The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press:
The Times reports that there are encouraging results in oil exploration efforts. It also features the IMF warnings to Malta about its economic recovery. The newspaper carries a special feature marking the 25th anniversary since the Egyptair hijack massacre in Malta.
The Malta Independent says new airport scanning equipment being donated to Malta by the US is not a reaction to recent cargo bomb threats. It also quotes the Hungarian Prime minister saying he is glad his country is not yet in the eurozone.
In-Nazzjon features the launching of a Bill for the setting up of a Consumer Affairs Authority. It also quotes the Hungarian Prime Minister saying that jobs are the priority of the EU.
l-orizzont says Infrastructure Minister Austin Gatt is ‘hiding’ after Jesmond Mugliett revealed that the Cabinet had not sanctioned the decision for the power station extension to use heavy fuel oil. He is not taking questions on the subject. It also quotes the chairman of the National Commission, People with Disability, saying that some people want to marginalise people with disabilities.
The overseas press
Kampuchea Thmey says the Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen has announced a day of mourning on Thursday following the death of almost 350 people in a stampede at a water festival in the capital Phnom Penh. Hundreds more were injured in the crush on a bridge which had become overcrowded. Hun described the tragedy as Cambodia's darkest hour since the Khmer Rouge's regime in the 1970s left up to a quarter of the population dead.
The Irish Times predicts Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen would name a March date for a general election. Speaking after an emergency meeting of his ministers – sparked by the Green Party's call for a general election early in the new year – Mr Cowen insisted that pushing through the country's 2011 austerity budget next month was the "most important thing for the country". He added that the on-going EU/IMF negotiations depended on the budgetary measures coming into effect.
London’s The Times quotes leading economists warning that Ireland’s €85 billion bailout would not be enough to stamp out the eurozone crisis. The Wall Street Journal says hopes that the rescue plan for Ireland would stop pressure building on other European governments were set back as retreating financial markets turned the spotlight to Portugal and Spain as the next potential dominoes to fall.
Fox News quotes European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet saying that the euro was a solid currency and had shown remarkable stability since its inception. Addressing the European Parliament in Strasbourg, Trichet warned European politicians to refrain from using the single currency as a scapegoat for current difficulties. Europe’s fiscal policy, he said, was better than that of the US or Japan. At the close of trading on Wall Street yesterday, the euro was 1.3625 against the dollar.
The Dominion Post says the search for 29 miners trapped underground after an explosion at a New Zealand coalmine has suffered yet another setback: a robot which was to be sent into the mine to send pictures to the surface has broken down. The robot was also to monitor levels of toxic gas for experts to decide whether rescuers could go in.
According to The Jerusalem Post, the Israeli parliament has passed a Bill setting stringent new conditions which would have had to be met before any land in the Golan Heights or East Jerusalem could be ceded to either the Syrians or the Palestinians. The Bill requires a two-thirds majority in the Knesset. Failing that, the proposal would be subject to a referendum.
Deutsche Welle reports a section of Germany's parliament, the Reichstag, has been closed for tourists because of security concerns. Reports at the weekend suggested the German authorities had been warned of a possible al-Qaida attack on parliament next year.
Germany is to end conscription next July and switch to a slimmed-down volunteer military service of 185,000 troops focused on missions abroad. Blitz quotes Defence minister Karl zu Guttenberg telling a military conference in Dresden that the reforms were aimed at slimming the nation’s military and helping it meet 21st-century needs. Despite having 250,000 troops, only 7,000 are currently deployed at any one time, due mostly to the limited term most conscripts serve.
Rheinisher Merkur says the world’s third most-wanted Nazi suspect has died before he could be brought to trial in Germany. Bonn’s state court said 89-year-old Samuel Kunz died on November 18. Kunz was indicted on charges he was involved in the entire process of killing Jews at the Belzec death camp.
Beograd Press reports that a court in Serbia has passed prison sentences to two men in connection with crimes committed in eastern Bosnia during the 1992-1995 war. Branko Popovic was sentenced to 15 years and and Branko Grujic to six years over the torture and killing of 700 Muslims near the town of Zvornik.
New Jersey Globe reports that the American pastor who denounced Facebook as leading to adultery has admitted having a three-in-a-bed affair. Pastor Cedric Miller offered to resign in a speech to his congregation at Living Word Christian Fellowship Church in Neptune Township, New Jersey. The 48-year-old admitted he had a threesome with his wife and a male assistant 10 years ago and apologised for what he said was “a foolish transgression from the past”.