The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press.
The Sunday Times of Malta reveals that more areas of Mater Dei Hospital have been found to suffer from weak concrete. It also carries an interview with former minister Manuel Mallia who says he was made ‘a scapegoat’.
The Malta Independent on Sunday says the University is hoping its nursing programme will not be jeopardised by the new private nursing school.
It-Torca reports that space at the Mater Dei Mortuary is to be extended. The mortuary was full because of the migrants’ tragedy last week.
Il-Mument says veteran Labourites are starting to leave Joseph Muscat. It also says people are leaving Libya after making money from the fighting there.
KullHadd says the AFM is called out for search and rescue on average of 2.5 times per day.
Illum and Malta Today were not immediately available.
The overseas press
As countries and international aid groups rush to respond to the massive earthquake in Nepal that claimed some 2,000 lives, strong aftershocks continue to jolt the region. AnsaMed reports that a 5.6 magnitude quake was recorded at 5.01 am local time (1.16 am in Malta), causing panic in survivors who have spent the night in the open under a chilly and thunderous sky after the tremor that also destroyed modern houses and ancient temples and triggered a landslide on Mount Everest, killing at least 10 climbers and guides. Most areas were without power and water.
Himalayan Times says rescue operation got into full swing at daybreak on Sunday, with workers sending out tents and relief supplies in trucks and helicopters. There is great concern about the fate of rural villages close to the epicentre of the quake, some 80 km from Kathmandu. The aftershocks and severed communications continue to hampered rescue efforts. The EU, the US, China, Pakistan, Britain, Spain and Norway were among those to pledge assistance, as messages of support poured in from world leaders.
The commander of the Libyan army, General Khalifa Haftar, supported by the internationally- recognised government of Tobruk has expressed dissent on the possibility that Europe adopted a resolution to hit the boats of migrants. He told CNN that “the only solution is to arm the Libyan army”, which did not have enough weapons “to confront militias receiving weapons through Qatar and Turkey”.
Haaretz reports Israeli security forces have shot dead a Palestinian who stabbed an officer in the West Bank hours after a knife-wielding teenager was killed at an east Jerusalem checkpoint. The two incidents were the latest in a spate of apparent lone wolf attacks by Palestinians targeting Israeli civilians and security personnel since last October. They were followed by a suspected deliberate hit-and-run in east Jerusalem wounding three police officers, and a Molotov cocktail thrown at an Israeli bus in the West Bank.
Expresso says leaders of the two parties in Portugal’s centre-right coalition government – Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho, head of the Social Democrats and Deputy Prime Minister Paulo Portas of the conservative CDS-PP party – have announced they would field a single list of candidates to contest this year’s parliamentary elections to be held in September or October. Latest opinion polls put the opposition Socialists in first place with 38.1 per cent of the votes, compared to 25.2 per cent for the PSD and 8.1 per cent for the CDS.
Baltomore Post reports protesters smashed police cars and shop windows in downtown Baltimore when the biggest demonstration over the death of a young African-American man in police custody turned violent. More than 1,000 people joined an orderly 90-minute rally demanding justice for Freddie Gray, who died last Sunday from spinal injuries, a week after his arrest in the city’s impoverished west side. But the mood shifted dramatically when several scores of protesters moved on to the Camden Yards baseball stadium.
Oregon Herald says two owners of an bakery have been ordered by the court to pay $135,000 (€125,000) after citing religious beliefs for refusing to make a cake for a lesbian couple. Judge Alan McCullough had ruled last January that Aaron and Melissa Klein of “Sweet Cakes By Melissa” discriminated against Laurel and Rachel Bowman-Cryer. The order dealt with the lesbian couple’s emotional suffering. The bakers closed their Gresham store in 2013 and now operate from home.
In the UK, the latest opinion polls indicate the result of the general election is too close to call. The poll for the Conservative-party-supporting Mail on Sunday gives Cameron’s party a three percentage point lead over Labour. The Conservative share of the vote had increased to 33 per cent with Labour’s down four percent to 30 per cent. It showed UKIP taking an increasing share of the vote from people who had voted Labour at the last elections in 2010. More than a third of voters have turned away from the big two parties.
Diana has emerged as the most popular name if the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have a girl. According to a poll for The Sunday Times, 12 per cent think naming the child after her paternal grandmother, Diana, Princess of Wales, would be the best choice. Alice and Charlotte were the next most popular options. If the baby is a boy, 13 per cent would like him to be called James. Other popular names include Alexcander, Richard and Louis.
Police from seven European countries detained 26 people in a crackdown on a horsemeat trafficking ring. The EU’s judicial agency Eurojust said the operation involved officers and the judiciary in France, Belgium, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Britain. According to Belgian TV station RTBF, the horses had been used for recreation as well as for racing, meaning they could have been injected with drugs including antibiotics. As part of the activities €37,000 in cash and with 200 horses have been seized.