The following are the top stories in the national and international news today.
The Times says that Nationalist MP Franco Debono is willing to accept a two- week extension into January on his deadline for a split in the Justice and Home Affairs Ministry giving the Prime Minister some more time to make the decision.
Another story on the final hours of Dr Debono’s ultimatum is in l-Orizzont. In another story, the newspaper says that according to the Eurobarometer many Maltese are living day to day.
In-Nazzjon leads with a story on the extension of the maternity leave. In another story it speaks on the opening of new road in the south as part of the aviation park project at Hal Safi.
The Malta Independent leads with photos of stories which dominated the local news this year, including the killing of the dog star, the arrival of Libyan mirages, Arriva and the breakwater bridge.
The international news
According to The Washington Examiner, the New Year's Eve parties started a whole day early on the Pacific island nation of Samoa, after a hop across the international date line transported the country 24 hours into the future. Samoa and neighboring Tokelau are close to the international dateline that zigzags vertically through the Pacific Ocean, and both sets of islands decided to realign themselves this year from the Americas side of the line to the Asia side. That makes them the first in the world to ring in the new year rather than the last. Samoans began celebrating at the stroke of midnight on Thursday, when the country skipped over Friday and moved straight into 12:01 a.m. on New Year's Eve. Pools and beaches have been crowded with revelers.
Elsewhere across the globe, people prepared to say goodbye to a year that was marked by upheaval and mass protests in several Arab countries, economic turmoil and a seemingly endless string of devastating natural disasters. In Australia, The Sydney Morning Herald reports people began crowding onto the shores of the city's glittering harbour early today in a bid for the best spot to watch the midnight fireworks extravaganza over the iconic Harbour Bridge. The display was designed around the theme “Time to Dream”, a nod to the eagerness many felt at moving forward after the rough year.
Asian Observer says people across Japan, still reeling from the effects of the giant tsunami and earthquake were expected to spend Saturday visiting shrines and temples, offering their first prayers for the year. The giant hanging bell at temples will ring 108 times to purify the world of evil and bring good luck. In Hong Kong, more than 400,000 people were expected to watch the 4-minute, $1 million display of fireworks that will shoot off from 10 skyscrapers, lighting up the city's famed Victoria Harbour.
The New York Times says heavy security is in place to ensure that tonight’s celebrations are incident-free. The attention is on Times Square, where some one million people will attend to see the crystal ball launched by Lady Gaga and NY mayor Michael Bloomberg.
O Globo says security is also in place in Rio de Janiero as over two million revellers are expected in Copacabana beach to see the city’s traditional “Reveillon”. The fireworks display, this year dedicated to the environment, is expected to last 16 minutes.
Ansa reports that a number of people were arrested and thousands of illegal fireworks seized across Italy as police searches ahead of New Year's Eve intensified and cities from Milan to Palermo decided to ban fireworks from the streets. Among this year's favourites is a monster blaster called the Monti Bomb after Italian Premier Mario Monti's bumper austerity package.
Börzen Zeitung reports the EU's Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn has warned Spain it must remain committed to curb its excessive deficit by 2013. He was commenting after the country’s newly-elected Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said his government estimated that the country's deficit for 2011 would come in at eight per cent of the GDP, two percentage points more than the original target for the year of six per cent. Last week, Rajoy announced a further €15 billion package of tax increases and spending cuts and admitted that the country’s finances were probably even worse because of overspending by the autonomous regions.
Al Jazeera quotes opposition activists in Syria saying security forces have killed a further 35 people when opened fire to try to stop as many as 250,000 protesters who took to the streets in Idlib, Hama, Homs, Deraa and in several Damascus suburbs in the presence of visiting Arab League observers. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights accused the security forces of firing live rounds, nail bombs and tear gas.
A blast at a market in the north-eastern Nigerian city of Maiduguri has left four people dead and several others injured. An army spokesman told the BBC the Islamist group Boko Haram was behind the explosion. Maiduguri has been plagued by attacks from Boko Haram, which wants to impose strict Sharia law across Nigeria.
Xinhua news agency reports that a man is in critical condition after testing positive for the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen. The city borders Hong Kong, which has already culled thousands of chickens and ordered a suspension of live poultry imports from China after three birds tested positive with the strain in mid-December.
Meanwhile, Tribune de Genève quotes the World Health Organistion expressing deep concern about the way research was being carried out into the H5N1 virus. In a statement, the UN body issued a stern warning to scientists who have engineered a highly pathogenic form of the deadly bird flu virus, saying their work carried significant risks and must be tightly controlled.