The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press.
All the newspapers feature yesterday’s arraignment of a man accused with the murder of his former partner in Mgarr on Saturday.
In other stories, The Times speaks to Major Peter Ripard, who described his injury in the Transport Malta explosion as being ‘like a blowlamp burning on your foot’.
The Malta Independent leads with the President’s call for balance in the courts between the rights of the accused and the interests of society.
In-Nazzjon also leads with the arraignment of Kenneth Gafa’ over Saturday’s murder, as well as the President’s call for balance in the courts.
l-orizzont also carries comments by the GWU General Secretary on the need for the union to continue to raise its membership.
The overseas press
La Tribune leads with OECD’s warning to the 16 eurozone member states that they need to start cutting their heavy debt loads and adopt tough measures to correct economic imbalances. The organisation also urged them to install a permanent crisis resolution mechanism which would force nations to carry out reforms in order to receive aid. In its latest survey, the OECD predicted the eurozone's economy would grow by 1.7 percent this year before accelerating to 2 percent in 2011.
The Daily Telegraph says MEPs will next year take home £91,000 (€107,700) in tax free expenses without having to provide any proof of expenditure as part of an increased pay and perks package. A backdated salary rise combined with increased allowances meant that all 736 European Parliament deputies would receive a New Year's lump sum gift of over £5,400 (€6,400) despite pay freezes and cuts for the voters they represent across the EU. It would take their net personal income to more than £170,000 (€201,300) in 2011.
Corriere della Sera reports Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi has pleaded with MPs for his political life on the eve of crucial confidence votes. He urged them to support him, warning that bringing down his government would be "folly" because stability was essential as the country battled an economic crisis.
Al Jazeera says President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran has fired Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki appointed the country's top nuclear official, Ali Akbar Salehi, to replace him in a caretaker capacity. No reason was given for the change but observers indicated it was part of a perceived power struggle in Tehran.
Le Parisien reports a sword-wielding teenager who took children in a French nursery hostage was arrested and all 20 children and their teacher were released safely. The 17-year-old boy had been treated for depression but had not taken his medication in recent days.
Al Quds quotes the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem saying Israeli police had arrested and illegally interrogated at least 81 Palestinian children as young as five between November 2009 and October 2010 on suspicion of throwing stones. Police said the arrests were legal and aimed at stamping out the stone throwing.
Virginia Globe reports a federal judge in Virginia has ruled against a key part of the Obama administration's law on healthcare reform. US District Judge Henry Hudson backed the state of Virginia's argument that the law's requirement that Americans purchase healthcare or face a fine was unconstitutional. But he declined to invalidate the entire law.
Metro quotes the wife of an extremist who travelled from his home in Britain to launch a suicide attack in Sweden insisting she knew nothing of his plans. Mona Thwany, who lived in Luton with Taimour Abdulwahab al-Abdaly and their three children, said she was ‘devastated and upset’ by his death. He was killed in Stockholm on Saturday when he detonated an explosive belt strapped to his chest and set off a car bomb, injuring two.
The Independent reports that Whitehall is preparing for a crippling attack on government websites as WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange appears in a court in London later today to fights efforts by Swedish authorities to question him over sex assault and rape charges, which he denies.. Ministers were particularly worried about sites used to file tax returns or claim benefits which store sensitive personal information.
Den says dozens of Ukrainian feminists staged an unusual protest against the country's all-male cabinet, pretending to urinate to show the government had turned into nothing more than a men's room. The members of the Femen group, known for its brazen feminist stunts, squirted bottles of water and yellow liquid from their groins outside the government headquarters as a bemused line of police looked on. The lack of women in the cabinet is a contrast to the previous government that was ousted earlier this year and was led by charismatic former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko.