The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press:
The Times says that Go and Melita are being investigated for breaching consumer rights after stopping re-transmission of two popular TV Channels- Comedy and Living. It also reports on the arraignment of Fabio Psaila
The Malta Independent reports how businessman Joe Baldacchino lost his battle for life; while Fabio Psaila was charged in court with a string of major crimes.
l-orizzont says a British tourist aged 70 has died of Swine Flu and a young woman is being treated at Mater Dei.
In-Nazzjon also leads with the arraignment of Fabio Psaia and the death of shot businessman Joe Baldacchino.
The overseas press
Pravda reports that Russia’s foreign ministry has angrily rejected Western criticism of jailed oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky’s conviction in a second criminal case, saying it amounted to pressuring the court. Khodorkovsky, once Russia’s richest man, was convicted on Monday of stealing oil from his own company and laundering the proceeds in a verdict likely to keep the tycoon, who once challenged the power of Vladimir Putin, behind bars for several more years. The Russian Foreign Ministry said that the claims of selective justice were unfounded.
The People’s Daily says China has denied Pope Benedict XVI's charge in his Christmas Day message that Chinese authorities continued to persecute and discriminate against Christians in the country. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Jiang Yu urged the Vatican to take "concrete action" to ease tensions over the issue of the government-backed Patriotic Church and the millions of Catholics who swear allegiance to Rome. On Christmas Day the Chinese government blacked out TV stations that carried the pope's message.
Widespread heavy flooding is continuing to cause chaos in many areas of northeastern Australia. Many rural towns are cut off and extensive damage has been caused to crops of sugar cane and wheat.
According to USA Today, stranded passengers turned airports into open-air hotels as they waited for planes to get moving again in the wake of a blizzard that hit travel plans in the north-east of the United States. Air travel in the nation’s busiest, most crowded airspace nearly shut down completely after the storm struck, with more than two feet of snow falling during the holiday weekend. Flights slowly resumed at the airports, although experts said it would likely take several more days to rebook all the displaced passengers.
Moscow Times says Russia's President Medvedev has ordered prosecutors to investigate the management of Moscow's two main international airports after fights broke out involving frustrated passengers stranded when bad weather forced the cancellation of hundreds of flights. Travellers were seen trying to beat up staff at one airport and passengers at the other stormed passport control.
Al Quds reports some 20 Israeli suppliers would help build the city of Rawabi – the first modern Palestinian city in the West Bank going up 20 miles north of Jerusalem – but only after promising they would not use products or services from Israeli settlements. The announcement by the project’s developer angered the Jewish settlers, who accused the suppliers of caving in to an international boycott of settlement goods and businesses.
Ansa announces that House Speaker Gianfranco Fini is to sue two daily newspapers. On Monday conservative daily Libero reported allegations that the Speaker planned to revive his political fortunes with a fake attack on his life in April that he would blame on Berlusconi. Then yesterday, Il Giornale, which is owned by Berlusconi's brother, ran a story on allegations by a prostitute that Fini had paid to have sex with her.
Il Mattino says Italian authorities are working to prevent Italy's traditional New Year's Eve fireworks bonanza causing massive blazes in Naples by setting light to the piles of trash lining its streets. Around 1,400 tonnes of rubbish still lie uncollected as the latest in a series of refuse crises to have hit the southern city rumbles on. The paper reported that firefighters might douse the trash with water on Friday to stop it being flammable.
Le Matin reports that the latest efforts to try to resolve the political crisis in the Ivory Coast apear to have been rejected by the incumbent President Laurent Gbagbo who is widely judged to have lost the presidentual election but refuses to step down. Mr Gbagbo met a delegation of West African leaders who told him he risked military action if he does not cede power to Allasane Ouattara, internationally recognised as the winner of elections. Afterwards Mr Gbagbo’s government said it would break diplomatic ties with any country that recognised bis rival.
Sir Elton John and his partner David Furnish have become parents to a son born through a surrogate mother. The boy, who has been named Zachary Jackson Levon Furnish-John, was born on Christmas Day in the United States. The couple told magazine US Weekly that "Zachary was healthy and doing well" and said they were "overwhelmed with happiness and joy at this very special moment". Zachary, who weighed 7lb 15oz, is Sir Elton’s first child with Furnish. The couple's civil partnership was formalised in 2005.