The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press
Times of Malta reports how a bank heist suspect was shot twice in the head in Msida yesterday. It also reports how Enemalta has suspended a manager over lost files.
The Malta Independent says €70m would be needed to run public transport.
In-Nazzjon says the police refused to say whether the police had breathalysed Justice Minister Owen Bonnici after his traffic accident on Thursday.
l-orizzont says a man who was shot in the head managed to drive to a police station.
The overseas press
Kyiv Post reports Ukraine has suspended imports of Russian liquid gas following Gazprom's price rise, which has increased prices from $385 to $485 per 1,000 cubic metres. Energy Minister Yuri Prodan said his country was not pumping Russian gas, but would resume imports if Gazprom restored the discounts it had in place previously. Meanwhile, Pravda says President Putin raised the prospect of making Ukraine pay in advance for the natural gas that it buys from Russia – a potentially-ruinous move for the credit-challenged Ukrainian government. Russian officials said Ukraine's total gas debt to Russia now totals more than $16 billion.
Sole 24 Ore says the Italian Interior Ministry has sent an urgent request to every prefect in the country calling on law enforcement to locate emergency lodging for the thousands of migrants who had landed on Italian soil in recent hours. Italy issued a fresh call for help from the European Union after rescuing more than 4,000 migrants in 48 hours. Interior Minister Angelino Alfano told the financial paper's Radio24 that “hundreds of thousands are in Libya waiting to get on a boat and Europe must give Italy a bigger hand in processing and relocating them”.
Times of India reports millions have begun voting on the first big day of the general election pitting the ruling Congress party against the main opposition BJP. Polling will be held in 91 seats in 14 states, including in the capital Delhi and the key state of Uttar Pradesh. The nine-phase vote will conclude on 12 May. More than 814 million Indians are eligible to vote in the polls.
ABC says the Australian official in charge of coordinating the search for missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston, has said that wreckage from the plane could be found “within days” after a ship detected two more underwater signals. The Australian ship Ocean Shield picked up two more underwater signals in the same search area where it had detected two transmissions last Saturday, raising hopes that search teams had eventually pinpointed flight MH370’s crash site.
According to Haaretz, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has told his ministers to stop holding meetings and talks with their Palestinian counterparts. A government official said the move is in response to what Israel has called a “provocative” Palestinian bid to join UN agencies. Israel blames the Palestinians for the current disarray in the US-brokered peace talks.
USA Today reports a student in Pennsylvania has stabbed 21 pupils and a security guard during an attack in a high school. A 16-year-old boy has been charged as an adult with attempted homicide and aggravated assault.
The Sun reports a post-mortem examination into the death of Peaches Geldof has proved inconclusive pending the results of toxicology tests. Kent Police are continuing to investigate the circumstances around the 25-year-old’s death and a toxicology report could take several weeks. In an exclusive, the paper says “Peaches had been warned by doctors that she had the heart of a 90-year-old gangster”.
Fox Business reports internet security experts have been scrambling to deal with a bug that exploited a flaw in a key piece of software. The Heartbleed bug, found in encryption technology, is used by hundreds of thousands of websites to ensure secure communications.
Il Secolo XIX quotes Genoa's publicly-owned funeral home ASEF saying citizens hard-hit by the recession were having trouble paying for their funerals. ASEF is still owed some €500,000 on a turnover of over €10 million in 2013, when 9,260 funerals were held in the north-western city.
Metro reports a trainee solicitor who locked her pet dog in a kitchen and left it to die has been jailed for 18 weeks in the UK. Katy Gammon, 27, moved out of her home in Bristol, leaving five-year-old boxer Roxy trapped inside without food or water. A post mortem examination found Roxy suffered a “prolonged and painful” death over a six-day period.
According to the South China Morning Post, Hong Kong police are investigating the disappearance of a painting worth $3.7million (€2.7million) from a hotel, amid reports it might have been accidentally thrown away. The painting is believed to be a Chinese ink work by artist Cui Ruzhuo entitled Snowy Mountain. It was reported missing by auctioneers Poly Auction on Tuesday, having been successfully sold on Monday. Several local media reports suggest cleaners at the Grand Hyatt could have thrown the painting out as rubbish.