The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press:
The Times reports that poverty runs deep in Qawra and Hamrun, according to a Caritas study.
The Malta Independent leads with the speeches by the political leaders. Gonzi lauded achievements in the health sector while Dr Muscat said Carm Mifsud Bonnici should resign from leader of the House.
In-Nazzjon leads with the prime minister's conference yesterday and says that a free high standard medical service remains a priority for the PN.
l-orizzont says an invalid man who cannot work and depends on an oxygen machine is having to make do with €263 a month only.
The overseas press
ABC says that in a cautiously upbeat assessment of the global economy, IMF chief Christine Lagarde has said measures to fight financial woes in Europe and the United States were starting to pay off. However, in China for a forum on China's development, Ms Lagarde also warned there were still major vulnerabilities, with public and private debt still high in many advanced economies, oil prices rising and the risk of slowing activity in emerging nations. Ms Lagarde praised China for its "leadership and adept policy skills" in the global financial crisis, but said it should continue to move away from its dependency on exports and investment, and focus more on domestic consumption. Chinese vice premier Li Keqiang also emphasised the need to rebalance Chinese growth towards domestic demand.
Europe 1 reports that Interpol has put its weight behind Libya's demand that Gaddafi's former intelligence chief, Abdullah al-Senussi be handed over to Tripoli. France and the International Criminal Court are also pushing to get their hands on the man arrested in Mauritania. Amnesty International has said Senoussi should be tried by the ICC, because Libya lacks a functioning judiciary. Senoussi, 62, was the last significant member of Gaddafi's inner circle still on the run since the regime was deposed and the Libyan leader killed in October.
Deutsche Welle says the German Federal Assembly has chosen Joachim Gauck as the country’s new president. With 991 votes, he received the backing of the political spectrum. He used his first speech as president to stress the importance of freedom and of responsibility.
Kathemerini announces that Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos is the new leader of the socialist PASOK party. The 55-year-old, who took the helm after the resignation of former Prime Minister George Papandreou, now faces the mammoth task of averting disaster in upcoming elections. Venizelos, who has led Greece's marathon debt talks with international partners since June last year when he was named finance minister, is to resign his post to focus on snap elections expected in early May.
Reuters reports heavy fire between the Free Syrian Army rebels and forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad in a main district of the capital Damascus. The sound of heavy machineguns and rocket-propelled grenades echoed throughout the night from the western neighbourhood of al-Mezze, one of the most heavily guarded areas of the capital and home to several security installations. The latest fighting came a day after a car bomb in Syria's second biggest city of Aleppo killed at least three people. A day earlier, at least 27 people were reported to have been killed and 97 wounded in two explosions in the capital.
Fox News reports Cuban police have arrested dozens of opposition activists, a week ahead of a visit by Pope Benedict XVI. Most of those detained are members of the protest group Ladies in White, who are demanding the release of political prisoners. During his visit, the pope is expected to raise the issue of human rights with the Communist government.
Ria Novosti reports Russian police have arrested some 100 demonstrators who had gathered outside a TV station known as loyal to the Kremlin. They were angry about a documentary, “Anatomy of a protest”, aired by NTV that portrayed anti-Putin protesters as paid agents of the West. It said that opposition leaders planned to overthrow the government, and that migrant workers and others were being paid to attend recent protests against Prime Minister and President-elect Vladimir Putin.
Il Tempo says Pope Benedict XVI has said the Catholic Church shares the pain of the Coptic Orthodox Church in Egypt over the death of its patriarch, Pope Shenouda III. Benedict sent a message of condolence following Shenouda’s death yesterday at the age of 88. Benedict has called for greater protections for Egypt’s estimated 10 million Christians amid a surge of recent attacks, but his message today steered clear of polemics and focused on conveying his prayers for God’s “faithful servant”.