The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press:

The Times says the EU has been told to double the tax on smoking. It also says that fresh charges are to be filed against police officers after they were acquitted because of mistakes on the charge sheet.

The Malta Independent says voters in France and Greece have rejected austerity.

In-Nazzjon says graduates in Malta find a job quickest in the EU.

l-orizzont leads with the court case where a Libyan man was accused, and admitted, to raping his Maltese wife after trying to strangle her. He was jailed for eight years after a plea bargain agreement.

The overseas press:

Asahi Shimbun  reports that Tokyo stocks opened 0.78 per cent higher this morning, coming back from a heavy loss the previous day as markets digested the results of European elections. The euro bought $1.3054 and ¥104.31 in early Asian trade, little changed from $1.3052 and 104.28 yen in New York late on Monday. The defeat of ruling parties in French and Greek elections at the weekend spawned worries over the fate of austerity measures to tackle eurozone debt problems. Investors were now taking a wait-and-see stance on the eurozone issue.

Kathimerini says Greek political leaders will meet for a second day today in a bid to form a government, with the mandate for the task being handed to Alexis Tsipras, the head of Syriza, the second biggest party which has vowed to cancel the bailout terms. The move follows failed attempts, after six hours of talks, by New Democracy leader Antonis Samaras to forge agreement after an election that raised questions about the country’s euro membership. New Democracy led in the election, receiving 19 per cent of the vote and 108 seats in the 300-seat Parliament. Syriza got 17 per cent to score 52 seats; Pasok came third with 13 percent and 41 seats.

The European Union's fiscal pact is not up for renegotiation, German Chancellor Angela said Monday, but France's newly-elected Socialist president, Francois Hollande, would be met with “open arms”. AFP quotes her saying they had agreed during a phone call on Sunday to work "well and intensively" together. But Merkel reiterated that the EU's fiscal pact, aimed at reducing ballooning deficits, was not up for discussion.

According to right-wing French daily Le Figaro, Nicolas Sarkozy, who had the lowest popularity ratings of all previous presidents, would be leaving French politics for good. Sarkozy ir reported to have told officials of his UMP party, including Prime Minister Francois Fillon, “for me, a page has turned.” He told them he would not be putting himself forward as a candidate for June’s legislative elections.

The Washington Times quotes counter-terrorism officials saying the United States and their allies had foiled a plot by Al-Qaeda's branch in Yemen to blow up an airliner and has recovered the explosive device.  The bomb was similar in scale to one employed in a failed attempt to blow up a US-bound airliner on Christmas Day in 2009. The plot was conceived in Yemen and the attack was intended to coincide with the first anniversary of the death of Osama bin Laden.

Haaretz reports that Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has struck a surprise deal with the opposition Kadima party – effectively cancelling  moves to clear the way for the election that Netanyahu himself had said he wanted by voting for the dissolution of its current session. Under the deal, Kadima’s leader Shaul Mofaz would become deputy prime minister and a minister without portfolio in the new cabinet.

Al Ahram announces that nearly 300 Egyptians, including 24 minors, would face charges over last December's violence in Cairo. They have been charged by investigative judges for acts ranging from damaging public buildings to possession of cold arms, Molotov cocktails and drugs.

The Wall Street Journal  reports world pharmaceutical giant Abbott Laboratories has agreed to pay US federal and state governments $1.6 billion in criminal and civil fines for illegally promoting unapproved uses of its drug Depakote, including to sedate elderly patients in nursing homes. The settlement is the second largest in a string of multimillion-dollar payouts in recent years resulting from stepped-up enforcement by the Justice Department and state investigators against drug makers that “misbrand” their products.

The Washington Post says Britain's Prince Harry has accepted a humanitarian prize from a major Washington think-tank for his work supporting charities that help injured British and US military personnel. The 27-year-old prince, on his first-ever visit to the US capital, arrived at the Atlantic Council fund-raiser to a small bevy of young female admirers, who he neglected to acknowledge as he stepped inside the luxury Ritz-Carlton Hotel for the gala. Others receiving honours at the event included UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Unilever chief executive Paul Polman, all US military enlistees and German violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter.

According to the BBC, the Save the Children has raised the west African state of Niger as the worst place in the world to be a mother. The country is currently experiencing a food crisis because of drought. In its an annual index, comparing conditions for mothers in 165 countries around the world, the charity lists Afghanistan, Yemen, Guinea-Bissau and Mali after Niger. Norway was voted as the best place, followed by Iceland, Sweden, New Zealand and Denmark. It considers a number of factors including health, education, economic status and nutrition.

The Los Angeles Times says John Travolta has dismissed as a "baseless lie" a lawsuit seeking $2 million for alleged assault and sexual battery of a masseur, during a massage session at a Beverly Hills hotel. The lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles, claims Travolta tried to have sex with the male masseur, whom he had allegedly hired for a $200-an-hour massage in January. Travolta's statement said the actor was not even in Los Angeles.