The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press:
The Times says a legal anomaly could soften the penalty of general interdiction imposed in the VAT fraud cases since these were criminal, not civil cases. It also reports that the Prime Minister has reiterated his call for Independence Day to become the National Day.
The Malta Independent quotes the finance minister saying the government in the forthcoming Budget wants to eliminate unnecessary subsidies.
In-Nazzjon features the re-election of EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso. It also carries the Prime Minister's comments on Independence Day as the national day and a symbol of identity
l-orizzont says many Mcast students do not know when their IT courses will start because these courses will be provided by private teaching centres.
The Press in Britain...
The Daily Mail leads with the illegal employment by Attorney General Baroness Scotland of an illegal immigrant from Tonga, who has since been sacked.
The Daily Telegraph and The Times report that under new government plans to be announced today, patients will be able to register with any GP anywhere in the country.
The Sun says the family of fallen hero Paul McAleese have accused the Prime Minister of sending him to be killed by the Taliban.
The Guardian reveals evidence of a massive cover-up by the UK oil trader Trafigura, in one of the worst pollution disasters in recent history.
And according to The Independent, a UK oil trading giant has agreed to settle a damages claim from thousands of Africans who fell ill from tonnes of toxic waste dumped illegally.
The Financial Times says that after a Treasury leak, the Tories have accused Gordon Brown of covering up the state of the public finances.
Metro leads with the case of the two teenage boys cleared of a Columbine-style plot to blow up their school in Greater Manchester.
The Daily Star reveals that Katie Price, aka Jordan, has said the celebrity who raped her had struck before.
The Daily Mirror says it has been talking to the celeb in question and he firmly denies the allegations.
And elsewhere...
The International Herald Tribune says a statement expected to be adopted at today's EU meeting in Brussels endorses a call for more government control over bankers' pay.
New Europe reports that MEPs voted to keep Jose Manuel Barroso as European Commission president for another five years. He was elected by 382 votes for and 219 against. There were also 117 abstentions.
Börzen Zeitung quotes the OECD predicting that the current economic downturn will cost up to 25 million jobs in the developed world by the end of 2010. Unemployment in the organisation's 30-member countries is already approaching a record 10 percent.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has told Hadashot Hayom that his country will never withdraw to the borders that existed before the Six-Day War in 1967, when Israel captured the West Bank from Jordan, which at the time was administering it, the Gaza Strip from neighbouring Egypt and the Golan Heights from Syria.
Afghan Times reports President Hamid Karzai's campaign team has condemned as "irresponsible" claims by EU monitors that up to one-third of the ballots cast in last month's presidential election may be fraudulent.
La Gazzetta del Mezzogiorno reports that the former prostitute who allegedly spent the night with Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi was paid €10,000 to smuggle €1.5 million to the Middle East.
Meanwhile, La Repubblica says the popularity of Silvio Berlusconi has fallen to 47 per cent - its lowest point since he was re-elected for the third time in April last year.
In Australia, the Herald Sun reports that a father who allegedly raped his daughter almost daily for 30 years, kept her as a virtual prisoner and fathered her four children, has been charged by police.
The San Francisco Chronicle says police have found more bones near the home of US kidnap suspect Phillip Garrido. But they said it was too early to tell if they were human.
Cameroon Tribune reports that a lightning bolt struck and killed five children at a school in the north-west of the country. Some 58 others went into shock.
China Daily reports that the rate of birth defects in Beijing has nearly doubled in the past decade from 90 to 170 per 10,000 births. The paper suggested the increase is mainly due to improved diagnostic techniques and monitoring capability, as well as women waiting until they are older to have children.
Bulgarian Post says an investigation is underway after the same numbers were picked in straight draws in the national lottery. The numbers 4, 15, 23, 24, 35, and 42 were drawn on September 6 and again on September 10 in consecutive lottery rounds. The probability of this happening is 4.2 million to one.
Calling your boss "son of a whore" - once the ultimate insult in Spain - is no longer a sacking offence because the term is so common. El Mundo said a Catalan employment tribunal ordered that an employee who was dismissed for insulting his manager should not only get his job back but also receive €6,500 in compensation.