The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press.
Times of Malta, Malta Today, In-Nazzjon and the Malta Independent all lead with the resignation of Marlene Farrugia from the Labour Parliamentary group.
In-Nazzjon also gives prominence to the PN reaction to Dr Farrugia’s resignation.
In other stories , Times of Malta says a third of the injured in Paceville on Sunday were aged under 17 while MaltaToday says the owners of the club where the incident took place are to be taken to court.
The overseas press
CNN reports investigators in Paris have recovered multiple cell phones at the scenes of the attacks believed to belong to the terrorists – a possible big break that could help unravel the plot and the suspected network behind it. According to the officials, at least one phone contained a “chilling message”, sent sometime before the attacks began, to the effect of: “OK, we’re ready”.
France and Russia have intensified the aerial bombardment of Islamic State targets in Syria. France 24 says the French military pounded ISIS targets in northern Syria for the third night running. Reuters quotes French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian saying the latest strikes in Raqqa eliminated a terrorist command centre and training centre.
Sputnik International says Russia also launched airstrikes and cruise missiles in Syria. For the first time, Russia has used submarine-launched cruise missiles against IS.
Pravda reports President Putin ordered the Russian military to “establish direct contact with the French and work with them as allies”. The Kremlin said Putin and Hollande agreed to increase coordination in the operations against the terrorists in Syria.
Le Monde reports investigators in France have said video evidence shows an as-yet unidentified man in a car used in the Paris attacks. He was seen in a black Renault Clio with two Belgian nationals – Salah Abdeslam, who is still being hunted by police, and his brother Ibrahim, who gave himself up.
Daily Star says police searching two suburban Paris hotel rooms rented by Abdeslam found syringes, a short set of needles and plastic tubes. Now police are trying to work out if this was drugs paraphernalia or bomb-building gear linked to the killers' explosive-packed belts.
And Le Soir says Les Beguines, a Brussels bar registered to Ibrahim Abdeslam, was closed for drug-related offenses eight days before the Paris attacks.
Deutsche Welle says German police have not found any explosives or made any arrests at a stadium in Hannover, which was evacuated last night, just 90 minutes before a friendly match between Germany and the Netherlands was about to begin. Police also closed off part of Hannover’s central train station and evacuated a second Hannover stadium, the TUI arena, where fans had been waiting to hear a German band perform.
Sky News says fans of England and France united to sing a defiant rendition of the French national anthem at Wembley, ahead of a minute's silence to remember the 129 people who died. Armed police stood guard at the stadium – the first time they patrolled an English football match. A soccer match between Belgium and Spain, scheduled in Brussels, was cancelled for security concerns.
The upcoming edition of Charlie Hedbo, the satirical magazine, is expected to hit newsstands today. The cover reads: “They have the weapons. Screw them. We have the champagne!” The magazine’s office was the target of a terror attack in July.
Echo TV announces the Hungarian parliament has approved a Bill that would allow Budapest to take the EU to court over a plan to redistribute refugees. Prime Minister Viktor Orban accused the EU of ignoring the will of individual members.
South China Morning Post reports Chinese marine geologists have discovered about 500 tons of gold under the seabed in the East China Sea. The new-found deposit is currently valued at over $16.4 billion. The gold mine is located near the city of Laizhou, which is home to the largest gold deposits in the country.
According to the Daily Telegraph, Oxford Dictionaries made word lovers of the world groan and want to leave this planet, when they announced that their “Word of the Year” is not a word at all, but an emoji. Officially called the “Face with Tears of Joy”, emoji, the laughing smiley face, has taken the top spot this year despite the fact that it does not even contain any letters.
The death has been announced of New Zealand rugby legend Jonah Lomu. The Dominion Post says Lomu, who died unexpectedly in Auckland at the age of just 40, had suffered from health problems since his international retirement in 2002. He had a kidney transplant in 2004 due to the rare disease, Nephrotic syndrome, but that kidney stopped functioning in October