The following are the top stories in the Maltese press and some of the overseas media.
The Times of Malta reports on developments in the Public Accounts Committee yesterday where it was revealed that Manuel Mallia as a lawyer knew of the oil contracts bribery three years ago.
The Malta Independent follows up the Lampedusa tragedy and says the AFM has refused to comment after the Italian Navy rescue of 350.
In-Nazzjon reports how Malta lost a European Court appeal on the length of the detention period of migrants.
l-orizzont also leads with how oil trader George Farrugia revealed yesterday that he had made a €2,000 donation to the Austin Gatt campaign.
The overseas press
The New York Times reports the United Nations has appealed for a record $6.5 billion (€4.7 billion) to help ever-growing numbers of victims of Syria's spiralling conflict next year, when refugee numbers are set to nearly double.
The Washington Post says a US district judge has rules the US National Security Agency’s bulk collection of phone records violates the Constitution’s ban on unreasonable searches.
According to AGI, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPAC) will decide which Italian port will be used to transfer the chemical weapons that will be shipped from Syria in order to be destroyed. Speaking in Brussels, Italian Foreign Minister Emma Bonino said that OPAC “confirmed its availability to present the technical aspects of the operation to the Italian Parliament, when it re-opens in January”.
Sky News reports the Metropolitan Police has said there is “no credible evidence” the SAS were involved in the death of Diana, Princess of Wales. The investigation began after police received information last August that alleged members or former members of the Special Air Service (SAS) were involved in circumstances leading to the deaths of Diana, Dodi al Fayed and their chauffeur Henri Paul on August 31, 1997.
South China Morning Post says US Secretary of State John Kerry offered harsh words for China and new maritime security assistance for Southeast Asia on Monday to bolster countries facing growing Chinese assertiveness in a region where the two world powers are jockeying for influence. Tensions are running high after a near-collision of US and Chinese naval vessels this month and an air defence zone China has declared over an area that includes territory controlled by Japan, a U.S. ally. Those actions have raised fresh alarm as Beijing modernises its military and claims a wide swath of ocean and disputed islands across the East and South China Seas.
Ansa says the Chinese are the most materialistic people in the world according to an Ipsos survey, which measure success based on the things people own. Of 20 countries surveyed by the Italian organisation, Sweden is the country less attached to material goods. China topped the list, followed by Turkey and Brazil. Among Italians only 22 per cent measure success on the possession of material – one point more than the US.
Il Mattino reports Italian police have arrested four suspected mafia members who were forcing shopkeepers to buy Christmas flowers for up to €100 euros each to raise money for jailed mobsters. The red poinsettia plants usually sell for three or four euros and business owners who did not buy them at the vastly inflated prices faced retribution.
Metro says a burglar who was jailed for breaking into a woman's home returned to the property when he was released from prison in order to repeatedly rape her during a “terrifying ordeal”. Ashley Mills was sentenced at Portsmouth Crown Court to 18 years' imprisonment with an extended licence period of eight years for charges of trespass with intent to commit a sexual offence, three counts of rape and one of attempted rape. The victim, aged 59, described how the 28-year-old first targeted her home in 2009 when he burgled it after she allowed him to camp in her garden. He was imprisoned in February 2010 for three-and-a-half years for this offence and for an arson attack on a church.