The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press:
The Times says language schools are complaining that the tourism ‘bed tax' is a nail in their coffin. It also says the editor of an ‘obscene' fictitious newspaper story about sexual violence banned at the University is to be taken to court.
The Malta Independent says the aquifer will become useless in 15 years' time if current groundwater extraction continues.
In-Nazzjon says 110,000 are this month to receive increases to their social benefits. It also says 30,000 have been vaccinated against H1N1 and 465 food establishments were warned about shortcomings last month.
l-orizzont asks why an application for a fish farm off Marsascala was not published and wonders whether this was willful or a mistake. It also says a US senator has entered the fray over Jewish demands for a new burial for bones found in a Rabat catacomb.
The international press:
EU Observer reports that Spain, which holds the EU presidency, has called for a common European position on airport body scanners after member states clashed over the introduction of new security technology.
Corriere della Sera says Italy joined the United States, Britain and the Netherlands as nations with plans to install the scanners following the Detroit airline bomber's failed Christmas Day attack.
The Washington Times reports President Barack Obama has signalled changes in the way information on potential terror threats is handled in the wake of the botched airline bomb attack. He told the intelligence community to assign "clear lines of responsibility" for immediately pursuing leads on those threats.
According to Al Jazeera, al-Qaida's number three, Sheikh Mustafa Abu al-Yazid, has praised the suicide attack on a CIA outpost in Afghanistan and said it was to avenge the deaths of a Pakistani Taliban leader and two al-Qaida figures.
Euronews says the icy weather gripping parts of Europe has led to the cancellation or delays of flights at airports in the UK, France, the Irish Republic and the Netherlands. As many parts of Germany saw temperatures fall below minus 10C, at least nine homeless men aged from 42 to 62 froze to death.
In Britain, The Independent reports travellers have endured more mid-winter misery. Plunging temperatures left vast parts of the country struggling against treacherous conditions as the heavy snowfalls of the previous two days turned into ice. Temperatures fell to record lows of minus 22C in some areas. A Brussels to London Eurostar train broke down in the Channel Tunnel and there were widespread delays and cancellations at airports and on domestic rail services.
USA Today says a cold Arctic front has swept through the central United States, bringing temperatures as low as minus 45C in North Dakota. The the winter snap, which has gripped the southern states this week, was expected deposit snow and ice from Texas and Louisiana in the south to the northern US border.
As Gordon Brown brushed off the latest attempt to oust him as British prime minister as "a storm in a teacup", his leadership woes have boosted the Conservatives chances at the next election. According to a poll by The Sun, 42 percent said they would vote for David Cameron, up two from the day before. The Tories have increased their lead over Labour from nine to 12 points in the last 24 hours. Mr Brown's party is on 30, down one. Support for the Liberal Democrats has also slipped one to 16.
Deutsche Welle reports German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle has assured Ankara that the German government had no prejudices against Turkey's entry into the European Union. On his first trip to the Turkish capital, he told an audience of Turkish diplomats that he believed Turkey was not yet ready for EU membership and called for reforms in the country.
A Playboy model whose badly burned body was found on Sunday in a Miami rubbish skip text messaged "he's trying to kill me" to a former boyfriend, her stepfather told Fox News.
The New York Post reveals that the family of a British computer programmer buried as an 'unknown man' is suing the New York authorities for negligence. Richard Massey was found dead in a river in New York in March 2003 after going missing shortly after being released from hospital suffering from emotional problems.
Metro says a 14-year-old math prodigy has been offered a place at Britain's prestigious Cambridge University if he can pass his physics A-level exam. Arran Fernandez would be the youngest Cambridge undergraduate since William Pitt the Younger, who became prime minister, attended at the same age in 1773.
St Gallen Tagblatt reports that a millionaire caught speeding in Switzerland has been hit with a record-breaking €200,000 fine - more than twice the previous Swiss record. Judges arrived at the sum by basing it on his estimated personal wealth of over €17 million. The court said the repeat offender drove his Ferrari up to 35 mph faster than the 50 mph limit.
Adevarul says a Romanian lost over €40,000 after his wife threw out a pair of shoes in which he had hidden the money. The man, from the city of Alba Iulia, hid the family's life savings in the shoes without telling his wife. She threw them out during a house clearing before Christmas, but the man only noticed the money had gone a few days later.