The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press.
Times of Malta says a Libyan visa deal was ended because of the IS threat.
The Malta Independent says experts have called for re-establishment of a SWAT team because of the IS threat.
In-Nazzjon says there is a call for regulation of drones which have 'invaded' the country. It also reports how Simon Busuttil yesterday said the Cafe Premier issue had a whiff of corruption.
l-orizzont reports how petrol and diesel prices are down 3c from today.
The overseas press
CNN reports the arrival in the United States of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu where he will address Congress tomorrow, arguing against a potential international deal over Iran's nuclear programme. The visit has exposed tensions between Israel and the US as the speech was set up by congressional Republicans while the White House was not consulted in advance of the invitation, violating typical protocol.
The New York Times quotes Secretary of State John Kerry saying that Netanyahu was welcome to speak in the United States but stressed that it was “odd, if not unique,” that the administration learned of the Israeli leader’s upcoming address not through the usual diplomatic channels, but from House Speaker John A. Boehner, and that the “administration was not included in the process”. The White House has said President Barack Obama will not meet Netanyahu because such an invite could be construed as an attempt by the administration to show favour in Israel’s 17 March elections.
Baltic Times reports Estonia’s governing pro-Nato Reform Party has won Sunday’s parliamentary elections, fought amid concerns over a militarily resurgent Russia. It will have 30 seats in the new parliament of 110, but analysts warned that forging a coalition would be a challenging task.
Russia TV has aired what it says is CCTV footage showing Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov being shot dead on a bridge in central Moscow on Friday night as he walked home with his girlfriend, a Ukrainian model. The footage shows a figure, alleged to be the gunman, run out from behind the snow-sweeper and get into a waiting car, which then drives off. The news of the video came as a sea of 70,000 grim-faced supporters marched in a drizzle from a packed Moscow square to the bridge over the Moskva where the 55-year-old was shot in the back. Some 6,000 people also turned out in Saint Petersburg.
Hundreds of minors kidnapped in the northeastern regions of South Sudan in recent weeks by pro-government militia have been forced to become child-soldiers. To launch the alarm is UNICEF which according to the BBC said that the number of young people forced to be enrolled has increased considerably. Last month, 89 other 12-year-old boys were torn from their families.
Nigeria Tribune reports a crowd at a market has beaten to death a teenage girl accused of being a suicide bomber and then set her body on fire. Police said a second suspect, another teenage girl, was arrested. Market traders said the girls refused to be searched at the gate to the vegetable market, arousing suspicion from people who attacked them.
Al Ahram says the Egyptian Supreme Constitutional Court has ruled as unconstitutional a clause in the election law that draws voting districts. President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi ordered that the law be redrafted within a month and asked that “legal measures be undertaken to avoid delaying” the parliamentary elections due to start later this month and continue until May.
Oriental Daily reports more than 36 people were arrested in Hong Kong as a group of about 400 demonstrators clashed with police as they complained about so-called parallel traders, who buy goods in Hong Kong to sell at a profit across the border. Police used pepper spray and later said those arrested would be charged with possessing offensive weapons, assault, disorder, and fighting.
South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reports North Korea had fired two short-range missiles into the East Sea ahead of the start of military exercises by Seoul and Washington. An enraged Pyongyang has vowed to carry out “merciless strikes” and said the situation on the Korean peninsula was again “inching close to the brink of a war”.
The Daily Mail leads with a plea by Britain’s top traffic officer urging the government to ban from the roads the estimated 500,000 motorists who use mobile phones at the wheel every day.