The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press:
The Times and the other newspapers lead with the riot by 500 migrants at Safi yesterday, and Enemalta’s announcement of proposed new energy tariffs. The newspaper reports that a migrant who escaped from detention was later found by the police in the water at Il-Maghluq, Marsascala.
The Malta Independent reports how a soldier and two Detention Service officers were hurt in yesterday’s riot.
In-Nazzjon describes the proposed energy tariff cuts as ‘substantial’. It also focuses on the Prime Minister’s statement to Parliament yesterday and says Joseph Muscat is continuing to deny figures showing Malta is a net beneficiary of EU funds.
l-orizzont leads with the riot and also reports that the GWU is seeking a secret vote to establish which trade union the port workers prefer.
The Press in Britain
The Guardian claims it has evidence of alleged war crimes committed by Israel during the 23-day offensive in the Gaza Strip earlier this year. The alleged offences involve the use of Palestinian children as human shields and the targeting of medics and hospitals.
The Independent leads on how a $1 trillion plan to restore the US banking system to health triggered a bout of frenzied buying on stock markets around the world.
The Daily Express reports that thousands of people are reaping the benefits of record low interest rates and paying virtually nothing for their mortgages.
The Daily Mail says "shameless" MPs have reluctantly agreed to give up some of their lavish perks – but only in return for a massive pay rise.
The Times reveals more than a million nurses, midwives and other NHS staff face losing a promised pay rise in the first sign of a salary squeeze for public sector workers.
The Daily Telegraph quotes a comprehensive study which shows that half of women and a third of men in England who suffer from cancer beat the disease.
The Daily Star claims mourners will line the streets to see a cortege of 21 Daimler limousines for reality TV show star Jade Goody’s funeral.
The Sun tells how the cancer-stricken celebrity’s two sons "put on brave smiles" a day after their mother died on Sunday.
The Daily Mirror dubs the five and four-year-old “Jade’s little fighters”.
And elsewhere…
The Wall Street Journal leads with the World Trade Organisation’s prediction that global trade will shrink by nine percent this year – the biggest contraction since World War Two. The forecast is far worse than the 2.8 percent fall predicted by the International Monetary Fund in January.
Moscow Times says Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has threatened to review ties with the European Union over a Ukrainian initiative to modernise its gas infrastructure. A Russian official said the plans appeared to harm Russian interests and bind Ukraine legally closer to the European Union.
The International Herald Tribune quotes Amnesty International saying executions around the world rose significantly in 2008. At least 2,390 people were executed in 25 countries, up from 1,252 in 2007. After Asia, the Middle East is still prolific in its use of capital punishment - and Belarus is the last country in Europe to continue using the death penalty.
Angola Observer says the Pope has made a final appeal for greater world solidarity to ensure the Earth’s resources are more equally shared. At the end of a seven-day trip to Africa, his first to the continent, he also urged Angola’s leaders to make “the fundamental aspirations of the most needy people” their main concern.
The Wall Street Journal says US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has announced details of a long-awaited plan to help rid banks of up to a trillion dollars worth of toxic assets. The banking plan will use low-interest loans and up to $100 billion of the administration's existing $700-billion bailout fund to encourage private investors to buy the bank's bad assets.
Bosses at American insurance giant AIG have agreed to give back around $30 million in bonuses. The New York Times reports some 15 of the top 20 bonus recipients in the firm's financial products division have agreed to give back their windfalls after US lawmakers have proposed a 90 percent tax on the bonuses.
The Globe & Mail says several Nobel peace prize laureates have threatened to boycott a conference in South Africa if the Dalai Lama were excluded from the peace conference, scheduled in Johannesburg this Friday. The South African government said it barred the Dalai Lama because it did not want to upset its relationship with China and found the timing for such a visit inappropriate.
Al-Quds al-Arabi reports that a top Palestinian official and three bodyguards have been killed in a bombing at a refugee camp near the southern Lebanese coastal city of Sidon. Kamal Medhat, the deputy representative of the Palestine Liberation Organisation in Lebanon, died when a roadside bomb exploded as his convoy drove near to the entrance to the camp.
Panapress reports that Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir is in Eritrea on his first trip abroad since the International Criminal Court issued a warrant for his arrest on charges of war crimes in Darfur.
Times of India says Tata Motors has unveiled the world's cheapest car, the Nano, which costs roughly €1,500 and will be cheap enough to tempt millions of Indians to upgrade their motorcycles and public transport tickets.