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

The Times leads with the EU summit and Malta's position against transferring tax powers to Brussels.

The Malta Independent gives prominence to the medals awarded to Maltese soldiers who served in anti-piracy operations off Somalia.

In-Nazzjon says that Edward Scicluna, twice, voted ' wrongly' on EP resolutions that involved abortion. It also says Malta is ready to consider EU treaty change if that is really needed.

l-orizzont says engineer Ray Piscopo had been abusing three years by using a Mepa car while having an allowance for his car. It also says the Banghajsa gas plant is still there even though it should have been closed in 2004.

The overseas press

EU leaders have been meeting late into the night in Brussels at a summit called to tackle the eurozone debt crisis and save the single currency. MSNBC reports that they would today announce agreement on new rules for tighter fiscal integration, as agreed by German and France earlier in the week. The station says the new rules were agreed by all 27 EU leaders and include requirements for balanced budgets and automatic sanctions for deficit offenders. But the BBC quotes diplomats saying attempts to get all 27 member-states to agree to change the EU Treaty had failed and now it was expected that the agreement would cover only the 17 countries that use the euro.

Bloomberg reports that world shares fell after the European Central Bank ruled out any substantial aid for indebted nations. Shares on Asian markets opened lower on this morning.

Meanwhile, Börzen Zeitung says the European Banking Authority (EBA) – the EU's banking regulator – said ordered Europe's banks to increase their capital by a total of €114.7 billion to make them strong enough to withstand the eurozone debt crisis. The estimated capital shortfall is almost eight percent higher than the €106.4 billion estimated in October, due to revised predictions for Germany, Italy, Austria and Belgium.

L’Osservatore Romano announces that Pope Benedict would visit Cuba next year – the second visit of a pope to the Communist-run island following a five-day trip by the late Pope John Paul in 1998. Cuban church official said the Pope may meet members of the government during his visit.

Pravda reports that Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has accused the United States of stirring up protests against his 12-year rule and said foreign countries were spending hundreds of millions of dollars to influence Russian elections. In his first public remarks about daily demonstrations over allegations that Sunday's election was slanted to favour his ruling party, Putin said Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had encouraged "mercenary" Kremlin foes by criticizing the vote.

Al Ayyam says a Palestinian has been killed and at least 10 others wounded by a series of Israeli air strike on Gaza. Medical staff said that the injured included children. Local officials said the Israeli aircraft hit buildings near a training centre for the armed wing of Hamas which controls Gaza.

Iran has shown video footage of what is says is “an unmanned American spy plane” show down recently by its military. State Press TV showed what appeared to be a largely undamaged drone. Iran says the aircraft was forced to land by “electronic ambush and has accused the US of violating its territory.

The US Air Force has admitted disposing the partial remains of hundreds of American service personnel by incinerating them and leaving them in a landfill. An investigation by The Washington Post uncovered the practice at Denver airbase, the main point of entry of America’s war dead. The newspaper said the body parts were disposed of in this way because often they were so badly damaged or burnt they could not be identified.

USA Today reports that the Supreme Court at the American state of Arkansas has overturned a murder conviction of a death row inmate because a juror at his trial used Twitter during the case. The defendant will have a new trial. Several similar cases across the US have raised question whether jurors should be allowed access to internet-enable phones during trials.

London’s Daily Mail says local councils from Lisbon to Athens are putting the squeeze on Christmas by cutting back on high street illuminations in a stark sign even the festive season is not immune to their financial woes. Madrid City council is using 600,000 fewer light bulbs – and saving itself more than €468,500 in the process. Lisbon city council has slashed its festivities budget by nearly €703,000 to just over €146,000. The €200,000 Athens’ chiefs are spending is the amount a previous administration invested solely on the city’s main Christmas tree, burnt down during December 2008 riots. And it is not just Christmas lights feeling the pinch, with consulting firm Deloitte predicting festive season consumer spending slumps of nearly eight per cent in Portugal to a staggering 25 per cent in Greece. Stores in Madrid are slashing their prices by up to 50 per cent to entice shoppers




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