The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press.
The Times of Malta reports how solar panel sales to firms have come to a halt.
In-Nazzjon reports how the sale of citizenship goes against European and Maltese values.
l-orizzont continues to follow up the loss-making Fairmount ship conversion contract at Malta Shipyards, highlighting comments that it had been a major mistake.
The Malta Independent highlights how Italian media have again reported that Silvio Berlusconi was thinking of using Malta in an attempt to get an MEP seat. In November it was also reported that the former Italian premier could seek Maltese citizenship and seek election to the EP.
The overseas press
Officials in the United States, the European Union and Iran confirm that an agreement has been reached for Teheran to open up its nuclear programme to regular inspections by international experts, beginning from January 20. Bloomberg announces that Iran and the so-called “P5+1 countries” – Russia, the US, China, France, the UK plus Germany – reached an understanding on how to implement a deal reached last November, which included the easing of some of the financial sanctions against Iran.
RIA Novosti says Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, US Secretary of State John Kerry and the representative of the United Nations and the Arab League Lakhdar Brahimi will meet in Paris later today to discuss Iran’s possible role in the upcoming Syrian peace talk. UN deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said earlier that Lavrov and Kerry will hopefully reach an agreement on Iran’s possible participation in a so-called Geneva 2 peace conference to be held in Montreux, Switzerland, on January 22.
Jerusalem Post reports the body of the former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has been carried into the Knesset after a steady procession of mourners passed by his coffin to pay their respects as he lay in state outside the building. The list of participants at his funeral today include a US delegation led by Vice President Joe Biden, the Czech prime minister and defence minister, the foreign ministers of Australia and Germany, the Greek and Cypriot defence ministers, the chairman of the Russian Duma, and ministers and deputy ministers from Italy, Bulgaria, Britain, Holland, Singapore, the Philippines, France, Canada, and Romania.
Reuters says the Italian navy rescued more than 400 migrants from two boats south of Sicily on Saturday and Sunday as the immigration crisis continued.
Kathimerini says a judicial council has ruled that Greece's former finance minister George Papaconstantinou should be investigated for allegedly tampering with a confidential tax list in late 2010, despite a statute-of-limitations rule. The former minister, who has retired from politics, faces charges of breach of trust, falsifying documents and breach of duty.
Bangkok Times reports Opposition protesters in Thailand are gathering in the capital to try to shut down the city centre as part of their campaign to overthrow the government before snap elections next month. The government has deployed 18,000 police and soldiers but the protesters are building barricades and occupying key road junctions.
Le Matin says the people of Haiti have been remembering the victims of the devastating earthquake that struck the country four years ago, with 150,000 people still living under canvas in camps.
A young Afghan girl found last week in Helmand province wearing a suicide vest has told the BBC how her family tried to force her to attack a police check-point. The nine-year-old girl said her brother hit her and ordered her to wear the explosive-packed vest. She said she was scared but he had promised her she would not die.