The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press today:
The Times says the hospitality industry is in for a shock since it is likely that hoteliers will not be compensated for the VAT increase announced in the Budget.
The Malta Independent, like The Times, features a picture of fireworks being let off over Sydney Harbour Bridge to welcome the New Year.
l-orizzont says gas prices are likely to have to rise by a further €9 million this year.
In-Nazzjon reports how a long-suffering drug addict enjoyed his first Christmas free of drugs in 11 years. It also reports that the deficit narrowed by €102.6 million between January and November.
The overseas press
Capital cities around Europe partied into 2011 with New Year's Eve celebrations and fireworks displays to rival major cities on the other side of the planet.
Euronews says millions congregated at major landmarks, such as London's Big Ben, the Eiffel Tower in Paris and the iconic Brandenburg Gate in Berlin. Greeks, Irish and Spaniards began partying through the night to help put a year of economic woe behind them. In Moscow, a blaze of fireworks erupted over the Kremlin as Russian police arrested more than 100 protestors during New Year's opposition rallies in central parts of the city and Saint Petersburg.
Asia Observer reports dazzling fireworks lit up Australia's Sydney Harbour, communist Vietnam held a rare Western-style countdown to the new year and Japanese revellers released balloons carrying notes with people's hopes and dreams as the world ushered in 2011. New Zealanders and South Pacific island nations were among the first to celebrate at midnight.
USA Today says crowds gathered in New York's Times Square, where nearly a million watched a ball with 32,000 lights descend in the run-up to midnight, despite the debilitating blizzard that paralyzed the city just days before.
Baltic Times leads with Estonia welcoming the new year with fireworks to mark the country's formal adoption of the European single currency, becoming the 17th state to use the euro in a switch from the kroon. The Prime Minister was the first to take euros out of a specially-installed cash machine outside a theatre where a ball had been held to celebrate the switchover and the new year.
Börzen Zeitung says German Chancellor Angela Merkel has highlighted the importance of the euro, saying the single currency was at the heart of Germany's prosperity. In her New Year's speech, she also said Germany had emerged stronger from the economic crisis.
Deutche Welle reports Hungary takes over the rotating European Union presidency today amid international concerns about its democratic credentials. A new law gives Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s centre-right government greater control on the media as part of measures to increase state supervision over key institutions. Orban's Fidesz Party legislators have used their two-thirds parliamentary majority to change the constitution so the Constitutional Court no longer rules on budget matters.
Novy Chas reports Belarus has ordered the closure of the office of the Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe in Minsk refusing to extend its mandate. The OSCE had issued a report critical of the December election, in which incumbent President Alexander Lukashenko won around 80 percent of votes.
Ansa says Italy has recalled home its ambassador to Brazil for consultations after the Brazilian government denied a request to extradite former terrorist Cesare Battisti to Italy. Battisti, a 56-year-old fugitive who was part of a leftist militant group in the 1970s, has been convicted of four murders in his homeland.
The Egyptian Gazette quotes the country’s Interior Ministry saying an explosion outside a church in the north Egyptian city of Alexandria has killed seven people and injured 24. The blast, apparently caused by a car bomb, hit people as they left a new year's service at the al-Qidiseen church shortly after midnight. Afterwards, Christians chanted: "We sacrifice our souls and blood for the Cross". Angry worshippers also threw stones at the police and went into a mosque, throwing books out onto the street.
Dawn quotes intelligence officials saying a US missile strike has killed eight alleged militants in north-west Pakistan. Four missiles struck a convoy of militants travelling by car and on foot along the Afghanistan border.
Arkansas Post says three people have died after a tornado slammed into a tiny town. A sheriff’s office spokesman said there were “lots of injuries”. The storm caused damage along a road in Cincinnati and through most of the western part of Washington County. Initial emergency responders had trouble reaching the damaged areas because of downed power lines.
The BBC reports that according to games giant Nintendo, the eyesight of children under six could be harmed by 3D games played on its forthcoming hand-held console. The company posted the health warning on the website, saying specialists had warned of possible damage that could be caused by 3D games which present different images to the right and left eye. It said younger children should only play 2D versions of 3D games.