The following are the top stories in the national and international press today.
The Times leads with a story on l-Istrina, saying that €2.6 million million were raised in the annual charity event. A picture of the front page shows 75-year-old Alfred Abela somersaulting as he dives into the sea in another charity event, the Thomas Smith annual charity swim.
Stories on l-Isrtrina can also be found in all the other newspapers printed today.
In-Nazzjon has a story saying that the demand for blood rises by 14 per cent.
The Independent says that according to a Euro Barometer report says the Maltese are worried about the economy.
l-Orizzont reports about certain incidents involving children, including that of a mother who got drunk and forgot her baby in a bar and a 13-year-old made to prostitute herself.
The international press
Al Arabiya reports that Heavy gunfire and intense shelling in the flashpoint city of Homs killed at least 23 people and injured dozens on Monday as violence escalated between Syrian security forces and anti-government protesters. The violence came as around 50 Arab League monitors arrived in Syria to start inspecting areas gripped by violence. The Arab League has stepped up calls for the withdrawal of the Syrian army and militias, the release of detainees and an end to all forms of violence.
According to The Jerusalem Post, ultra-orthodox Jews have clashed with police in the Israeli town of Beit Shemesh, near Jerusalem. The latest clashes came as police attempted to remove one of several signs in the town ordering segregation between the sexes. Some 300 ultra-Orthodox residents pelted the police with stones and eggs, slightly injuring one officer, and rubbish bins were set on fire. The town has become a focus of friction between secular Jews and ultra-Orthodox men demanding strict gender segregation and "modest" dress for women.
Asia Times reports a private delegation from South Korea, which included Lee Hee Ho, the widow of former South Korean President Kim Dae Jung, and Hyundai Group Chairwoman, Hyun Jeong-eun, was welcomed in North Korea on Monday as the group paid their respects to the North's recently deceased leader, Kim Jong Il. Kim Dae Jung held a landmark summit with Kim Jong Il in 2000, and Hyun's husband also had ties to North Korea. Kim Jong Un, Kim Jon Il's son and successor, briefly met with the delegation in Pyongyang. The two women also visited the Kumsusan Memorial Palace, where Kim Jon Il is lying in state.
Meanwhile, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda made a brief visit to Beijing for talks with China's President Hu Jintao as worries prevail over North Korea's nuclear plans following the death of Kim Jong Il. Noda told Kyodo news agency that both countries agreed that the denuclearisation of the peninsula was in the interest of all its neighbours. He also urged Hu to share information regarding developments within China's secretive neighbour. China's state news agency Xinhua reported that Hu told Noda that it was in the interests of all sides to maintain stability on the Korean peninsula. China has been restrained in its public comments on developments in North Korea, especially during the delicate period of transition.
Asahi Shimbun says nine months after the tsunami that crippled Japan's Fukushima nuclear power plant and triggered a nuclear disaster, an independent committee has accused the power plant's operator TEPCO and Japanese authorities of being unprepared for the disaster before it hit and for not responding properly in the aftermath. Ten-meter waves swamped the plant, shutting down cooling systems and triggering meltdowns in three of Fukushima's six reactors. TEPCO claimed such an extreme disaster was impossible to prepare for.
AP reports Mexican authorities have captured Felipe Cabrera Sarabia, the alleged security chief for the boss of the Sinaloa drug cartel. Army special forces also seized documents and computer equipment. More than 40,000 people have been killed in drug-related violence in Mexico since December 2006. Since then, the government of President Felipe Calderon has been deploying the military to fight the gangs.
Granma quotes Cuban authorities saying they were expanding free-market reforms, opening more of the retail services sector to private business. From next Sunday workers including carpenters, locksmiths, photographers and repairmen would be allowed to become self-employed. They would be able to set their own prices, while paying taxes and leasing their premises from the state. The measures are the latest reforms aimed at reviving Cuba's socialist economy by boosting private enterprise.
USA Today reports that police in Detroit were investigating the death of two women whose bodies burnt beyond recognition were found in the trunk of a car on fire early Christmas Day. Last week, the bodies of two other women were found in the trunk of a car parked at a vacant dwelling. Detroit police said three of the four victims were linked to online dating ads and alerted the public that deciding to meet unknown persons via the Internet could be extremely dangerous.
Ansa says the economic crisis, uncertain employment prospects and new taxes have had a devastating effect on consumer spending during Christmas in Italy. It quotes farm association Coldiretti saying Italians spent €2.3 billion on Christmas Eve fish dinners and meat-based Christmas lunches. Nine out of 10 Italians did not go out to eat but stayed at home, spending 18 per cent less than last year and preferring locally-sourced goods. Every Italian spent €48 less on gifts and less people took over overseas holidays. The worst to fare was the fashion sector where sales slumped by 30 percent. It says the prospects for the sales, which in Italy start on January 5, are alsi dosmal.
Chile's Supreme Court has ordered the publisher of La Tercera to pay $125,000 to 13 people who suffered burns while trying out a published recipe for churros, a popular Latin American snack of dough fried in hot oil. The individual damages range from as little as $279 to $48,000 for one woman whose burns were particularly severe. The high court's ruling was announced Monday, seven years after the readers burned themselves while trying out the recipe. Judges determined that the newspaper failed to fully test it before publication, and that if readers followed the recipe exactly, the churros had a good chance of exploding.