The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press.
The Times of Malta reports how Brussels said yesterday that Malta’s deficit will widen to over 3%, a claim which the government denied. The same story is also taken up by In-Nazzjon and the Malta Independent.
The Times of Malta also reports how a fatally shot man was also hit on the head with the butt of a gun.
l-orizzont says the EU’s autumn report is optimistic about the Maltese economy for the future. L-orizzont also reports on the murder trial, reporting how the accused had threatened to kill his former partner.
The Malta Independent leads with plans for MPs to be paid according to their attendance in Parliament.
The overseas press
Ta Nea reports EU and IMF auditors came face-to-face with the full force of anti-austerity anger as protesters in Athens jeered, heckled and stopped them from leaving the Finance Ministry. In scenes not witnessed since the beginning of Greece's economic crisis, riot police brought in to guard the ministry, held back the furious demonstrators who shouted “Take your bailout and get out of here” as the officials left a first round of talks with the Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras.
According to AFP, Kosovo election officials are weighing up whether to repeat a vote in Serb-populated areas in the northern town of Kosovska Mitrovica where voting was interrupted late on Sunday after Serb extremists stormed a polling station and destroyed ballot boxes.
At least one person was killed and eight others injured after a series of small explosions near the Communist Party headquarters in northern China's Shanxi province. Asia Times quotes police saying cars were damaged metres away from the building.
CNN reports the United States is looking at new classified intelligence indicating the Syrian government may have not fully declare its chemical weapons stockpile. It quotes a US official saying the intelligence was not definitive but “there are various threads of information that would shake our confidence”.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has told France 24 television that a deal on its disputed nuclear programme was possible at talks due to resume tomorrow. The so-called P5+1 group of major powers – the US, Britain, China, France, Russia and Germany – will meet Iran's nuclear team in Geneva on Thursday and Friday for the latest round of negotiations revived after the election of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, a reputed moderate.
Avvenire says the Vatican is asking its priests around the world for input on controversial issues ranging from same-sex marriage to surrogate motherhood to polygamy as its prepares for an extraordinary meeting on the family called by Pope Francis for October 2014.
El Pais reports the man who was driving the train which was involved in a crash that killed 79 people in Spain is the only person likely to face trial after a court dropped its investigation of 22 officials from rail infrastructure firm Adif. The driver had admitted from the beginning that he was going too fast when the crash occurred and has been provisionally charged with multiple counts of negligent homicide.
London’s The Independent reports the German foreign minister has summoned the British ambassador for clarification after reports that Chancellor Angela Merkel was being spied on by the British as well as the American from their respective embassies.
La Nota says a semi-submersible boat of the type used by leftist FARC rebels to transport cocaine has been seized and destroyed in southwest Colombia. The amphibious vessel, estimated to cost about $1.5 million (€1.1 million), was discovered stowed on dry land in a forested area in the country's southwestern Narino province. Such vessels have the ability of cruising below the surface of the water, often evading detection by drug enforcement authorities.
Ansa reports a man in Genoa has been fined €7,000 for shooting and killing his neighbour's cat. The Supreme Court upheld the ruling by a lower court, which had found that the man's aggressive behaviour towards animals constituted an aggravating circumstance.