The following are the top stories in the national and international press today.

Times of Malta reports former Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi’s heartfelt appeal to MEPs in Brussels yesterday that migration is a humanitarian crisis requiring a European solution, not a Maltese response. In another story, it quotes Archbishop Charles Scicluna saying that a friar who blessed a gay couple’s engagement rings got “carried away with enthusiasm” but the rite was a step too far.

The Malta Independent says Fr Mark Montebello has agreed to stop going against Church teachings which say that priests should not officiate during ceremonies involving gay people.

L-Orizzont says that no quails and turtle doves flow over Malta yesterday, the first day of the spring hunting season.

In-Nazzjon says that the transformer installed at the new Parliament building is not compatible with the photovoltaic panels system set up.

International news

The news that as many as 400 migrants may have died in the Mediterranean between Saturday and yesterday makes world headlines.

Libya Herald says “the rising tide of asylum seekers leaving Libya by boat turned into a tsunami numbering some 7,000, most of whom have been picked up by the merchant ships and Italian, Maltese and Libyan coastguards”. Survivors told Save the Children helpers in Italy that there had been over 550 people aboard the stricken vessel. Officials said more than 8,000 people were rescued between Friday and Monday alone, and more arrived yesterday. Among those rescued were about 450 children, 317 of whom we not accompanied by adults.

The Italian news agency AGI quotes EU Commissioner for Migration Dimitris Avramopoulos saying Italy was “under pressure” due to the rise in immigration flows from North Africa. Speaking on the sidelines of a hearing before the European Parliament, he said, the new emergency required “immediate action by Europe”, adding he would be visiting Sicily next week for talks with Interior Minister Angelino Alfano and visit the reception centres for immigrants

The Washington Times reports a White House announcement confirming President Obama will remove Cuba from the list of state sponsors of terrorism – a key step in his bid to normalise relations between the two countries. In a letter to Congress, Obama said Cuba had not supported any acts of terrorism in the past six months. It had also given assurances that it would not do so in future.

The Associated Press says bowing to pressure from Republicans and his own party, President Obama has relented to a compromise empowering Congress to reject his emerging nuclear pact with Iran. The rare and reluctant agreement between the president and the Republican-led Congress came after the White House maintained for weeks that congressional interference could jeopardise sensitive negotiations with Tehran.

Meanwhile, Reuters reports Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said during a visit to Madrid, nuclear talks between Iran and leading world powers would resume on April 21 at a deputy level. Iran and the P5+1 group – the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China – reached a preliminary deal on Iran’s disputed nuclear programme earlier this month and are aiming to reach a final deal by the end of June.

British fighter jets were scrambled yesterday in response to the sighting of two Russian military aircraft near UK airspace, hours after three Russian ships were monitored as they entered the English Channel. AFP said it was the latest in a string of similar incidents and comes at a time of tense relations between London and Moscow over the crisis in Ukraine and the inquiry into the death of Russian ex-spy Alexander Litvinenko.

ABC quotes Amnesty International saying the Islamist militant group Boko Haram has kidnapped at least 2,000 Nigerian girls since early last year. Boko Haram kidnapped 276 girls from their school in Chibok in Borneo state, north-eastern Nigeria, on the evening of April 14 last year. Fifty-seven managed to escape soon afterwards but the remainder have not been seen since an appearance in a Boko Haram video last May. Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau claimed they had all converted to Islam and been “married off”.

The Islamic State (ISIS) has taken to distributing threats in music, but they are no less violent for it. One particularly disturbing anthem has been translated from Arabic, subtitled in English and, for the first time, in Italian. It is called “Soon, soon” and is circulating on the web, reports Wikilao, the website that published a jihadist propaganda document in Italian. The lyrics of the song, shared on Islamic extremist web channels, “is highly intimidating” reports one of the sources interviewed by the website. The site has obtained confirmation of the authenticity of the material, which has also come to the attention of anti-terrorism and intelligence services.

The New York Times reports hundreds of New Yorkers took to the streets yesterday to protest against fresh police killings of unarmed black men, disrupting traffic on the Brooklyn Bridge after marching through Manhattan. The crowd of black, white and Latino youths held placards saying “stop police murder,” “black lives matter” and calling for justice for Afro-American men shot dead by US officers in recent months. Some protesters were arrested.

Kathimerini says Greece’s Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis will meet President Obama, the head of the European Central Bank and officials from the International Monetary Fund during a US visit later this week. The two-day visit comes as the Greek government remains locked in tense negotiations with its EU and IMF creditors on a list of reforms it must carry out to unblock €7.2 billion of bailout loans.

Le Soir says search engine behemoth Google is set to receive charges from the EU that it violated the bloc’s fair competition laws. The company has been accused of diverting traffic from rivals to favour its own sites and services.

El Observador announces an iPad that belonged to Pope Francis was sold for $30,500 (€28,700) at an auction by Montevideo-based auction house Castells. The Pope gave it, complete with its “His Holiness Francis” label and a Vatican certificate of authenticity,  to an Uruguayan priest as a gift. It ended up being donated to a local school by the priest, before being auctioned off to raise money.

Seattle Times reports eight former Atlanta public school educators were jailed to between one and seven years for their involvement in helping students to cheat in exams. Good marks by the students helped the former principal, teachers and administrators secure promotions and cash bonuses.

 

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