The following are the top stories in the national and international press today.
The Prime Minister told The Sunday Times of Malta he feared he would permanently lose his eyesight following a UV incident last Sunday which left him and 60 others suffering burns or discomfort to their eyes following a party activity. In another story, it says the Environment Ministry was not consulted on plans to revise the Outside Development Zone policy.
The Malta Independent on Sunday says that Erin Tanti, the accused in the murder of Lisa Marie Zahra, could still face up to 23 years in jail if the murder charge was dropped.
MaltaToday says Transport Malta has awarded a lucrative permit for a floating dock in Grand Harbour without issuing a call for tenders or expressions of interest.
Kullhadd says the Nationalist Party is considering giving its MPs a free vote on the Civil Unions Act possibly separating its MPs into three factions - those voting for, those against, and those abstaining. The latter would include Opposition leader Simon Busuttil.
Il-Mument says the police failed to reply to questions about changes in the police duty log book after this was changed when an officer was involved in a hit and run accident. It also failed to respond to questions on an officer who was drunk.
Illum says MEP Joseph Cuschieri's brother Manuel was supporting the candidature of former PL leader Alfred Sant and not that of his brother.
It-Torca says Former EU Commissioner John Dalli welcomed the European Ombudsman’s call for more information about his case and says the European Commission had a lot to hide.
International news
Fox News says the White House has expressed concern by what it called a “concerted campaign” by pro-Russian separatists to stoke tensions in eastern Ukraine, warning Russian President Vladimir Putin against using the events there as a pretext for seizing more Ukrainian territory.
Meanwhile, Kyiv Post reports pro-Russia militants have taken over a police headquarters in the eastern Ukraine city of Kramatorsk. This followed a gun battle with the police defending the building as the attackers stormed it.
The UNIAN news agency reported the assailants took at least 20 sub-machine guns and 400 handguns from the station's armoury and began distributing the weapons to dozens of separatists. The group raised a Russian flag over the station, the report said.
Ansa says police fired tear gas and made a number of arrests in Rome as an anti-government protest turned violent, leaving several injured and six taken into custody.
Journal du Dimanche reports tens of thousands of people took to the streets of Paris, protesting the new economic reforms put forward by Francois Hollande's center-left government.
According to the BBC, government and opposition forces in Syria have accused each other of using poison gas in an attack on a village on Friday. State TV said the jihadist Nusra Front group launched the attack on Kafr Zita in Hama province, killing two people and injuring dozens of others. But opposition groups quoted doctors as saying that an attack by regime planes led to suffocation and poisoning. There was no independent verification of either of the claims.
ABC reports the search for the missing Malaysian Airlines Flight 370 resumed today, as fears mount that batteries powering transmitters from the plane's flight data recorder may have died.
Dawn reports a judge in Pakistan has freed a nine-month old boy who was accused of attempting to murder police after the charges were withdrawn, lawyers said. The judge announced the decision after a court hearing during which police in the eastern city of Lahore said they had dropped the charge against the boy.
Le Figaro says a court in La Richelle has ordered all 527 persons – including 31 teachers and 28 staff members – present at a Catholic school where a 16-year-old student was raped to submit to DNA tests. The attack occurred last September in the bathrooms of the Catholic institution. The DNA has already spoken: some tracks belonging to a man were found on the clothes of the girl, who do not belong to the family or friends of the victim but which do not appear in the national register of genetic fingerprints. Within a month the authorities would know if the DNA found on the victim corresponds to that of a student, employee or school teacher.