The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press:
The Times reports that two former members of the Development Control Commission were acquitted in the Mistra disco case. It also says that no harmful material was found on the Arctic Sea in an inspection by a Maltese team. In another story, it reports that an 11-year-old boy discovered a Butterfly bomb which he carried to show to his father, who immediately realised what it was. The bomb was detonated by the AFM yesterday.
The Malta Independent says the Arctic Sea is expected to enter Grand Harbour today after an inspection yesterday. It also says that a Czech court is still hearing a challenge to the Lisbon Treaty.
In-Nazzjon leads with the acquittals in the Mistra case, a decision welcomed by the PN and by Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando.
l-orizzont says the court decision on the Mistra case did not go into the merits of whether or not a disco should have been allowed in that bay. It also reports that tourism arrivals and earnings dropped alarmingly in August.
The Press in Britain...
The Times has learnt Tony Blair will stand for the EU presidency only if EU leaders agree that the role is a substantial one on the world stage.
The Independent leads with the highly critical report into the Nimrod aircraft crash that killed 14 British servicemen in Afghanistan.
The Herald says cost-cutting at the Ministry of Defence and a culture that placed business priorities over safety practices led directly to the deaths of the 14 UK service personnel.
The Guardian claims the MoD and BAE Systems face the prospect of unprecedented legal action in the wake of the report into the crash of an ageing RAF Nimrod aircraft.
The Daily Mail reveals human eggs and sperm have been grown in a laboratory in research which could change the face of parenthood.
The Daily Telegraph says schools are reporting 40,000 incidents of racism a year involving children as young as five after everyday playground squabbles.
According to the Financial Times, the government is to give Lloyds the go-ahead to market-test its ambitious plan for a £25 billion refinancing.
The Daily Record says BNP leader Nick Griffin fled Scotland after being pelted with eggs.
The Daily Express asks what has happened to Britain as it reports that thugs killed a puppy by stamping on it in front of its young owner.
The Sun claims fare dodgers and council tax evaders could have their homes searched and cash seized by council officials.
The Daily Mirror reports MPs have vowed to fight moves to slash lavish Commons perks and stop them putting relatives on the pay-roll.
According to the Daily Star, Barbara Windsor is to quit EastEnders after 15 years. Metro says an English mother-of-12 who used her children as a cash cow to extract more than £52,000 (€58,000) in state benefits walked free from court after pleading guilty to 10 counts of tax benefit fraud at an earlier hearing. A nine-month sentence, suspended for two years, was imposed. Marie Louise Freeman, 42, claimed nine of her children and a fictitious daughter were disabled to obtain tax credits.
And elsewhere...
Environmental Daily says UN's top climate official Yves de Boer has called on the European Union, whose leaders begin a two-day summit on today in Brussels, to declare the EU's financial contribution towards a financial package to help poorer countries adapt to inevitable climate changes. He said only such action would push developing countries to announce their own programme for limiting the growth of greenhouse gas emissions.
El Pais reports the European Union has seen a 17 per cent drop in the number of illegal migrants. A total of 51,600 illegal border crossings were detected during the first six months of 2009.
Berliner Zeitung leads with the swearing-in of Angela Merkel for a second term as German chancellor of a centre-right government coalition of her Christian Democratic Party, its Bavaria-only sister party the Christian Social Union, and the pro-business Free Democrats. In his address to the new government, President Horst Koehler called on Merkel and her 15 ministers to help give European integration a boost.
Dawn reports that a car bomb has ripped through a crowded market in north-western Pakistan, killing 91 people and wounding more than 200, just hours after US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived in the country to show US support for its campaign against Islamist militants.
Afghan Times says Taliban militants wearing suicide vests stormed a guest house used by UN staff in the heart of the Afghan capital, killing 11 people, including five UN staff, in the biggest in a series of attacks intended to undermine next month's presidential run-off election.
Pravda reports Russia's space agency is proposing to build a new spaceship with a nuclear engine. Its chief Anatoly Perminov said today that the preliminary design could be ready by 2012. It will then take nine more years and around €650 billion to build it. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev urged his cabinet to consider providing the necessary funding.
O Globo says the Catholic Church has announced plans to raise $US3.5 million (€2.4million) for a major upgrade of Christ the Redeemer, the iconic giant statue of Jesus with outstretched arms that overlooks Rio de Janeiro. Cleaning and repairing the 78 year-old statue will take between four and six months. The 30-metre tall stone and cement Christ the Redeemer stands on an eight-metre high pedestal on top of Mount Corcovado, overlooking the metropolis of around 10 million people.