The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press.
The Times of Malta leads with criticism about a government plan to again split cardiac services at Mater Dei Hospital into two departments.
The Malta Independent says a record 14,500 took part in the President’s Charity Fun Run.
In-Nazzjon says a police inspector is expected to be promoted to superintendent despite a court conviction for having threatened a superintendent.
l-orizzont says a secret contract for a yacht marina was not honoured.
The overseas press
The BBC quotes British Prime Minister David Cameron promising to put his “full political weight” behind a proposed agreement to free up trading between the European Union and China. Cameron’s call came as he arrived in Beijing at the head of more than 100 UK business leaders – the largest British trade delegation ever to visit China which has emerged to become the world’s second biggest economy in recent years.
Kiev Post says that after days of growing protests, the Speaker of the Ukrainian parliament has announced that discussions between the government and the opposition are due to start today in Kiev. Yesterday, protesters occupied the city hall in the capital in the biggest demonstrations yet against President Viktor Yanuchovych since he backed out of an agreement on closer ties with the EU.
Vjesnik reports Croatians have voted to ban same-sex marriages. The referendum was proposed by a conservative group, backed by the Catholic Church, which sought to amend the constitution to define marriage as between a man and a woman. The government had earlier passed a Bill giving gay couples limited rights which stopped well short of recognising same-sex marriages.
CNN says four people have been killed and more than 60 injured in a passenger train crash in the Bronx area of New York. Eleven of the injured are believed to be in a critical condition in hospital. Survivors have sais that the train appeared to be going “a lot faster'' than normal as it approached the bend coming into the station.
According to Al Ahram, a new draft Egyptian constitution has been agreed and will be voted on in a referendum next month. While the panel given the task of writing the new charter debated its final changes, protests were held in Tahrir Square, where police fired tear gas at supporters of ousted Islamist President Mohammed Morsi.
Asia Business Times reports leaders of the protest movement in Thailand have urged civil servants not to report for work today. Tensions in Bangkok remain high as the stand-off between the government and the demonstrators enters and ninth day.
El Universal reports Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro is to decree new regulations on car prices, as part of the special powers conferred on him to combat so-called "economic war" and corruption. The president has already used his new powers – conferred on him the National Assembly for a year – to order lower rents for commercial spaces and barred property owners from asking for payments in foreign currency. He imposed price controls and capped profit margins at 30 per cent, and has vowed to arrest shopkeepers who violate his rules.