The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press.
Times of Malta reports that the cost of cleaning, cooking and parking at the hospital has rocketed.
The Malta Independent says wardens are allowed to park in restricted areas in certain situations.
In-Nazzjon leads with the comment yesterday by Parliamentary Secretary Jose' Herrera that he did not know if he had hit another car while driving, but it he had, it was a small thing and no police report was filed.
l-orizzont reports that a petition has been made for St Paul's Bay Council to dismiss three workers with disabilities.
The overseas press
Reuters reports that European Union leaders wrapped up their last summit of the year a day early after agreeing to launch an investment fund and maintain sanctions on Russia over Ukraine.
Fox News quotes President Obama saying he had signed into law a new Russian sanctions bill passed by Congress but did not intend to impose further sanctions against Moscow for now.
Moscow Times reports President Putin said measures had been adopted to turn the country’s slowing economy around, while insisting his position on Ukraine had not shifted in the wake of Western sanctions.
US-led airstrikes against Islamic State (IS) militants in Iraq have killed three of the group’s top leaders, the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff has told the Wall Street Journal. General Martin Dempsey said the “high-value targets, senior leaders” were killed in recent weeks as part of expanding effort with partner nations to combat the militants.
AFP reports the White House has said a visit to the United States by Cuban President Raul Castro was not out of the question. The comment came a day after he and President Obama announced a historic bilateral rapprochement.
According to Deutsch Welle, at a donors' conference in Berlin, the United Nations has launched its biggest ever humanitarian appeal for Syria. The UN is trying to raise €6.8 billion after only securing half of the funding it asked for this year. For the first time, after nearly four years of war, the appeal includes funding for life-saving food, shelter and other humanitarian aid as well as development support.
The Washington Times says United States has described a cyber attack on Sony Pictures as a matter of “national security” and vowed to respond appropriately. The attack led the company to cancel the planned release of a film.
Voice of Nigeria says the Nigerian Islamist group Boko Haram killed 32 people and kidnapped over 100 women and girls in the village of Gumsuri in the northeast. The attack happened last Sunday but details were only emerging now.
Former airline boss and famous French author Marc Dugain has argued there had been a cover-up in the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, speculating that the passenger jet could have been hacked and then shot down by the US. In the six-page article in Paris Match, Dugain argues that the Boeing 777, carrying 239 people, crashed near Diego Garcia, a British island in the middle of the Indian Ocean used as a strategic air force and intelligence base by the US military.
Ansa says the Italian cinema is mourning Virna Lisi, the aristocratic, beautiful and much-admired actress who died on Thursday aged 78. The Italian who conquered Hollywood with her charm, had decided to flee Hollywood because she did not want the role of the “new Marilyn” they had chosen for her, condemning her to parts for a blonde airhead and sex doll.