The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press:
The Times says the general election will be held on March 9 after Franco Debono defeated the Budget.
The Malta Independent says the Government has collapsed.
MaltaToday carries the full-page heading Game Over.
In-Nazzjon quotes the prime minister saying the PN has good results to show.
l-orizzont writes: The government has collapsed over pictures of Franco Debono and the prime minister looking at separate ways.
The overseas press
Pravda reports that the Siberian cold has hit Eastern Europe and has already killed 20 people. The largest number of victims was in Switzerland, where 11 people were buried under a layer of snow from an avalanche. Four other people were killed in Croatia and two in Serbia. Seven people froze to death in the Czech Republic. Most victims were mostly homeless people, who have no place to take shelter in cold weather. The Danube River, one of the key waterways of Europe, has frozen. Bad weather has left many people in Germany without electricity. Snowfalls have paralyzed air and rail traffic in Montenegro, the Netherlands, Belgium, France and the UK. In Italy, snow blizzards destroyed vegetables and fruits. The ruthless march of the Russian winter will reach Italy by the middle of the week, adds Gismeteo. Temperatures will drop down to minus 20 degrees Centigrade in the Alps and in the Balkans.
Wall Street Journal reports the British bank HSBC will pay a record $1.9 billion (€1.5 billion) to the American authorities settle a money-laundering investigation. US authorities alleged that HSBC laundered money for Iran and enable Mexican drugs cartels to launder money through the US financial system.
Ansa quotes Italian Premier Mario Monti saying he had not yet decided whether to run for office in elections early next year because he was concentrating on his job. He said the nervous reaction on Monday by financial markets to his decision to step down as soon as Parliament passes the 2013 budget law later this month should not be dramatised. Monti announced on Saturday he was resigning because Silvio Berlusconi’s party withdrew its support for his economic policies.
Facing its worst crisis in six decades, the European Union received the Nobel Peace Prize on Monday for promoting peace and human rights in Europe following the devastation of World War II. Dagbladet quotes EU president Herman Van Rompuy saying the bloc would emerge strengthened from its current crisis to symbolise hope again.
The Irish Independent reports that hundreds of millions of pounds of UK taxpayers' money were being channelled into European Union aid projects without proper assurances that they were being spent effectively. Britain contributes around £1.4 billion (€1.7 billion) a year to EU aid spending. The Independent Commission for Aid Impact strongly criticised the EU for weak management, slow decision-making and over-ambitious plans.
France 24 announces that the former head of the IMF, Dominique Strauss-Khan and the hotel maid who accused him of attempting to rape her, have reached a financial settlement. The judge in New York said the details would remain confidential. Strauss-Kahn, 63, has faced a litany of sex-related criminal accusations in the US and back in France since the affair involving Nafissatou Diallo first exploded in May 2011 but has yet to stand trial for any of the allegations.
A plan to provide military training to the Syrian rebels fighting the Assad regime and support them with air and naval power is being drawn up by an international coalition including Britain, The Independent has learnt. The head of Britain’s armed forces, General Sir David Richards, hosted a confidential meeting in London a few weeks ago attended by the military chiefs of France, Turkey, Jordan, Qatar and the UAE, and a three-star American general, in which the strategy was discussed at length.
Belfast Telegraph reports police in Northern Ireland have been attacked by petrol bombs and bricks in the latest protest over a decision to limit the display of the British Union flag at Belfast City Hall. In the most serious incident, protesters threw a petrol bombs into a police car.
France’s most famous leading actor, Gérard Depardieu, has joined the flight of France’s wealthy to less tax-heavy destinations, establishing his residency in the Belgian border town of Néchin. Mayor Daniel Senesael told Belgium’s RTBF television that seeking a respite from high taxes was just one of Depardieu’s reasons for leaving his native country. He also wanted to leave Paris, its noisiness, and find a little bit of calm, peace and serenity.