The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press.
Times of Malta says there was delight in Valletta as the same sex unions bill was passed by Parliament.
The Malta Independent carries the heading Rainbow over Malta will reference to the approval of the civil unions bill.
In-Nazzjon reports how the opposition explained that it was in favour of civil unions but had reservations about gay adoptions.
l-orizzont describes yesterday's vote in parliament as a historic step.
The overseas press
Fox News reports President Obama said in a telephone conversation with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin that the United States wanted to find a diplomatic solution to the conflict in eastern Ukraine but that Russian actions were not conducive to that. Obama urged Putin to use his influence with armed pro-Russian groups to convince them to leave the government buildings they have seized. Putin rejected accusations of interference, saying such allegations were based on “unfounded information”.
AFP says the White House also confirmed that CIA chief John Brennan had flown into Kiev over the weekend. Russia’s Interfax news agency quoted an unidentified source as saying Brennan recommended Kiev use force against pro-Russian militants in eastern districts. But White House spokesman Jay Carney denied the claims, saying Brennan’s visit was anything but routine.
Deutsche Welle reports EU foreign ministers have agreed to expand a list of people subject to sanctions for their roles in the Ukraine crisis. They stopped short, however, of imposing new measures. The European Union’s foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton described the current situation in the east of Ukraine as “extremely worrying” and said the ministers jointly “condemn unreservedly the actions by armed individuals in the cities of eastern Ukraine”.
ABC says the deep-sea submersible sent to search area for the missing Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 has had its first mission in the southern Indian Ocean cut short. The Australian authorities said the unmanned robotic submarine exceed its operating limits of 4,500 metres and was hauled back to the surface by its built-in safety mechanism the less than half way through its first seabed hunt for wreckage and the all-important black boxes.
Libya Herald reports the trial against the sons of former leader Muammar Gaddafi and more than 30 of his former officials has been adjourned. The men were accused of various crimes, including murder and kidnapping related to the 2011 uprising. They have also been accused of embezzlement of public funds.
Voice of Nigeria quotes President Goodluck Jonathan blaming the Islamist militant group Boko Haram for the bombing of a bus station on the outskirts of the capital, Abudja. More than 70 people were killed.
Chicago Tribune reports the FBI are treating as a “hate crime” the shooting dead of three people of a Jewish community in Kansas City on Sunday. Human rights groups in the US said the suspect was a former senior member of the white supremacist movement the Klu Klax Klan and has a history of racism and anti-Semitism,
The New York Times says jury selection has begun in the trial of Abu Hamza, an Egyptian Islamic preacher extradited from Britain on charges he conspired to support al-Qaida. Hamza, who is being tried under the name Mustafa Kamel Mustafa, has pleaded not guilty to charges he conspired to support al Qaeda by trying to set up a terrorist training camp in 1999 in Oregon. He is also accused of helping abduct two American tourists and 14 others in Yemen in 1998. Four hostages died. Judge Katherine Forrest in Manhattan said openings were expected to occur on Thursday.
Low blood sugar isn’t good for marital bliss because it makes spouses more prone to anger and aggression. A new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences says the findings are based on experiments with 107 married couples who were asked to monitor their glucose levels before breakfast every day for 21 days. In addition, researchers gave them voodoo dolls representing their significant other along with 51 pins. They were then told that, at the end of each day over the three-week period, they should secretly stick pins into the dolls indicating how angry they were with their better half. It turned out that the lower the spouse’s blood sugar levels, the more pins he or she stuck into the dolls.