The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press:
The Times reports comments by Tonio Fenech that Labour's energy plan is an 'Alice in Wonderland proposal'.
The Malta Independent quotes Joseph Muscat saying the PL will put consumers first in its energy proposals. It also quotes Tonio Fenech saying that no investor is Father Christmas.
In-Nazzjon says that Labour's energy proposal means energy tariffs will rise.
l-orizzont leads with a press conference by Labour spokesmen who said that comments by Tonio Fenech confirmed that Labour's energy plans could be achieved.
The overseas press
Fire authorities in Australia are preparing for worsening weather conditions throughout today and into the weekend as crews battle to quell blazes across the country. ABC says some 100 fires are burning across New South Wales, 28 in Tasmania and 22 across Queensland. A total fire ban is in place for New South Wales, the ACT and Victoria as the nation continues to suffer a record-breaking heatwave with a maximum temperature of 46 degrees recorded.
The Washington Post reports US vice-president Joe Biden and the National Rifle Association butted heads on gun control in Washington as a 16-year-old pupil was shot and wounded by a fellow classmate who opened fire with a shotgun at a high school in rural California. The shooting took place just weeks after the massacre of 26 people – including 20 children – at a school in Newtown, Connecticut. The violence has revived America's debate about gun control, and just before news of the shooting broke Biden sat down for a meeting with NRA representatives exploring ways to reduce gun violence.
Dawn says more than 100 people have been killed and scores of others injured in a series of bombings in Pakistan – including a double attack on a crowded snooker club in the city of Quetta. Most of the victims are believed to be Shia Muslims.
France 24 reports three Kurdish female activists – including one of the founders of outlawed militant group the PKK – were found dead with gunshot wounds to the head inside a Kurdish institute in Paris in what Interior Minister Manuel Valls called a “political assassination”. French President François Hollande denounced the “horrible” attack as anti-terror police launched an investigation. No group has claimed responsibility for the killings.
The Washington Times says 20 months after US special forces killed Osama bin Laden, the Obama administration told a court it was not ready to release images taken after the al Qaeda leader's death because they still might lead to violence. A federal appeals court heard arguments in a lawsuit over whether the government must release the images under the Freedom of Information Act. A Justice Department lawyer told the court the 52 photographs or videos (the medium has not been revealed) could be used to inflame tensions and violence could threaten American soldiers as well as civilians in Afghanistan.
According to Somalialand Press, one of Somalia's most notorious pirates, who terrorised vast areas of the Indian Ocean generating multi-million dollar ransoms from the ships he seized, has announced his retirement. Mohamed Abdi Hassan, also known as 'Big Mouth', said he was quitting after spending eight years as a pirate leader but he did not give a reason for his change of heart..
Globovision reports tens of thousands of demonstrators packed the streets of Caracas to mark the inauguration day of President Hugo Chavez, who was too ill to attend his swearing-in ceremony and remained in Cuba, where he underwent cancer surgery last month. Vice-President Nicolas Maduro led tributes to President Chavez in an oath of "absolute loyalty".
Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy has found himself at the centre of a new investigation after judges approved a probe into allegations he released confidential information relating to the country’s so-called “Karachigate” scandal. A judicial source told AFP three judges decided to proceed with a probe to see whether Sarkozy violated a confidentiality law when the presidential palace published a press release on the so-called Karachi affair, which stems from a 2002 bombing in the Pakistani city that killed 11 French engineers. The engineers' families sued Sarkozy charging that it violated laws that prohibit publication of information about ongoing investigations.
VOA says the United States is in the grip of a deadly influenza outbreak that has hit harder and earlier than in previous years, and has claimed the lives of at least 18 children. The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases said it is the worst year since 2003-2004 and is particularly severe. The H3N2 epidemic, which broke out at the beginning of December, has led to some 2,200 people being hospitalised across the United State.
Fox News reports that a number of killer whales, trapped under sea ice at Hudson Bay, off Canada’s Arctic coast, have swum free. Water opened up around the area where the orcas had been coming up for air and the winds seemed to have shifted overnight, creating a passageway to the open water six miles away.
Billboard announces the death of Claude Nobs, the founder and general manager of the Montreux Jazz Festival, whose passion for music and artistry introduced generations of legendary musicians to international audiences on the Swiss stage. He was 76. The Jazz Festival said Nobs, a native of Montreux, died after sustaining injuries from a fall while cross-country skiing nearby on Christmas Eve.
Sky News says the vast majority of British MPs believe they are underpaid and want their salaries raised by more than £20,000. A new survey by the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority – Parliament’s watchdog – has revealed that 69 per cent of those questioned believed they should receive £86,250 every year – a 32 per cent increase on their current salary of £65,738 and more than three times the average salary in the UK.
Jakarta Globe reports that an Indonesian government MP and former beauty queen, Angelina Sondakh, has been jailed for four-and-a-half years for taking $1.5 million in kickbacks from universities in exchange for government funding. Sondakh, who refused to admit her guilt or implicate others, is the second member of the Indonesian government to be jailed for corruption. The Corruption Eradication Commission says other arrests will follow.