The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press:
The Times says strong winds destroyed €7m worth of fish cages off Malta. It also says that lecturers have found holes in the education reform document.
The Malta Independent leads with the speeches by the political leaders. It says Dr Gonzi expressed disappointment over the outcome of the Copenhagen climate conference. Dr Muscat in his speech said the PM was not a ‘firm pair of hands'.
In-Nazzjon quotes the Prime Minister saying 2010 would be a year of opportunity.
l-orizzont says Malta has been criticised for remaining silent about the drowning of 73 migrants during Christmas 13 years ago in what remained known as the Yioham case. It also reports comments by Joseph Muscat on the Franco Debono case.
The international press
The International Herald Tribune reports that winter mayhem continued to strike much of Europe, with more deaths reported and public transportation around the continent grinding to a halt on the last weekend of the holiday shopping season.
Meanwhile, USA Today says a deadly storm - described as one of the worst in a decade - blanketed much of the eastern United States, grounding flights and bringing traffic to a standstill. Three people died on roads in Virginia.
Ansa quotes Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi saying public support was helping him recover from the attack that left him with a broken nose and two broken teeth.
Chumhuriyet reports Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu claiming that the country deserves to have visa restrictions against it dropped by the EU after Serbian, Montenegrin and Macedonian citizens were granted visa-free travel rights to the Schengen area.
Beirut's The Daily Star reports that nearly 140 million Arabs live below the poverty line. It quotes a UN Development Programme and Arab League joint report stressing overall poverty had reached up to 40 percent on average and indicated that youth unemployment in Arab countries was "the highest in the world".
Gazeta Polska reports that Polish police have recovered the metal sign that hung over the former Nazi Auschwitz death camp and detained five men suspected of the theft that sparked worldwide condemnation.
The Los Angeles Times reports the death of actress Brittany Murphy, who starred in films such as Just Married, Clueless and 8 Mile. The actress, who was just 32, died on Sunday morning at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center near Beverly Hills. She went into cardiac arrest, but hospital sources would not release the cause of death.
According to the Daily Mail, a Tory government would hand British homeowners a licence to kill burglars.
Metro says the British Government has agreed to an historic deal to pay a grant of £18 million (€20.3 million) over three years to some 450 thalidomide victims living in the UK. It also publicly apologised for their suffering over the past 50 years.
De Telegraaf says Dutch 14-year-old Laura Dekker, barred from sailing solo around the world because of her age, has been found on the Caribbean island of St Maarten, three days after relatives in the Netherlands reported her missing. She had been under supervision since a court blocked her bid to be the youngest person to sail the globe solo.
Fox News reports that a cat is lucky to be alive after he was found with his paws glued to a Minnesota interstate highway. A couple found the cat thinking it had been injured by a car but they found out it was stuck and its paw pads were ripped off when the couple removed him from the road. Animal rescue organisations have expressed outrage at the mistreatment.
The Irish Examiner reports that people feeling the pressures of Christmas have been warned to take care of their mental health over the festive period. Edel Fortune, clinical manager of the Wellness and Recovery Centre at St Patrick's University Hospital, Dublin, said Christmas can be a time of immense stress for many people. Worries about money, relations or loneliness could escalate in the coming weeks for men and women who are already trying to cope with the challenges of the recession and rising unemployment.