The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press today.
The Sunday Times of Malta reports that public car parks are fertile grounds for criminals. It also says taxpayers are subsidising hunters by €750.000.
The Malta Independent on Sunday says voters are losing trust in Joseph Muscat and Simon Busuttil with 31 per cent trusting neither, according to a survey. It also quotes Joanna Darmanin, John Dalli’s former chef de Cabinet, saying he never showed interest in charity activities. The comments were made as Olaf, the EU anti fraud agency, investigates his trip to the Bahamas, reportedly for charity reasons.
MaltaToday says that according to its survey, the NO camp retains a seven-point lead over the Yes camp one week before the spring hunting referendum, although many are undecided.
Il-Mument quotes Simon Busuttil saying the PN will make practical change in people’s lives at the local and then national level.
It-Torca says Chinese tourists will be encouraged to come to Malta as the teaching of the Chinese language here increases.
Illum reports that 1,262 voted early yesterday, 300 more than for the divorce referendum.
KullHadd says Labour has kept its promise to reduce utility tariffs.
The overseas press
Avvenire predicts Pope Francis will return to the theme of mounting Vatican concern for modern-day Christian martyrs during his traditional Easter message and the Apostolic Blessing “Urbi et Orbi” to the faithful. In his homily during the solemn Easter Vigil service last night he said the Easter mystery requires the faithful to seek an answer “to the questions which challenge our faith, our fidelity, and our very existence”.
The Standard reports the Islamic extremist group al-Shabab has warned of more attacks in Kenya like the assault on Garissa University College that killed 148 people. According to the SITE intelligence monitoring group, the Islamic militants said the attack on the Garissa college was in retaliation for killings carried out by Kenyan troops fighting the rebels in Somalia.
Meanwhile, following the extremists’ threats, Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta vowed to take harsh measures against the Islamic militants. In a nationally televised address on NTV, Kenyatta said his administration “shall respond in the severest ways possible” to the Garissa attack, which occurred Thursday when four gunmen entered a campus and slaughtered students.
NPR reports least five suspected militants Islamic extremists were killed in new raids in the tribal district of Khyber, in the northwest of Pakistan, where an ongoing military campaign against the Taliban has been mounted for more than a month. The bombings have hit some of the Taliban bases belonging to the main Taliban group.
Reuters says the leader of the Scottish National Party, which could help decide who governs Britain after May’s election, has denied she had said privately she wanted David Cameron to remain prime minister rather than his main rival. The Daily Telegraph had reported Nicola Sturgeon, whose personal status has soared since an assured appearance in a major TV debate on Thursday, was said to have told the French ambassador to Britain in February that she would rather see Cameron remain in power over Labour leader Ed Miliband.
Bloomberg says Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis will meet International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde in Washington today to discuss a set of planned reforms that Athens hopes will unlock much-needed bailout funds. The unexpected meeting would be “an informal discussion” on Greece‘s reform plan, the finance ministry and the IMF said. Varoufakis is also expected to meet US Treasury officials tomorrow.
Deutsche Welle reports the European Aviation Safety Agency “had pointed out several cases of non-conformity,” with air safety rules, especially relating to monitoring the crew’s health. Spokesman Dominique Fouda has said that on the basis of the EASA recommendations the European Commission launched, in late 2014, a process calling for accountability from Germany”. The EU Commission confirmed the regulator found “issues” in a regular review of air safety enforcement.
Meanwhile, France 24 says French investigators have ended their search for bodies in the Alps where the Germanwings passenger jet crashed last month, killing all 150 people on board. The identification of victims will now continue through the analysis of 150 sets of DNA found at site, which could take several weeks. Germanwings parent company Lufthansa has hired a specialist firm to remove the debris of the aircraft. Work to remove aircraft debris and clean up the site will start next week and could take up to two months.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has said Tehran would be able to return to its nuclear activities if the West withdrew from a pact that is to be finalised in June. He said on a talk show on state-run Press TV that Iran has the power to take “corresponding action” and “will be able to return” its nuclear programme to the same level if the other side fails to honour the agreement.
The results of surveys obtained by The Associated Press reveal that men in US special operations forces do not believe women can meet the physical and mental demands of their commando jobs. They fear the Pentagon will lower standards to integrate women into their elite units.
Times of India reports a 44 year old woman was killed by her brother in central India because she had lit the funeral pyre of her mother – a ritual that usually falls to the eldest male according to the Hindu religious tradition. The incident occurred in a remote village of Chhattisgarh where the victim, Geeta Varma, held the position of ‘sarpanch’, a sort of mayor.
A Welshman on benefits is £181.50 less well off after he spilt a bottle of milk at a Tesco supermarket. BBC Wales reports that the retail giant won £1.50 in compensation from 40-year-old Cornelius Price after the court heard that he “threw a six-pint bottle of milk in a temper”. Price was also fined £75 and the judge told him to pay a £20 victim surcharge and £85 costs which will be deducted from his benefits at £10 a fortnight. Price, who admitted criminal damage, said he threw the bottle towards the store manager saying “catch it”, but it spilt by accident.