The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press.
Times of Malta reports that asylum applications have hit a five-year low having dropped 40 per cent last year. It also reports on yesterday's murder at San Blas.
The Malta Independent says EU leaders have pledged to support Libya but there will be no boots on the ground.
In-Nazzjon looks ahead at the formal installation of Archbishop Charles Scicluna this morning.
l-orizzont says a wind turbine at Xrobb l-Ghagin was not used for four years.
The overseas press
Italy wants Egypt and Tunisia to play a role in rescuing stricken migrant vessels in the Mediterranean so that survivors could be taken back to African instead of European ports, Reuters reports.The plan, which calls for the EU to support the proposed Egyptian and Tunisian operations, was prepared by the Italian home affairs ministry.
Deutsche-Welle reports the EU would make €2 billion of unused development funds available to Greece’s new government to help spur growth and combat poverty. This came after Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras pledged to press on with reforms to satisfy the country’s creditors.
Nearly 650,000 Syrians are living in besieged communities in the country’s civil war, more than three times the UN estimate. London’s The Guardian reports a new report says Syria’s government is responsible for the siege tactics that have led to deaths by starvation, dehydration and the lack of medical care.
Channel 4 News reports a US State Department report estimates of the number of Islamic State fighters operating in Libya ranged from 1000 to 3000. Around 800 fighters were based in the Derna area alone, including up to 300 who previously fought in Syria or Iraq.
Azaal TV says at least 142 people were killed and 357 people injured when four suicide bombers blew themselves up in two mosques in the Yemeni capital Sanaa during Friday prayers in an attack claimed by the Islamic State group. At least 13 children were among the dead. Earlier this week, the group claimed responsibility for a bloody attack on Western tourists in Tunisia that authorities said was carried out by militants trained in Libya.
According to one of the major Kurdish news sources rudaw.net, two suicide bombers killed 56 people during a celebration of Nowruz, the new year holiday festivities in northern Syria on Friday. More than 100 were injured. The Syrian news agency ARA News said the two explosions happened within two minutes of each other in Martyrs Square, 50 meters apart.
The New York Times reports the UN Commission on the Status of Women has approved a resolution blaming Israel’s ongoing illegal occupation of Palestinian territory for “the grave situation of Palestinian women”. The resolution, sponsored by the Palestinians and South Africa, was adopted by a vote of 27-2 with 13 abstentions. The United States and Israel voted against it and European Union members abstained.
EU Observer says police in four European nations have raided brothels and restaurants in a coordinated operation targeting Chinese criminal networks that they say smuggle people to the continent. Europol, the European Union’s policy agency, has said that the raids in Austria, Cyprus, Slovenia and Switzerland led to 26 arrests and the identification of 14 possible victims of the smugglers.
Over 300 women have disappeared in Kailali district, in northern Nepal since 2013. According to Asia News, the most likely cause is attributed to the illegal trade of human organs and the exploitation of prostitution. In many cases families do not report even the disappearance, for fear of being accused by the authorities.
Euronews says millions of people have enjoyed watching what astronomers are calling “the best solar eclipse in years”. The Faroe Islands and the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard in the North Atlantic were the only places to get a total eclipse. Next year there will be a total eclipse of the sun over Sumatra, Borneo and the Pacific Ocean.
Il Mattino reports the city of Naples is buzzing with excitement surrounding a visit by Pope Francis later today that would include a lunch with prison inmates and prayers at the Shrine of the Virgin of the Rosary of Pompeii. As many as three million people were expected to attend Pope Francis’ pastoral visit and some 1,500 volunteers were recruited to assist the flock of pilgrims arriving in the city. The Pope’s one-day trip will also include a visit to the city’s poorest neighbourhood, still a stronghold of organized crime.
All India Radio says about 600 high school students in eastern India have been expelled for cheating in examinations. The incident has received widespread attention after Indian television footage showed parents and friends of students scaling the outer walls of school buildings to pass cheat sheets to students inside taking exams. More than 1.4 million 10th graders are taking the tests which they must pass to continue their education.
The Daily Mail reports a lecturer who said his businesswoman wife deceived him into thinking that he was the father of the son she gave birth to following fertility treatment has won damages in a British court. The man had claimed that without his knowledge the child was created with the use of sperm provided by a former boyfriend – and was awarded about £40,000 by a judge.
Daily Star says customs authorities at Beirut’s Rafik Hariri International airport have confiscated 30 boxes containing sanitary towels with radioactive material. They have been turned over to authorities that handle nuclear materials and will later be returned to their country of origin.
France 24 reports a court in the south of France, has found a couple guilty of stealing 271 artworks by Picasso. Pierre and Danielle Le Guennec were each given a two-year suspended sentence. The couple, who used to work for the artist, say he gave them the works as payment in kind. But Picasso’s children Claude Picasso and Maya Widmaier-Picasso say this was not the case with the artist’s former electrician.
Metro says a thief used Kit Kat wrappers to steal more than £20,000 from his Kent employers. Peter Mills used the empty packets to hide wads of £50 notes. He was sentenced to 21 months in prison.