The following are the top stories in the national and international press today.
Times of Malta says that the anti-poverty week organised in September by the Social Policy Ministry cost taxpayers €30,173.47, with half of the expenses going to television and radio advertising. The newspaper also reports about the arraignment of 43-year-old Xandru Mamo of Xaghra, who yesterday denied trying to murder his former partner.
The Malta Independent says that a website linking married people looking for an affair may be hitting Malta.
L-Orizzont reports that sailors who have been working at sea without pay for 18 months have returned home.
In-Nazzjon says that its website maltarightnow.com has been given a new look.
International news
Korea Herald reports details of the final conversations between the South Korean coastguard and the crew of the ferry that sank on Wednesday reveal confusion and panic on board.
Kyiv Post says the Ukrainian authorities are investigating a clash in eastern Ukraine which has reportedly left at least three people dead.
The National reports Iran’s two most senior leaders have clashed on the issue of gender equality. President Hassan Rouhani has urged equal opportunities and rights for men and women, and condemned sexual discrimination. However, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the highest authority in Iran, said in comments on Saturday that gender equality was “one of the biggest mistakes of the Western thought”.
Gibraltar Chronicle says an explosion and fire at a power station in the British territory has disrupted a large part of the world’s on-line gaming industry.
Al Bawaba reports a judge in Kuwait has ordered the temporary closure of two Kuwaiti newspapers for breaking a news black-out about an alleged coup plot. The independent newspapers – Al Watan and Alam Al Youm – published details of a video tape said to show a former senior official plotting to overthrow the emir.
USA Today announces the death of former American boxer Rubin "Hurricane" Carter, who was wrongfully convicted of murder and imprisoned for 19 years.
Voice of Nigeria says a day of fasting would be observed by the nation’s Christian Association today for the 129 schoolgirls kidnapped last week by suspected Boko Haram terrorists.
Al Ahram reports Egypt's Electoral Committee has received only two candidates to the presidential election: that of former Defence Minister Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and Hamdeen Sabahi, leader of the left-wing party Egyptian Popular Current. The election would be held on May 26 and 27.
Times of India says a 21-year-old Indian, who had a three-year had a romantic relationship with a partner on Facebook, who falsely declared she was 21, killed her at their first meeting after discovering that in fact it was a 44-year-old woman and a mother of three children. Then he committed suicide.
Al Hayat reports a Saudi man was arrested and fined for allowing his wife to drive the family car. The woman, 23, was driving with her husband, 28, when they were stopped in Qatif, in the east of the country.