, The Local, reports that between 50 and100 jackdaws, a bird species in the crow family, fell dead in central Sweden late on Tuesday night, days after thousands of birds fell to their deaths in the US. Police in the town of Falkoeping have told Aftonbladet that some birds had been hit by cars but others have no visible injuries. Veterinary officials said there could be a number of reasons such as "disease or poisoning".
Los Angeles Times says a bodyguard to Michael Jackson has testified the singer's doctor ordered him to clean up medical paraphernalia in the moments after he died. And a paramedic said Dr Conrad Murray did not mention he had given Jackson propofol, an anaesthetic found to have caused the singer's death. The testimony came at a preliminary hearing for Dr Murray, who has pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter. Prosecutors say his negligence led to Jackson's death aged 50 in June 2009.
Passengers on a Turkish Airlines jet have overpowered a man who tried to hijack their flight from Norway to Istanbul. Cumhuriyet reports that the man put on a mask and tried to force his way into the cockpit, saying he had a bomb. He was said to have demanded that the plane return to Oslo before being subdued by passengers. The man was arrested when the plane landed at Istanbul's Ataturk airport. No-one was hurt.
Sky News quotes an Amnesty International report saying women and girls who survived last year’s earthquake in Haiti were facing an increasing risk of rape and sexual violence from armed men who roam the camps after dark. More than 250 cases of rape in several camps were reported in the first 150 days after January's earthquake and, one year on, rape victims continued to arrive at the office of a local women's support group almost every other day.
Metro reports that a hero fireman honoured for rescuing victims of one of the July 7 London bombs has been jailed for 14 years for his role in a £100 million (€117 million) cocaine ring. Simon Ford, 41, admitted he was a key player in a sprawling network of underworld crime gangs responsible for flooding south-east England with drugs. A total of 33 criminals linked to the operation have been sentenced to more than 200 years in prison for offences including conspiracy to supply cocaine, money laundering and firearms offences.