The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press:
The Times says a Palestinian woman resident in Malta has left for Gaza with aid collected from the Maltese people. It also reports how the GRTU has told its members to only partially pay their utility bills.
The Malta Independent reports the Prime Minister saying that the government is awaiting the PL amendments to the rent reform bill.
l-orizzont quotes Joseph Muscat saying he suspects Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando is being used by his colleagues to divert public attention. It also reports the GRTU directive on water and electricity bills,
In-Nazzjon says the choice of president showed political maturity, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi said yesterday. It also reports Social Policy Minister John Dalli saying plans are in hand for professional management at Mater Dei Hospital.
The Press in Britain
The Times leads on the government insurance scheme to underwrite banks' potential bad debts to the tune of £300bn.
The Guardian says that while it’s a desperate attempt to release cash to businesses, it also increases taxpayers' exposure to debt for years to come.
The Daily Telegraph says Royal Bank of Scotland and Barclays could be in need of government money. It also pictures 'the big beast' Ken Clarke who is set for a return to the Tory front bench.
The Independent alleges that many local councils that lost £470 million in the Icelandic bank crash had received investment advice from a firm run by Conservative Party treasurer Michael Spencer.
The Financial Times quotes independent experts predicting the number of jobless Britons will soon top two million after a spate of redundancies in recent months. The figure will pass 3.25 million by the end of 2010, hitting 3.4 million in 2011.
According to The Sun, the Black Death has swept through an al Qaeda terror training camp killing 40 people.
The Daily Mirror claims an exclusive on Boy George's life behind bars.
The Daily Express covers pioneering stem cell research which it says could lead to a cure for blindness.
Daily Star says British police last year recorded more than 50 sexual offences against children every day. In almost one in four cases (4,984) the victims were 10 or younger, and more than 800 offences involved children aged four and under.
And elsewhere…
The Egyptian Gazette reports world leaders have called for a durable peace between Israelis and Palestinians and pledged aid and technical support to shore up a fragile ceasefire. The summit leaders, meeting in Sharm El-Sheik, stressed the importance of lifting Israeli the blockade of Gaza so that humanitarian aid can enter, ending weapons smuggling, and of creating a unified Palestinian state for the sake of transforming Sunday morning's ceasefire into a lasting peace. Representatives of Israel and Hamas did not attend the summit.
The Jerusalem Post quotes Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert saying his government has no intention of keeping its troops in the Gaza Strip. He told visiting European leaders in Jerusalem that Israeli troops would leave the Palestinian territory as quickly as possible, once it was clear that the cease-fires were stable. Earlier, rockets were fired into Israel from Gaza, threatening to reignite the violence.
The Washington Times says hundreds of thousands of Americans have attended a pop music concert marking the start of festivities leading up to tomorrow’s inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama. Towards the end of the concert, Obama delivered a message of hope and called for a new spirit of national sacrifice to overcome war and the recession.
Die Welt leads with German Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats’ success in the Hesse state election. Almost complete results give the CDU, lead by Premier Roland Koch, 37 percent of the vote.
The New York Times quotes National Transportation Safety Board investigators saying the US Airways jet that made an emergency landing in the Hudson River lost power simultaneously in both engines. Ice floes in the river are slowing the search for a missing engine, which separated from the crippled aircraft as the plane crash-landed in the river on Thursday afternoon. The damaged plane was hoisted from the river onto a barge late last night.
Asia Observer reports an association representing 400 private schools for boys and girls in the Pakistani Swat valley saying they would all remain closed after the winter break because of threats by religious extremists. The Talibans, moving to restrict girls’ education, have blown up or burned down some 170 schools, most of them for girls,
Rome’s Il Tempo says the authorities are limiting alcohol sales in neighbourhoods famous for their nightlife to clamp down on loud, all- night partying.
Meanwhile, The Irish Independent quotes Guinness bosses expressing confidence sales would surge during the recession and it would grab a bigger chunk of the sluggish Irish beer market.