The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press.
Times of Malta leads with yesterday morning’s incident at the MFCC where four men were injured, one seriously, when a lighting structure crashed onto the stage.
The Malta Independent says ministers head for Cabinet meeting today under a looming cloud because of the pending reshuffle.
In-Nazzjon says people close to the government are ‘eating with more than one mouth’.
l-orizzont reports how the body of a missing man was burnt in a fuel tank in Birzebbuga.
The overseas press
Voice of Russia says President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree recognising Crimea as a sovereign state, paving the way for it to be absorbed into Russia.
Euronews says the European Union has unveiled its list of sanctions against Russians and Crimeans whom it implicated in organising the crucial referendum on Crimea’s independence. The EU version of the list, duplicated by the US, includes 13 Russians and eight people from Crimea and specifically targets political officials “responsible for threatening Ukraine’s territorial integrity and independence”. The EU sanctions, in force for six months, include visa bans and financial restrictions.
According to Pravda, President Putin said that the damage inflicted by possible sanctions would be “mutual” while the Russian Foreign Ministry said that Moscow will respond to possible sanctions, not necessarily mirroring them.
VOA News quotes President Obama saying in a news conference that Washington stood “ready to impose further sanctions” depending on whether Russia escalated or de-escalated the situation in Ukraine. But he also stressed there was still a path to solve the crisis diplomatically.
Kyiv Post reports Ukraine’s acting President Olexander Turchynov said Kiev was ready for negotiations with Russia, but it would never accept the annexation of Crimea. The Kiev authorities earlier said they had recalled their ambassador to Moscow for consultation.
Krymskaya Pravda says Crimea’s regional parliament, which was disbanded by Kiev last week, earlier declared independence. MPs said Ukrainian laws now no longer applied in the region, and all Ukrainian state property belonged to an independent Crimea.
In other news...
The Washington Times quotes Pentagon officials saying a US naval ship that had been aiding the international search for a missing Malaysian airliner would be withdrawn from the effort. The decision was taken because the search area was now so extensive that it was more efficient to look for the jet using surveillance aircraft .
Politico reports a team of US Navy Seals boarded a North Korean tanker which was carrying crude oil bought illegally from Libyan rebels. No casualties were reported.
El Tiempo says Peru's President Ollanta Humala won congressional approval of his new cabinet on Monday, overcoming political tensions triggered by criticism from opposition lawmakers over the role of the first lady in his government.
Corriere della Sera says European Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding rejected former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi’s bid to run in the May European Parliament elections at the top of his Forza Italia (FI) party’s candidate list. Berlusconi, who was banned from running for office in Italy or Europe because of a tax-fraud conviction late last year, has been appealing his conviction to the European Court of Human Rights.