The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press.
The Times says that only now have Mayors been asked to refund honoraria payments handed out to them in error.
The Malta Independent reports how €44m have been spent so far on the City Gate project. It also says that the average age in Malta has hit 40.
In-Nazzjon leads with resignation of the Marsa Mayor after alleged sexual misconduct and says the PL had long known of the case but took no action.
l-orizzont highlights an increase in unemployment reported yesterday by the NSO. In another item it reports how a Magistrate was angered because of the repeated late arrival of prisoners in court.
The overseas press
President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney clashed over taxes, deficits and how to revive the US economy as they shared the stage for the first time in a high-stakes debate with the power to reshape the race for the White House. CNN says Obama said Romney wanted to return to the policies that hurt the US economy. Romney said Obama's policies had failed and America needed a change. The showdown was critical for Romney. With five weeks to go before the election, polls show Obama leading in the most important states in what is a state-by-state vote that decides the presidency. Still, the race remains tight and the three debates this month give Romney an opportunity to shift the momentum, taking on Obama before a television audience of tens of millions.
Al Jazeera reports that Iranian riot police have clashed with demonstrators and foreign exchange dealers in Tehran over the collapse of the country's currency, the rial, which has lost a third of its value against the US dollar in a week. As panicking Iranians scrambled to buy hard currencies, police fired tear gas to disperse angry demonstrators. Protesters shouted slogans against President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, saying his economic policies had fuelled the economic crisis.
Turkey has retaliated against Syria after a shell landed in a town across the Turkish border and killed five people, including a mother and her three children. Istanbul Post quotes a statement by the Turkish Prime Minister's office saying it was in response to a "mortar strike across the border". The mortar exploded in a residential area of the border town of Akcakale. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon urged Syria's government to respect the territorial integrity of its neighbours and called for an end to violence against Syrians. The US also condemned the shelling.
At least 40 people were killed in a series of explosions in the centre of the northern Syrian city of Aleppo. Citing medical sources, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 90 others were wounded. State television Al-Ikhbariya TV said four blasts ripped through Aleppo's main Saadallah al-Jabiri Square and a fifth struck a few hundred metres away, on the fringes of the Old City where rebels and forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad have been fighting.
According to EurasiaNet, the winner of Georgia's parliamentary elections, tycoon Bidzina Ivanishvili, is backtracking on his call for President Mikheil Saakashvili to resign. Ivanishvili said Wednesday he was not issuing an ultimatum in asking Saakashvili to step down. Instead, he offered to cooperate with the incumbent president on the formation of a new government. Earlier, Georgia speaker said Ivanishvili's call violated the constitution, which required the president to help the election winner form a new government.
Il Tempo reports that Vatican police, testifying at the high-profile trial of Pope Benedict XVI's former butler, said they had found more than 1,000 confidential papers in Paolo Gabriele's apartment. The papers, both copies and originals, were many more than have been leaked to the press and included some signed by the Pope himself as well as letters from cardinals and politicians, officers told trial. Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said a verdict "could be expected on Saturday".
Despite its debt crisis and deep recession, Greece says it is planning to invest in the construction of a Formula 1 race track. Kathermini reports that the Athens government said Wednesday it would spend more than €28.5 million on the project – about a third of the cost of building the track it hoped would attract Grand Prix races. Officials said the track would boost tourism and create jobs.