The following are the top stories in the national and international press today.
Times of Malta quotes Prime Minister Joseph Muscat saying that the decriminalisation of minor drug-related offences is next on the list following the introduction of civil unions. In another story, it says that almost half of those on the unemployment register are seeking jobs that do not exist.
The Malta Independent says that neither the government not the Malta Gay Rights Movement admitted to footing the costs of the celebrations in St George’s Square on Monday following the approval of the Civil Unions Act.
MaltaToday quotes Dr Muscat saying that the Opposition leader’s decision not to allow a free vote on civil unions showed his political weakness. In another story it says that Law Commissioner Franco Debono, a former Nationalist MP, texted the Justice Minister ‘non-stop’.
In-Nazzjon says that residents of Sta Lucija set up an action committee to oppose development in Wied Garnaw.
l-Orizzont quotes from a National Audit Office study on Wasteserv which says that the Family Park in Marsascala cost €600,000 more than projected, a 53 per cent variation.
International news
Kyiv Post quotes Ukraine’s interim president Oleksander Turchynov saying Ukrainian forces have regained control of an airbase in Kramatorsk in eastern Ukraine after fighting with armed pro-Russian groups.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, during a telephone conversation with German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that the sharp escalation of the conflict in Ukraine had put the country on the brink of civil war. Itar-Tass reports the two leaders accentuated the importance of talks between Russia, the European Union, the United States, and Ukraine, planned for April 17.
International Business Times says a rescue operation is underway involving ships and helicopters after a ferry, carrying about 400 passengers began sinking off the southern coast of South Korea.
Voice of Nigeria reports security forces have mounted a massive search for a hundred teenage girls who were abducted by suspected Islamist militants of the Boko Haram group in the northeastern state of Brno.
CNN says members of the UN Security Council have been shown a number of gruesome photographs of Syrians who were allegedly tortured by President Assad’s forces.
ABC reports the robotic submarine looking for the lost Malaysian jet continued its second seabed search as up to 14 planes were to take to the skies for some of the final sweeps of the Indian Ocean for floating debris from the ill-fated airliner.
The New York Times says the NYPD has disbanded a secret programme targeting the Muslim communities.
Le Parisien reports French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian has presented a 36-page report on the problem of sexual assault or harassment in the military. France claims great success in recruiting women into its armed forces, boasting one of the world's highest percentages of women in uniform.
Some two million transgendered people in India will be recognised as a third gender following a ruling by India's Supreme Court. Times of India says the ruling also ordered the government to provide them with quotas in jobs and education in line with other minorities. They will also be allowed to adopt children, the same as other citizens.