The following are the top stories in the local and international press today:
The Times leads with a story and on l-Istrina, which managed to raise another €2.3 million for charity. In another story, it says that fugitive Fabio Psaila has turned himself in to the police.
The Malta Independent leads with a story about the 23-year-old man from Senglea who on Christmas Day was taken to hospital suffering from stab wounds. In another story it quotes deputy police commissioner Josie Brincat saying that no accidents were reported on Christmas Eve but nine people were found to have drank more than the amount permitted by law.
Both l-Orizzont and in-Nazzjon dedicate their front page to L-Istrina.
In-Nazzjon also says that according to an annual survey, the use of broadband internet in Malta continued to strengthen.
The international press
The Jerusalem Post quotes Israel's Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman saying a peace deal with the Palestinians was impossible under current conditions. Speaking to diplomats and journalists in Jerusalem, he said instead Israel should seek a long-term, interim agreement on security and economic matters. Palestinians have consistently rejected that approach.
Haaretz says the latest diplomatic spat between the two sides came as violence along the Israel-Gaza border simmered. Two rockets fired from Gaza landed in southern Israel on Sunday after two Palestinians were killed. Hamas said it was "ready" for another war.
De Telegraf reports that Dutch prosecutors have cleared five of the 12 Somali men who were detained on Christmas Eve on suspicion of preparing a terrorist attack in the Netherlands. The men were picked up after a tip from intelligence services said an attack may be imminent.
USA Today says snow was causing travel chaos across the eastern US as hundreds of international and domestic flights were cancelled. Severe weather warnings were in place from Georgia to Vermont as temperatures continue to plummet. Blizzards dropping up to 31cm of snow were hitting New York and South Carolina had its first Christmas snow since records began in 1887.
According to Pravda, icy rain shut down Moscow's largest airport for nearly 15 hours on Sunday, coated roads with ice and left more than 200,000 people and 14 hospitals without electricity. The rain struck the city on Saturday night and workers scrambled to restore the power supply after heavy ice snapped power lines.
Dawn reports that about 300,000 villagers, impoverished by fighting in Pakistan's tribal belt, faced food shortages after a female suicide bomber killed 45 people outside a World Food Programme distribution centre. The attack triggered a district-wide suspension of the relief project.
Le Jour says political parties loyal to Ivory Coast presidential claimant Alassane Ouattara have called a general strike across the country to force the incumbent president to cede power. Laurent Gbagbo has refused to step aside following November's disputed election which he insisted was rigged. The United Nations, the European Union, the US, the African Union and West African regional bloc Ecowas all say that Mr Ouattara won the vote. An Ecowas delegation travels to the country on Tuesday to convince Mr Gbagbo to step aside.
A survey commissioned by the German newspaper Bild has found that 49 percent of Germans want the deutschmark back. Only 41 percent of those surveyed don't. The survey also found that the majority of Germans were worried about the stability of the euro and the possibility of inflation. Germany adopted the euro in 1999 along with 10 other countries. Greece signed on in 2001 and euro bills and coins were introduced in 2002. Since then Slovenia, Cyprus, Malta and Slovakia have joined as well. On January 1, Estonia will become the 17th member of the euro area.
WikiLeaks chief Julian Assange has said in an interview he signed deals for his autobiography worth more than one million pounds (€1,176,000). Assange told Britain's Sunday Times newspaper that the money would help him defend himself against allegations of sexual assault made by two women in Sweden. "I don't want to write this book, but I have to," he said. "I have already spent 200,000 pounds for legal costs and I need to defend myself and to keep WikiLeaks afloat."
The Daily Telegraph reports a landmark judgment in which a tribunal ruled religious charities were allowed to ban gay foster parents and Australian church groups were free to discriminate against homosexuals. The ruling, made in the NSW Administrative Decisions Tribunal, has been hailed by the Catholic Church but has outraged civil libertarians, who were demanding religions no longer be exempt from anti-discrimination laws if they received public money,.
Adelaide's Courier reports that a wayward Toyota Supra turned a corner, hit the median strip, flipped upside down and landed on the roof of a police car in a bizarre crash yesterday. The 18-year-old male driver of the Supra suffered only a minor arm injury but his car was a complete write-off. The two police officers were not injured. The 18-year-old would be reported for driving without due care.