The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press:
The Times reports how a man who was wounded in a Marsascala shootout on March 15 succumbed to his injuries yesterday. He was the second victim of the shootout.
The Malta Independent says the MUMN has warned of new industrial action over staff shortages.
In-Nazzjon highlights the embellishment being made in 12 housing estates in a joint project between the government and various councils.
l-orizzont reports on property speculation, saying a large site in Bahrija is ‘for sale’ for €12.5m.
The overseas press
Asia News reports people in Indonesia and Thailand have returned to their homes after two massive earthquakes struck off the coast of Indonesia's Aceh province, prompting a tsunami warning. The US Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre said "the threat is over for most areas" after a magnitude 8.6 quake triggered the warning across the Indian Ocean yesterday.
Meanwhile, El Universal says a strong earthquake, measuring 7.0, has hit Mexico, shaking buildings and sending people running out of offices onto the streets of the capital. There were no initial signs of serious damage and key services in the capital, including its subway system and the international airport, were functioning.
Al Bawaba says Syria has written to special envoy Kofi Annan confirming it would comply with a ceasefire due to come into effect later today. It said however, it would reserve the right to respond to any attack by armed terrorist groups against civilians, government forces or private or public property.
APS reports Ahmed Ben Bella, the first president of independent Algeria and one of the 20th century's most vocal anti-imperialists, has died, aged of 95.
According to Asia Times, North Korea's planned rocket launch could happen as early as this morning, defying calls from around the world for the country to abandon the launch. The rocket's flight path would take it south past the Philippines and over central Australia.
The Daily Telegraph reports that the International Monetary Fund has warned that the world’s ageing population was threatening a pensions time bomb. It said that, although Japan and Germany were at the greatest risk of rising longevity costs, most of the Western world would find their public finances crippled if their citizens lived just three years longer than currently expected by 2050.
EU Observer says that the leader of the Liberal group in the EU parliament, Belgian MEP Guy Verhofstadt, has asked the European Commission to justify letting Greece dish out €29 million to the five political parties which made the parliamentary threshhold in the last elections in 2009.
Palm Beach Post reports 28-year-old Hispanic George Zimmerman, the neighbourhood watch chief who killed Afro-American teenager Trayvon Martin, has been charged with his second degree murder. The case has sparked a national uproar about race relations and the right to self-defence in the United States. Trayvon's family and supporters say the teen may have been the victim of racial profiling and killed in cold blood.
The Wall Street Journal says the US government is suing technology giant Apple and five major book publishers for allegedly colluding to fix the prices of e-books.US attorney-general Eric Holder says the alleged conspiracy led to consumers paying millions of dollars more for some of the most popular titles.
Al Jazeera reports that Sudan and South Sudan have edged more closely to all-out war following border clashes and calls by both sides to mobilise. The African Union (AU) said it was "deeply alarmed" by the worsening violence between the former civil war foes, but its efforts to mediate were set back when a furious Sudan pulled out of AU-led talks. UN leader Ban Ki-moon urged South Sudan President Salva Kiir to meet with his rival from the north to head off all-out war. The US State Department urged both sides to end "all hostilities".
Princess Diana had hoped to become a film star and was in talks to appear in a sequel to “The Bodyguard” shortly before her death. Actor Kevin Costner told ABC's Anderson show that the “Bodyguard 2” would have featured his character, former special agent turned bodyguard Frank Farmer, protecting the People's Princess from paparazzi and stalkers before embarking on a steamy affair with her. He revealed that the script was delivered to him on August 31 1997 – the day before Princess Diana died of injuries she suffered in a car crash in Paris at the age of 36.
Kimberley Vlaminck, the Belgian teenager girl who had claimed 56 stars were tattooed on her on her face as she slept when she asked for three, has admitted with a Dutch TV crew that she was awake the whole time – and lied because her father was "furious". Tattoo artist Rouslan Toumaniantz, who was being sued for €10,000, has said that from now on he would get written consent from clients before tattooing.
Scientists have admitted they were still baffled how homing pigeons navigate. British science journal Nature says experts at Vienna's Institute of Molecular Pathology said they had overturned claims that the birds' feat was due to iron-rich nerve cells in the beak that were sensitive to Earth's magnetic field.
Clarin says a premature girl, who had been declared dead, was found alive 12 hours later in the morgue after her mother insisted on seeing the body. She said that as the little box was pried open, she suddenly heard a whimper. The baby – who was born prematurely at six months gestation and weighed only 800 grams –would be named Luz Milagros – her middle name being the Spanish word for "miracles".