The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press. Three local newspapers lead with the compilation of evidence against Erin Tanti, accused of the murder of his student Lisa Maria Zahra, 15.
Times of Malta quotes a police inspector who said Erin Tanti knew Lisa Maria Zahra was a vulnerable person.
The Malta Independent reports how Erin Tanti gave Lisa Maria Zahra a book about death as a present.
l-orizzont reports how Erin Tanti had changed his name to Cliff Dingli in a play.
In-Nazzjon says the driver of a Labour MP assaulted two wardens.
The overseas press
Times of India says millions of Indians have voted in the first key day of general elections. Initial estimates by the electoral committee put turnout in Delhi at 64 per cent – higher than in 2009 but lower than in local elections last December.
The New York Times reports the UN Security Council has voted to send a 12,000-strong force to the Central African Republic (CAR). UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has warned of “ethno-religious cleansing”, with lynchings, decapitations and sexual violence going unpunished. Thousands have been killed, with about 1.3 million people, or a quarter of the population, in need of aid. Muslim civilians are being targeted by militias in revenge for the seizure of power by mainly Muslim rebels last year.
The Washington Times reports US Health Secretary Kathleen Sebelius is resigning following the troubled launch of President Barack Obama’s landmark health insurance policy. The law, regarded by the president’s supporters as one of his main domestic achievements, has been marked by early technical problems and delays. For weeks, the website set up for those without health insurance to register for it, would not work.
El Universal says a centre offering support and rehabilitation to paedophile priests has opened in the diocese of Saltillo in northern Mexico. The diocese said Emmaus House will help priests tackle the “moral, spiritual and psychological crises” at the root of “specific problems”. The centre would offer support to up to 20 priests at a time from Mexico and the United States.
Il Tempo reports Rome prosecutors have asked that eight suspects be sent to trial over a prostitution ring involving two girls aged 14 and 15 based in Rome’s upscale Parioli neighbourhood. The State attorney’s office said charges against the eight include aiding and exploitation of prostitution, selling drugs, blackmail, detention of pornographic material and underage prostitution.
Ansa reports that Pope Francis yesterday met four former prostitutes who suffered abuse and were forced to take part in organized-crime activities. All four women, whom the pontiff met outside a Vatican conference on human trafficking, had found the courage to denounce the criminal ring exploiting them and reported their pimps.
NBC News reports laboratory-grown vaginas engineered from patients’ own cells have successfully been implanted into four teenage girls. Tests showed that the organs, constructed from muscle cells and the epithelial cells which line body cavities, functioned normally. The girls, who were aged 13 to 18 at the time of the surgery, were born with the rare Mayer-Rokitansky-Kuster-Hauser (MRKH) syndrome. In women with the rare genetic condition the vagina and uterus are under-developed or absent.