The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press.
Times of Malta says that €6m in fines have been imposed for delays in the building of the new Parliament building.
The Malta Independent reports that 15,095 foreigners are working in Malta.
In-Nazzjon says there is scepticism and concern about the future of health services.
l-orizzont reports that GreenMT, a GRTU-owned waste disposal company, is being investigated.
The overseas press
Le Parisien announces French President François Hollande has replaced Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault with Intertior Minister Manuel Valls in a cabinet reshuffle intended to mark a fresh start after the Socialists’ dismal showing in local elections.
ABC says an Australian Navy ship carrying specialist equipment to detect the black box of the missing Malaysian Airlines plane is on its way to the southern Indian Ocean search area. The Ocean Shield, carrying a towed pinger locator and an underwater vehicle, is not expected to reach the search area until Thursday.
Kiev Post reports Russian troops have begun a gradual withdrawal from the Ukrainian border. The number of troops involved was not specified in the announcement by spokesman of the General Staff of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence. US President Barack Obama on Friday asked Moscow to withdraw forces massed along the Ukrainian border and to open talks.
Meanwhile, RIA Novosti says Russian Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev has visited the Crimean capital, Simferopol, where he presided over a special cabinet meeting. He announced a new ministry on Crimea's affairs was being created in Russia and Russia will make Crimea a special economic zone offering tax breaks and reduced bureaucracy to attract investors.
Israel’s Channel 1 TV reports a court in Tel Aviv has convicted Israel’s former prime minister Ehud Olmert of corruption. The court was told he received two kickbacks when he was mayor of Jerusalem in the 1990s. One was over a construction contract adjudication case for the building of the major Holyland Development.
Ansa says Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi’s cabinet yesterday unanimously approved a Bill to change the constitution to reform the Senate. The reform bill, which transforms the Senate into a leaner assembly of local-government representatives, scraps provincial administrations, and takes back some powers from overspending regional governments, could still take a year to work its way through parliament. It could also save government as much as one billion euros.
The Jerusalem Post announces Israeli authorities have unveiled 11 ancient burial boxes dating to around the time of Jesus, recovered by police during a midnight raid on suspected antiquities dealers. The boxes include a pair of ossuaries believed to contain the remains of two noblemen who lived in Jerusalem some 2,000 years ago.
Hollywood Life reports that “Frozen”, the Disney movie that won the Oscar, has became the highest grossing in the history of animated films. In the last weekend of the total revenue for the story of Anna –the young princess dreamer who embarks on an epic journey in the company of a brave man of the mountains, Kristoff, and his faithful reindeer Sven – reached $1.072 billion in the US and in the rest of the world. The film also broke the record of “Toy Story 3”, which had earned 1.063 billion.
L’Osservatore Romano says the ceremony for the canonization of popes John Paul II and John XXII on April 27 will be broadcast live on TV and movie theatre screens around the world. Relying on nine satellites and 33 cameras placed in St Peter’s Square, the coverage will be sent out in HD, 3D and 4K Ultra HD resolution by Holy See national broadcaster Vatican Television Centre and Sky TV, an Italian digital satellite television platform owned by Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox. So far, 500 movie theatres in 20 countries have signed up for the broadcast, 120 of them in Italy.