The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press:
The Times reports that a nail belt placed across a road stopped a dangerous driver at an AFM roadblock. It also says scores were killed in explosions in Iraq yesterday.
The Malta Independent says a total of 11 persons were arrested by the police and the AFM in connection with drugs. It also says the government will build 13 schools by 2013.
MaltaToday says Joseph Muscat is in favour of an agreed updating of the Constitution, even on neutrality. It also quotes the Prime Minister saying in reply to a parliamentary question that it is not his duty to react to newspaper reports.
l-orizzont asks whether it will be Giovanna Debono or Joe Cassar who will replace John Dalli as Social Policy Minister.
In-Nazzjon features an interview with Romano Prodi, who praises Malta's contribution to the EU. It also says that Joseph Muscat went abroad on Sunday morning instead of taking part in the President's Charity Run.
The international press
The International Herald Tribune reports that talks at the UN climate change conference in Copenhagen have broken down over leaked documents indicating that wealthier nations would be given more power in future climate change negotiations. The documents have enraged delegates from developing countries. The US, UK, and Denmark are among the countries included in the so-called "Danish text".
The Jerusalem Post reports that Israel has expressed satisfaction that the European Union did not accept a Swedish proposal to explicitly recognize Palestinian claims to East Jerusalem as the capital of a future state. Adopting a softer formula, the union's Foreign Affairs Council said it sees Jerusalem as the future capital of two states and called for the "urgent resumption" of negotiations toward a two-state solution that would see the creation of a Palestinian state alongside Israel.
The New York Times quotes UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon strongly condemning the spate of "horrendous" bombings which killed 127 people, including women and children, in Baghdad. The five massive vehicle-borne bombs also wounded hundreds. The third coordinated attack on Baghdad in four months could undermine Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's claims to have brought security to Iraq.
Most of the British nationals focus on Chancellor Alistair Darling's Pre-Budget Report to be delivered today where he is expected to announce a will impose a one-off tax on banks with excessive bonus pools. The Independent leads with a warning by the president of Barclays bank that such a tax would lead to a mass exodus of talent. The Guardian says Prime Minister Gordon Brown is threatening a transaction levy on banks in addition to Darling's supertax on bonuses. The Times also goes with the Chancellor's Pre-Budget Report and the mounting international concern over Britain's finances while the Financial Times claims Darling plans to cut spending by 14 per cent over three years.
The Irish Independent reports that Ireland's Finance Minister Brian Lenihan is to unveil a €4-billion austerity package for its 2010 annual budget in an effort to get public finances back in control. He is expected to reduce the public sector pay bill by €1.3 billion, cut health services, trim most welfare payouts except pensions by between three and four percent and even reduce his own salary by about 15 per cent.
USA Today says a convicted murderer has become the first person to be executed in America with a new type of single lethal injection often used to put down pets. Kenneth Biros had been convicted of killing and dismembering a 22-year-old woman in 1991. Lethal injections currently involve a three-drug cocktail to anaesthetise, paralyse and then stop the heart. The new single injection involves simply a massive dose of the anaesthetic.
Los Angeles Times reports Tiger Woods' mother-in-law has been released from hospital and was resting at the Wood' home. Barbro Holmberg, mother of Woods' wife, Elin Nordegren, was admitted with stomach pains that were not life-threatening, treated, then released 12 hours later. Meanwhile, another porn star has become the eleventh woman to claim an extra-marital affair with the golf superstar, and an adult magazine Playgirl (which specialises in male photoshoots) confirmed to FoxNews it had been offered naked pictures of the golfer.
Metro reports a masterpiece by Rembrandt has sold for a record £20.2 million (€22.3 million) at a London auction after not being seen in public for 40 years. Christie's said the 1658 painting, Portrait of a man, half-length, with his arms akimbo, had been held in private.
A chemistry student has reportedly been killed by what is believed to be exploding chewing gum. Russian news agency Ria Novosti reports the 25-year-old chemistry student was found dead with his jaw blown off after he was working on a computer at his parents' house in the Ukraine city of Konotop. He was known for his habit of dipping chewing in citric acid. Police believe he may have dipped the gum into an explosive material he was working with rather than the citric acid.
The Age reports that Lisa Robertson, the former Qantas air hostess who had sex with actor Ralph Fiennes in an aircraft toilet, has been ordered to perform 100 hours of community service. The 41-year-old former NSW police officer and airline stewardess started abusing alcohol after the affair and was now a pensioner on benefits. She admitted to hiding her earnings, gained from telling her story, from a continuing bankruptcy proceeding against her.