The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press.
The Sunday Times of Malta says Labour retained a majority in the local council elections, but the PN halved the gap.
MaltaToday says Simon Busuttil survived at the PN's helm despite Labour's 54% win.
The Malta Independent on Sunday says the PN showed the first signs of recovery.
It-Torca describes Labour's victory as historic, the first time a government won the local elections mid-term.
Il-Mument says the PN halved the gap to Labour.
Illum says Labour won the local council elections with help from a strong vote in Gozo.
KullHadd says this was a vote of confidence in the government mid-way through its term. The PL won two new councils.
The overseas press
Avvenire reports Pope Francis has called on Europe and the international community to do more to tackle the rising number of migrants making desperate and often deadly journeys across the Mediterranean. Speaking during his first official meeting with Italy’s new President Sergio Mattarella, the Pontiff thanked Italy for welcoming migrants seeking refuge, but added that it was “evident that the proportions of the phenomenon demand much greater involvement”.
Deutsche Welle says thousands of people have marched in Berlin, Munich, Leipzig, Stuttgart and Frankfurt in protest against the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) – a planned free trade deal between Europe and the United States. Hundreds also marched in other European cities on what was hailed as a “global day of action” against free trade.
Bloomberg quotes world finance officials predicting a number of threats on the horizon for a global economy with a potential Greek debt default presenting the most immediate risk. After finance officials wrapped up three days of talks in Washington, the International Monetary Fund’s policy committee set a goal of working toward a “more robust, balanced and job-rich global economy” while acknowledging growing risks to achieving that objective.
Meanwhile, El Mundo says Spain’s economy minister Luis de Guindos criticised Greece’s left-wing government for its “not very coherent” approach to negotiations over its finances, adding that very precious time had been “wasted” over the last three or four weeks. De Guindos said he hoped significant progress in the negotiations will occur before a European finance ministers meeting on May 11.
Al Ayyam reports Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has reached an agreement with Israel, under which tax revenues collected by Israel for the Palestinians would be transferred after a three-month freeze. Israel froze the tax transfers in January, after the Palestinians applied to join the International Criminal Court.
The mental conditions of Andreas Lubitz had exacerbated in the two-three months before he decided to crash the Germanwings Airbus A320 in the French Alps. According to The New York Times, the co-pilot had consulted “over 10 doctors, asking to be treated for a variety of disorders, real or imaginary”. In an investigation into the plane crash, the American newspaper also published the contents of correspondence, sent by the co-pilot to Lufthansa in 2009, in which he asked to be reinstated in the training programme, after months of interruption. In the mail, Lubitz had informed the company had suffered from severe depression.
Kabul Post quotes Afghan President Ashraf Ghani claiming Islamic State militants carried out a deadly suicide attack in eastern Afghanistan that killed at least 38 people and injured more than 100. If confirmed, the bombing would be the first major attack claimed by the jihadist group in the country.
Radio Tunis quotes Interior Minister Najem Gharshalli saying during the past three years 12,500 Tunisians were prevented by the country’s authorities from travelling to Syria, Iraq and Libya to go to swell the ranks of the Islamic State. He said 1,084 people were arrested and brought before the courts since the beginning of the year for crimes related to terrorism, including 158 involved in the Bardo Museum attack on March 18.
Mail & Guardian announces South African President Jacob Zuma has cancelled a state visit to Indonesia in order to deal with a wave of xenophobic violence against immigrants and other foreigners, that has left several people dead. The violence, which erupted in the country’s eastern port city of Durban several weeks ago and spread to Johannesburg, has displaced thousands and sparked alarm in neighbouring countries.
The Holy Shroud goes on public view in Turin Cathedral today. La Stampa reports more than one 1,300,000 pilgrims from all over the world have booked to see it in the next 67 days, until June 24. The Shroud is said to have been wrapped around Jesus after He was taken down from the cross. The Archbishop of Turin and Pontifical Custodian of the Holy Shroud, Monsignor Cesare Nosiglia, said it sends a powerful message of hope.
The New Yorker says a deckchair, which was on the first class promenade deck of the Titanic has been sold at auction in Wiltshire for €138,000. Around 1,500 people died when the new passenger liner sank after striking an iceberg on April 14, 1912, during its ill-fated maiden voyage to from Southampton New York.