The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press.
Times of Malta quotes Prime Minister Joseph Muscat saying Lawrence Gonzi got it right on the interconnector. It also reports that there have been three resignations from the CHOGM organising team.
The commissioning of the interconnector is also the main story on The Malta Independent and l-orizzont.
In-Nazzjon gives background on tomorrow's vote and also reports on the interconnector.
The overseas press
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called for an immediate action in Yarmouk to prevent an impending massacre. On April 1, Sunni militant group IS took control of large parts of the Palestinian refugee camp after fighting with Palestinian groups who also oppose President Bashar al-Assad’s regime. The New York Times reports Ban described the Palestinian refugee camp to the south of the capital Damascus as “the deepest circle of hell” in Syria.
Le Parisien says thousands of protesters, many blowing whistles and waving union flags, marched through Paris and other French cities on a day of nationwide strikes that kept many children out of school, forced the closure of the Eiffel Tower and cancelled some 2,000 flights in and out of France.
Kathimerini reports the Greek government has repaid a €450-million loan instalment to the International Monetary Fund – easing concerns, for now, of a potential default as Athens faces a cash crunch.
Euronews says a landmark data privacy case against social media giant Facebook has opened at a civil court in Vienna. The group “Europe versus Facebook” claims the service’s data collection policies violate EU law.
France 24 reports President Obama has signalled he would soon remove Cuba from the US list of state sponsors of terrorism, boosting hopes for improved ties as he prepared for a historic encounter with Cuban President Raul Castro.
Meanwhile, Eurasia says President Obama has expressed concern that China uses its “sheer size and muscle” to push around smaller countries in the South China Sea. His comments came after China defended its construction of artificial islands in the South China Sea, saying it is needed to safeguard its sovereignty in the mineral-rich waters where China’s territorial claims overlap those of Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan.
Beijing is mulling over extending a railway line to Nepal that could include a tunnel under Mount Everest. China Daily said the railroad was being expanded “at Nepal’s request” and would be part of the Qinghai-Tibet railway which links Tibet’s capital Lhasa with Beijing.
Labour continues to rise in the polls ahead of next month’s British election. The Guardian reports that according to three surveys, carried out by Survation, TNS-BMRB and Panelbase, Ed Miliband’s party has a lead of between three and six points over the conservatives.
Italian national newspapers lead with the case of a man on trial for fraudulent bankruptcy who opened fire in Milan’s courthouse, killing his lawyer, a co-defendant and a judge before being captured as he tried to flee on a motorbike. Corriere della Sera says Claudio Giardiello, who was facing a fraudulent bankruptcy lawsuit in the crack-up of his real estate company, fired a total of 13 gunshots.
Palestinian police have confiscated a bombed-out doorway bearing a Banksy painting from a Gaza graffiti artist after the original owner complained of being swindled into selling it cheap. According to Al Ayyam, artist Belal Khaled paid 700 shekels (€200) for the image of a goddess holding her head in her hand, which had been spray-painted on an iron-and-brick doorway as it stood among the ruins of a home destroyed in the July-August war with Israel. Banksy’s pieces regularly sell for more than €450,000.
A former Japanese man has confessed to having paid for sex with 12,000 women aged between 13 and 70, in 25 years, in repeated visits to the Philippines. The man, CNN reports, was arrested for child pornography after police seized almost 150,000 photos including some depicting lewd acts with a girl of 13 at a hotel in Manila. Yuhei Takashima, the 64-year-old former teacher, had collected the photos in over 400 albums.