The following are the top stories in the local and international press today.
The Sunday Times leads with a story on a study carried out by a team of people led by a cardiologist which found that elections can kill.
The Malta Independent on Sunday quotes Franco saying that the end of 2011 as the date by when the Justice and Home Affairs Ministry would be split was promised by the Prime Minister.
Malta Today publishes the results of a survey on personal income expectations for 2012.
Illum describes 2012 as a rollercoaster year.
It-Torca names Eritrean Ashih Tekleab Haile as man of the year and Transport Minister Austin Gatt as the most mediocre.
Il-Mument speaks to Oliver Friggeri who speaks on a number of issues the Maltese should come to an agreement about next year, including one national day.
Kullhadd names Maltese tenor Joseph Calleja and divorce campaigner Deborah Schembri as the people of 2012
The international news
With glittering fireworks and celebrations from New Zealand to Times Square, the world eagerly welcomed a new year and hope for a better future, saying goodbye to a year of hurricanes, tsunamis and economic turmoil that many would rather forget. The International Herald Tribune reports that revellers in Australia, Asia, Europe and the South Pacific island nation of Samoa, which jumped across the international dateline to be first to celebrate, welcomed 2012 with booming pyrotechnic displays. But across the world, people battered by weather disasters, joblessness and economic uncertainty hoped the stroke of midnight would change their fortunes.
NSBC says world leaders evoked 2011's events in their New Year's messages. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said dealing with Europe's debt crisis would bring its countries closer. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin wished well being and prosperity to all Russians "regardless of their political persuasion" after large-scale protests against him. French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who polls suggest would be defeated by his Socialist challenger in spring elections, warned Europe's crisis was not finished and "that 2012 will be the year full of risks, but also of possibilities." That ambivalence echoed at the Vatican, where Pope Benedict marked the end of 2011 with prayers of thanks and said humanity awaited the new year with apprehension but also with hope for a better future.
According to European Central Bank policymaker Christian Noyer, the euro could become the world's leading currency in the next decade if European leaders in the eurozone succeed in tightening fiscal integration. In an article published in today’s Journal du Dimanche, to coincide with the 10-year anniversary of the introduction of the euro, Noyer says if all the decisions taken at the Brussels summit were implement, the euro would emerge stronger.
Contrasting with Noyer's forecast, an opinion poll published alongside his article in Journal du Dimanche, showed 50 per cent of French people thought the single currency had been a bad idea, compared with 35 percent who approved. A separate article in Saturday's Le Parisien showed the price of an average shopping basket had risen 22 per cent since the euro first came into circulation, with certain basic goods such as the baguette rising up to 30 percent.
North Korea said it would begin an era of prosperity in 2012 by resolving food and power shortages, and called on the people to become “human shields” to protect new leader Kim Jong Un “unto death.” An editorial carried by newspapers Rodong Sinmun, Chongnyon Jonwi and Joson Inmingun said, “The whole party, the entire army and all the people should possess a firm conviction that they will become human bulwarks and human shields in defending Kim Jong Un.”
Voice of Nigeria says at least 50 people have been killed in eastern Nigeria in clashes between rival ethnic groups. A government spokesman said the violence was the result of a land dispute. Meanwhile, Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan has declared a state of emergency in areas hit by violence blamed on Islamist sect Boko Haram, and ordered the closure of part of the country's borders. He announced the measures after branding Boko Haram a "cancerous" body that was bent on destroying Africa's most populous country. He vowed that the group blamed for a wave of bloody attacks would be crushed.
Iran says it has proposed a new round of talks on its nuclear programme with six world powers that have been trying for years to persuade Tehran to freeze aspects of its atomic work that could provide a possible pathway to weapons production. Abrar quotes the country’s top nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalili, saying he had formally called on the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany to return to negotiations.
Arab League observers in Syria have given apparently conflicting accounts of an incident said to have involved snipers in the restive city of Deraa. Footage posted online appeared to show one official saying he had seen government snipers on rooftops and calling for them to be withdrawn. However in a BBC interview, the chief of the Arab League mission later denied that the official had seen the snipers. Violence in Syria has continued unabated despite the monitors' mission. Meanwhile, Syria's two largest opposition groups have signed an agreement on setting up a democracy after President Bashar Assad's regime falls.
The Washington Times says President Barack Obama signed a wide-ranging defense bill into law Saturday despite having "serious reservations" about provisions that regulate the detention, interrogation and prosecution of suspected terrorists. The Bill also applies penalties against Iran's central bank in an effort to hamper Tehran's ability to fund its nuclear enrichment programme.
The Sunday Telegraph quotes British Health Secretary Andrew Lansley saying a government review of data used to assess the risks posed by faulty breast implants was to be carried out due to conflicting data on implant ruptures. He reiterated government advice that the implants, which 40,000 UK women have, do not require routine removal. The implants by French firm Poly Implant Prothese (PIP) were banned last year after they were found to contain a non-medical-grade silicone filler. Last week, French authorities recommended that 30,000 women have faulty breast implants removed as a precaution.
The Miami Herald announces that Cheetah, the chimpanzee said to have performed in the Tarzan films of the 1930s, has died at the age of 80. Cheetah was said to have performed in “Tarzan the Ape Man” (1932) and “Tarzan and His Mate” (1934), classic films about the man reared in the jungle starring Johnny Weissmuller and Maureen O'Sullivan.