The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press.
Times of Malta carries an interview with one of the models duped by a fake Danish doctor.
The Malta Independent asks if Greece's rejection of austerity will change Europe's direction.
In-Nazzjon says it is revealing details of an internal police report on the case of Daryl Luke Borg, who was mistakenly arraigned for a Birkirkara hold-up. The report is critical of the CID handling of the case.
l-orizzont says One News has revealed part of a declaration by workers who claimed they were forced to make a false declaration by Nationalist MP Toni Bezzina.
The overseas press
The European Union has shown willingness to give Athens more time to pay its debts, but said it would not yield to a new Greek government’s demands for debt forgiveness. L’Echo quotes Eurogroup President Jeroen Dijsselbloem saying after a meeting of euro zone finance ministers in Brussels that they were “very motivated to work with the new Greek government to maintain the recovery path”.
Ta’ Nea says Greece will have an anti-austerity government of election winner Syriza and the right-wing anti-euro Independent Greeks (ANEL). Alexis Tsipras, leader of the radical leftist Syriza party, has been sworn in as Greece’s youngest prime minister in 150 years at the age of 40. He broke with tradition and took a secular oath rather than the Greek Orthodox religious ceremony with which prime ministers are usually sworn in, simply promising to serve the interests of the Greek people.
Fox News reports a massive, wind-whipped blizzard has slammed into the US northeast, creating havoc for more than 60 million people and forcing New York City to shut down on a scale not seen since 2012. The storm, which could affect 20 per cent of the US population, caused a number of states to declare emergencies, forced the cancellation of thousands of flights, and closed major mass transit hubs and schools. People were urged to stay home.
The Associated Press says jubilant Kurdish fighters ousted Islamic State militants from the key Syrian border town of Kobani after a four-month battle – a significant victory for both the Kurds and the US-led coalition. On Kobani’s war-ravaged streets, gunmen fired in the air in celebration, male and female fighters embraced, and troops danced in their baggy uniforms.
Meanwhile, in a new audio message, the Islamic State renewed his call to jihadists to carry out attacks in Europe. Ansa reports its sokesman urged ISIS followers to “target crusaders wherever Muslim jihadists find them... be it with an explosive, a bullet, a dagger or a stone”. They were told they would soon meet in Rome, symbol of Christianity.
Clarin says President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner has said Argentina’s intelligence service would be disbanded. The decision came amid government suspicions that rogue agents were behind the murder of state prosecutor Alberto Nisman, who was investigating the 1994 bombing of a Jewish community centre that killed 85 people.
El Pais reports 10 people were killed and 21 others injured when a NATO fighter jet crashed at an airbase in central Spain. Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said two pilots were among the dead. The other eight were French citizens. Rajoy said there are “many injured,” 10 of them French and 11 Italians.
The Washington Post reports a man has come forward to say he was responsible for the drone that crashed in the White House grounds. A US official said the man made contact with the Secret Service after reports of the overnight crash spread in the media. He said he was using the drone recreationally and did not mean to fly it over the White House. President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama were in New Delhi.
The New York Times says three Russian citizens have been charged in connection with a Cold War-style Russian spy ring that spoke in code, passed messages concealed in bags and magazines, and tried to recruit people with ties to an unnamed New York City university. Prosecutors allege the defendants were directed to gather sensitive economic intelligence on potential US sanctions against Russian banks and US efforts to develop alternative energy resources.
Corriere della Sera reports Italian prosecutors have urged judges to show “no pity” to Francesco Schettino, the captain of the doomed Costa Concordia cruise liner, demanding he serve 26 years and three months in jail for a shipwreck in which 32 people died. Schettino, 54, is accused of delaying sounding the alarm or calling for help after hitting rocks off the Italian island of Giglio on January 13, 2012, as well as abandoning ship before many of the passengers had been rescued. He denies the charges.
ABC says excavations in the crypt of a Madrid church to recover the remains of celebrated author Miguel de Cervantes have uncovered bone fragments and coffin sticks with the initials MC, sparking speculation that they might be getting closer to finding the skeleton belonging to the author of “Don Quixote” writer. Forensic anthropologist Francisco Etxeberria, who has been taking part in the search, said it was important to gather as much information about Cervantes’s physical features as possible to be able to accurately identify the remains.
Kathemerini announces the death of Greek singer Demis Roussos, aged 68. He was best known for his hit operatic pop ballads in the 1970s and 1980s, selling some 60 million records worldwide. A public funeral is to take place on Friday at the First Cemetery of Athens, a resting place for many Greek politicians and cultural figures.
The carnival in Colombia has come a few weeks early this year as residents of the city of Barranquilla took to the streets to show their hometown pride after local beauty queen Paulina Vega was crowned Miss Universe. El Especdador says even President Juan Manuel Santos took time out during an official visit to France to congratulate Vega for her “historic” title last Sunday night in Miami, where the 22-year-old business administration student beat out finalists from the US, Jamaica, the Netherlands and Ukraine.