The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press.
The Times reports that Leah's come home. It also says that the EU tobacco proposal retains the ban on snus.
The Malta Independent highlights the EU Tobacco Directive. It also says a fifth of MPs elected in 2008 will not contest this time.
In-Nazzjon quotes the prime minister saying Malta can continue to build on its success in financial services.
l-orizzont says that a few days before the government collapsed, a consortium including Zaren Vassallo's group was awarded a €15m contract for the building of the bio-park.
The overseas press
South Korean voters have chosen conservative candidate Park Geun-hye as their president – the country’s first female head of state and the first daughter of a former president to take over at the presidential office. Radio Korea International says Park won roughly 15.77 million votes or 51.6 per cent of votes cast.
The New York Times reports UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and members of the UN Security Council have condemned Israel's proposed construction of settlements in occupied Palestinian territories as a threat to flagging peace efforts. Ban and UN envoys from several European Union countries, Russia and China warned Israel against building thousands of new settler homes in the West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem. Israel gave the green light to plans for 2,610 homes in East Jerusalem and opened tenders for 1,048 units in the West Bank just before the UN meeting. Meanwhile, Reuters quotes Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying his government would press ahead with expanding Jewish settlements around Jerusalem despite Western criticism of its plans.
The BBC quotes Amnesty International saying the European Union is approaching a huge humanitarian crisis with what it calls “the mistreatment of illegal immigrants and asylum seekers in Greece”. A new report condemns the treatment of the tens of thousands of migrants seeking safety there and calls for urgent help from the EU.
Magyar Hirlap reports that thousands of students have again taken to the streets of the Hungarian capital against the government’s education policy. The protests came in spite of government decision to guarantee 55,000 full scholarships next year, the same number as this year. Protesting students are seen in front of the building of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences in Budapest, Hungary, Wednesday, Dec. 19, 2012, during nationwide protest against the government's educational plans.
Students, however, also oppose signing a contract requiring them to work in Hungary for several years after graduation if they accepted studying at the state's expense.
Tribune de Genève announces that WHO officials have suspended a polio vaccination campaign in Pakistan after a series of attacks left eight polio vaccination volunteers dead. The decision came after unidentified gunmen opened fire on three vaccination teams scattered across northwestern Pakistan on Wednesday. Earlier in the week, attacks in Peshawar and Karachi killed six people and wounded several others. Pakistan's government has condemned the attacks.
Today reports that the UN says it needs $1.5 billion in the next six months to help hundreds of thousands of people fleeing the conflict in Syria. UN officials say the number of people in need, and the amount of money required to help them, are signs of a "massive" humanitarian crisis in Syria. More than 500,000 people have already taken refuge in neighbouring countries, and another 500,000 are expected to flee in the next six months.
Tages Anzeiger says Swiss bank UBS was hit with a $1.5 billion bill and admitted to fraud on Wednesday in order to settle charges of manipulating global benchmark interest rates. The penalty agreed with US, UK and Swiss regulators and comes a week after Britain’s HSBC agreed to pay the biggest ever penalty, $1.92 billion, to settle a probe in the United States into laundering money for drug cartels.
Fox News says top security officials in the US have resigned after a scathing report of lack of security measures at the American mission in Benghazi. The State Department’s chief of diplomatic security has resigned and three other officials have been relieved of their duties. The attack on the mission in September left four Americans dead, including the US ambassador.
The Washington Times reports that President Obama has asked Vice-President Joe Biden to come up with concrete proposals by the end of January for curbing gun violence in the United States after last week’s mass shooting in Connecticut. He had promised to employ the full power of his office to overcome deep-seated political resistance. However, leading Republicans responded to the president’s pledge by restating their firm opposition to new limits on guns or ammunition.
The Irish independent says three top US senators have voiced their anger in a letter to the head of Sony Pictures Entertainment over the film “Zero Dark Thirty”, the picture about the manhunt for Osama bin Laden. They described it as misleading and "grossly inaccurate", suggesting that torture produced the tip that led the US military to the terrorist leader. The film-makers dispute that interpretation and encourage people to see the movie, already considered a top Oscar contender, before characterising it.
San José Mercury News says 20-year-old Olivia Culpo, a beauty queen from Rhode Island has been crowned the new Miss Universe, beating out 88 other women form six continents during a televised competition at the Planet Hollywood casino on the Las Vegas Strip. Miss Philippines, Janine Tugonon, came in second, while Miss Venezuela, Irene Sofia Esser Quintero, placed third.
Time magazine has named President Obama its Person of the Year, saying his historic re-election was symbolic of the country's changing demographics. It also called him the "symbol and in some ways the architect of this new America". This is the president's second time receiving the accolade. Time awarded a runner-up spot to Pakistani activist Malala Yousafzai, the teenager who was shot in the head by Taliban militants for standing up for girls' education. She survived the October attack.
According to Bleacher Report, Barcelona coach Tito Vilanova will have surgery on a saliva gland today followed by six weeks of chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Vilanova had a cancerous tumour removed from the gland at the back of his throat in November last year. Assistant coach Jordi Roura will take charge of the team in the meantime.