The following are the top stories in the national and international press today
The Sunday Times says that around 20 Air Malta pilots have been offered an early retirement package amounting to €450,000 each as part of the airline’s bid to bring down staff numbers. In another story, it says that the Labour Party’s pledge to reduce utility bills will be based on the involvement of the private sector in electricity generation.
Il-Mument reports on yesterday’s Dissett programme between PN and PL deputy leaders Simon Busuttil and Louis Grech, respectively, saying that while the former presented visionary politics, the latter portrayed politics that lacked substance.
The Independent on Sunday also reports about the Dissett debate saying that the two deputy leaders calmly battled it out. The newspaper also reports on the PN’s ban of Hermann Schiavone’s candidature.
Dr Schiavone's ban is also reported by It-Torca which, in another story, says that although the electoral campaign officially opens tomorrow, the people may be going to cast their vote in the March election with an undissolved Parliament.
Illum says that Louis Grech will be contesting the first district.
Kullhadd reports Labour leader Joseph Muscat saying that the PL will be embarking on a positive electoral campaign at midnight tonight.
MaltaToday says that Labour is at the same level of support as at the end of January 2008, just before the start of that year’s electoral campaign.
The international press
Australian police fear there may have been a number of deaths in the fire-ravaged south-east of Tasmania, with a number of people reported missing. ABC reports Australian crews are battling a series of wildfires amid scorching temperatures across the country. One blaze destroyed 80 buildings in and around the small town of Dunalley, east of the Tasmanian capital of Hobart, including the town's school, bakery and police station.
El Universal says Venezuela’s National Assembly has re-elected Diosdado Cabello, a longtime ally of President Hugo Chavez, as president, ready to step in as caretaker leader if Chavez, battling post-op complications in Cuba, were unfit to resume leadership. The Venezuelan government said Chavez could begin his new six-year term in office next week even if he was too ill to attend his presidential inauguration. But Opposition leaders have called for new elections if the president could not be sworn in for his new term.
Times of India reports that a court in New Delhi has heard DNA evidence links five men with a deadly gang rape in the city last month. At a pre-trial hearing on Saturday prosecutors told the court that blood stains found on the clothing of all five accused men matched the blood of the 23-year-old victim. The five suspects were also allegedly found with items stolen from the woman.
The Honduran ambassador to Colombia has been forced to resign after it was discovered a Christmas party held at the embassy involved an orgy and unpaid prostitutes. According to AFP, Carlos Rodriguez Andino stepped down when Honduran Foreign Minister Arturo Corrales received a report about the incident written by a special commission appointed to investigate what happened at the December 20 party in Bogotá. The report said the prostitutes stole embassy computers and cell phones, and also defecated on the desks of the ambassador and the commercial attaché, after they were asked to leave without being paid.
Al Ahram reports President Mohamed Mursi of Egypt has fired his finance and interior ministers in what observers saw as a government reshuffle to assuage public anger at an economic crisis. The Egyptian pound, 10 percent down since the 2011, lost more than three per cent against the dollar last week, hitting a record low as fears grew over its rapidly shrinking foreign currency reserves. The IMF’s Middle East and Central Asia director, Masood Ahmed, will discuss a postponed $4.8 billion loan agreement and possible IMF support for Egypt with officials on Monday.
Temperatures in China have plunged to their lowest in almost three decades, cold enough to freeze coastal waters and trap 1,000 ships in ice. China Daily reports the country recorded an average of minus 3.8 degrees Celsius – 1.3 degrees colder than the previous average, and the chilliest in 28 years. Some 1,000 ships are stranded in in Laizhou Bay. Over 140 flights have been delayed and transport around the country severely disrupted.
Four people have died after a gunman had a standoff with police when he took several hostages inside a Colorado home. According to Fox News, the gunman took four people hostage inside a home in Aurora. The gunman and three hostages were killed, while one of the hostages was able to get out alive.
UTV says a 38-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after shots were fired at Northern Ireland officers during the third day of clashes with protesters opposed to a recent decision to restrict the flying of the Union Flag at Belfast City Hall. Police used water cannon against about 100 demonstrators who threw bottles, bricks and smoke bombs. Thirteen people were charged with public order offences on Saturday, one of them in relation to that day's rioting, and the other 12 from disorder on Friday night, during which nine police officers were injured.
Globovision reports Venezuelan emergency workers continue a sea and air search after a small plane carrying the head of Italy's Missoni fashion family disappeared over coastal islands. The plane carrying Vittorio Missoni and five other passengers and crew, went missing after taking off from the Los Roques resort.
The Examiner says 114-year-old Mamie Rearden, who was the oldest living US citizen, has died. The South Carolina woman, who died of injuries sustained after she broke her hip after a fall about three weeks ago, was more than a year younger than the world's oldest person, 115-year-old Jiroemon Kimura of Japan. There are estimated to be between 300 and 450 living supercentenarians – persons above the age of 110 – in the world.
Guards thought there was something suspicious about a little white cat slipping through the medium-security prison in the city of Arapiraca in north-eastern Brazil. O Estado de S. Paulo reports a prison official said that when they caught the animal, they found a mobile phone, drills, small saws and other contraband taped to its body. The newspaper reported that all of the prison’s 263 inmates are suspects in the smuggling attempt. A prison spokesman said: “It will be hard to discover who is responsible since the cat does not speak.”