The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press
The Times reports how Sliema businessman Silvio Zammit was arraigned and kept in custody yesterday after being accused of bribery, trading in influence and relapsing. It also reports that the President has agreed to the dissolution of Parliament and that the Ombudsman suggested yesterday that Mr Justice Farrugia Sacco should be suspended.
The Malta Independent also reports on the planned dissolution of Parliament.
MaltaToday says the countdown has started as the parties enter an uneasy Christmas truce.
l-orizzont says the President approved the date for the dissolution of Parliament after meeting the prime minister and the leader of the opposition. It also says the GWU was proved right that government workers could be given their COLA wage rise on January 1, despite the Budget being defeated.
In-Nazzjon quotes the Prime Minister saying the country will be returned to the people in better shape than at the last election in 2008.
The overseas press
Fuji TV announces that Japan has called for an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council after North Korea announced it had successfully launched its rocket in defiance of international warnings. Reports suggest the rocket, launched early today, followed its planned trajectory, with stages falling in expected areas. North Korea says a satellite has been put in orbit. North Korea's neighbours and the US have called the launch a cover for long-range missile development. South Korea condemned it. The launch comes a week ahead of the South Korea’s presidential election and a year after the death of leader Kim Jong-il in 2011.
The US has formally recognised Syria's opposition rebel coalition as the "legitimate representative" of the people. Speaking to ABC News, President Barack Obama said the coalition was now inclusive, reflective and representative enough for the US to take this "big step". The UK, France, Turkey and Gulf states had already given their recognition. Some 40,000 people are reported to have died in more than 18 months of fighting against President Bashar al-Assad and, according to the UN's refugee agency, more than half a million people have now fled the conflict in Syria to neighbouring countries.
Amid mounting international fears that the Syrian regime may be moving its unconventional weapons stockpiles, French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told France 24 that Western countries knew where the Syrian regime had stored its chemical weapons. He confirmed they were being "protected by the forces of President Bashar al-Assad". Mirroring Le Drian’s assessment, US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta told reporters that the Syrian government seems to have slowed preparations for the possible use of chemical weapons against rebel targets. A recent report in London’s Sunday Times said Israeli special forces were operating inside Syria to try to track its non-conventional weapons stockpiles. Israeli officials have declined to comment on the report.
The Balkans Daily says blizzards have closed roads, disrupted power supplies and shut down an airport in Montenegro, as the Balkans region faces a winter freeze that has caused travel chaos and left several people dead. At least nine deaths across the region have been blamed on the snow and deep freeze, with temperatures as low as minus 150C. Earlier reports had said 11 people died in Switzerland, buried under an avalanche. Most victims were mostly homeless people, who have no place to take shelter in cold weather. In Serbia, officials apologised for failing to clear the roads, when hundreds were stranded in buses and cars. In Croatia, doctors issued warnings to the elderly and the sick to stay indoors.
Kathimerini reports the Greek government has raised €4.387 billion at little-changed interest rates with a special bond issue to pay immediate bills amid indications a vital debt buy-back scheme had succeeded, exceeding the target. Meanwhile, the debt agency concluded an operation to buy back existing Greek bonds at a big discount to unlock the latest instalment of urgently needed bailout funding from international creditors.
Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi has accepted an army call to hold national unity talks in a bid to end a political crisis. The presidential chief of staff confirmed the decision in an interview with Al Jazeera TV. Thousands of pro-government and opposition protesters have held rival rallies in Cairo for and against a controversial constitutional referendum proposed by the Egyptian president. Leftists, liberals and other opposition groups called for Tuesday's marches to the presidential palace to protest against the hastily arranged referendum planned for Saturday.
Sign of the times: According to a report in French daily LeParisien., a bakery which sells day-old bread for a for half the price of a normal baguette has opened in the French city of Nîmes, which suffers the country’s highest unemployment rate. The products come from traditional bakeries in the city owned by the same company, “Au pain de la Veille” (Yesterday’s bread), which also offers pizzas, cakes and pastries. A sales assistant in the shop advises buyers to heat the “soggy” bread in the oven for two minutes in order to make it as crusty as the day before.
The Daily Buzz says many think today’s special date – December 21, 2012 o2 12/12/12 – is going to be a big day: something significant will take place. Their predictions range from cataclysmic events to the world being "reborn". Whatever happens, 12/12/12 is the last such date many will see in their lifetime. The next such repetitive date will occur on January 1, 2101, when the date will be 01/01/01 – a good 88 years away. And many people around the world have, indeed, decided to make it a memorable one. Couples from Hong Kong and Singapore are flocking to tie the knot today, sparking a wedding boom on the century's last repeating date seen to guarantee a happy marriage as it signifies "love".