The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press.

The Times reports that voters head to the polls today. It also says that the conclave to elect the Pope starts on Tuesday.

The Malta Independent reports on the number of uncollected voting documents as Malta goes to the polls today.

In-Nazzjon gives a background story on the electoral process.

l-orizzont says the number of uncollected voting documents is 1,257 higher than in the last general election, the highest number in the North. It also says that the government is suffering penalties for not completing the new parliament building on time.

The overseas press

The East African Standard reports that Kenya's election commission posted complete results early this morning showing that Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta prevailed in the country's presidential elections by the slimmest of margins, winning 50.03 percent of the vote. Observers said the result was likely to bring controversy in Kenya and an almost certain legal challenge from Prime Minister Raila Odinga. He indicated that he would not concede defeat, raising worries of violence and chaos. Kenyatta needed to break the 50 percent barrier to avoid a run-off with Odinga, but he did so by only 4,099 votes out of more than 12.3 million cast. Kenyatta is facing trial at the International Criminal Court on charges of crimes against humanity over violence in 2007 election rioting; he is accused of inciting killings in that rioting.

Globovision TV announces that Venezuela’s acting President Nicolás Maduro has asked the election authorities to organise immediately a presidential election. Maduro was sworn in as president at a ceremony in the national assembly, three days after the death of President Hugo Chávez. Most of the opposition legislators boycotted the event. The swearing-in followed an emotional funeral for Chávez.

La Stampa says that the College of Cardinals' eighth general congregation has decided that the conclave for the election of the new Pope will begin next Tuesday, March 12. The Mass “Pro Eligendo Pontefice” will be celebrated in St Peter's Basilica in the morning and in the afternoon cardinals will begin the conclave. The 115 cardinal electors are ready to vote for the new Pope. The average age of the cardinals is 72, most of them were appointed by Benedict XVI and over half of them are European. There are 28 Italian cardinal electors making them the largest group but all five continents are represented. The strongest “papabili” emerging are Archbishop Angelo Scola of Milan and the Brazilian Odilo Pedro Scherer, Archbishop of São Paulo. Cardinal Donald Wuerl of Washington told the Turin newspaper: "The conclave will not be short."

Il Sole 24 Ore reports ratings agency Fitch has cut recession-hit Italy's sovereign debt rating to “BBB+” from “A-” with a negative outlook after the elections in February produced a hung parliament and the prospect of political flux. Fitch said it expected the fragile Italian economy to shrink 1.8 per cent in 2013 as it struggles to recover from a 2.4 per cent contraction in 2012. The country’s debt would peak in 2013 to 130 per cent of gross domestic product. Italy's Ministry of Economy and Finance said the present political uncertainty was “an integral part of a normal democratic process” and reiterated “confidence” that Italy would find “a political solution and carry the current reforms forward”.

According to Al Ahram, Egypt's interior minister Mohammed Ibrahim has dismissed the head of the country's riot police Maged Nouh as deadly clashes continued in the northern city of Port Said. Two people died in clashes between police and protesters and over 140 were injured according to state television. Police officers went on strike this week in several cities, calling for Ibrahim to resign. They accuse him of using the police to commit violence on behalf of Egypt's ruling Islamist Muslim Brotherhood movement which is linked to President Mohammed Morsi.

Sulaiman Abu Ghaith, the charismatic al-Qaida spokesman, fundraiser and son-in-law to Osama bin Laden, pleaded not guilty on Friday to conspiring to kill Americans in propaganda videos that warned of further assaults against the United States as devastating as the September 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon that killed nearly 3,000 people. The Associated Press quotes US intelligence officials admitting he is likely to have a vast trove of knowledge about the terror network's central command but not much useful information about current threats or plots.  The arrest of Ghaith is considered as another victory in the US war against terror.

Bill Clinton said the Defence of Marriage Act he signed 16 years ago was unconstitutional.  in an In an article published by The Washington Post, he said he now believed it was “contrary to the principles of a nation that honours freedom, equality and justice”. The declaration is seen as helping the plan to legalise same-sex marriage – a goal which Vice-President Joe Biden, and now also President Barack Obama, support.

The New York Times says South Dakota became the first US state to enact a law explicitly authorising school employees to carry guns on the job. The legislation comes amid a passionate nationwide debate over arming teachers, stoked after 20 first graders died in an elementary school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut in December. Shortly afterward, the National Rifle Association proposed a plan for armed security officers in every school, and legislation to allow school personnel to carry guns was introduced in about two dozen states.

Global temperatures are warmer than at any time in at least 4,000 years and over the coming decades are likely to surpass levels not seen on the planet since before the last ice age. In the new research, published in the journal Science, Shaun Marcott, an earth scientist at Oregon State University, and his colleagues compiled the most meticulous reconstruction yet of global temperatures over the past 11,300 years. They used indicators like the distribution of microscopic, temperature-sensitive ocean creatures to determine past climate.

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