The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press.
Times of Malta says it will be the President, not Gonzi, who will inaugurate the new Parliament.
The Malta Independent says there is no specific provision against bestiality in Maltese law.
In-Nazzjon quotes Simon Busuttil saying PN policies must be built on honesty, unity and determination.
l-orizzont says the government will embark on a major education investment, highlighting research.
The overseas press
Thousands of desperate Nepalese have spent another night in the open, terrorised by strong aftershocks that continued to shake the country two days after a massive quake struck, killing almost 2,500 people and injuring a further 6,500. Kathmandu Post reports the UN estimates a total of 6.6 million people have been affected.
Himalayan Times says Prime Minister Sushil Koirala, who cut short a visit to Indonesia, asked his fellow-citizens to remain united in the face of the “great disaster” caused by the earthquake. He thanked the US, China, the EU, Russia, India, Pakistan and many other countries for sending help to the region.
Meanwhile, at least 25 people died and more than 150 were injured during windstorm and heavy rains in the Pakistani northwest city of Peshawar Sunday, the local Geo TV news channel reports. Provincial minister Zia Afridi said strong winds and heavy rain destroyed the roofs and the walls of several clay houses in the suburbs of Peshawar.
El Universal reports residents whose homes were buried under mounds of stinking volcanic ash in southern Chile have begun the painstaking clean-up, under the threat of more eruptions from the volatile Calbuco volcano. The spectre of heavy rain only added to the anxiety of thousands of people whose lives were turned upside down when Calbuco burst into life twice in as many days last week, having been dormant for more than 50 years.
UN chief Ban Ki-moon has urged Europe to refrain from resorting to a military solution to prevent a repeat of the shipwreck in the Mediterranean that left more than 750 migrants dead. He told La Stampa, “What is crucial is to have a global approach that takes into account the roots of the problem, the security and human rights of migrants and refugees, such as having immigration channels that are legal and regular.”
An Israeli airstrike has killed four members of an armed squad that was preparing to bomb Israeli forces yesterday along the Israeli-Syrian frontier in the Golan Heights. Haaretz quotes the Israeli military saying the armed squad had crossed from the Syrian side into the Israeli-controlled part of the contested territory, which Israel captured from Syria in the 1967 war.
Qazaq Radiosy reports Nursultan Nazarbayev has scored a crushing victory in Kazakhstan’s presidential ballot. An exit poll estimates that the incumbent strongman has taken 97.5 per cent of the vote to win a fifth consecutive term.
Independent candidate Mustafa Akinci has won the second round of presidential election in northern Cyprus with over 60 percent of the vote, Daily Sabah reports. The election comes ahead of possible resumption of peace talks between Greek and Turkish Cypriots, which stalled in October 2014.
Berlin knew the risks of flying over war-torn east Ukraine before Flight MH17 was shot out of the sky last year, killing all 298 passengers and crew on board, but did not inform German airlines. Suddeutsche Zeitung and broadcasters WDR and NDR said a diplomatic cable by Germany’s foreign ministry a few days before the crash warned the situation in eastern Ukraine was “worrying” and a military plane was shot down in the same area.
blamed Kiev.
Kathimerini says the Greek government will resume talks today with its creditors after a phone call between Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
The Washington Times says several thousand protesters have marched in Washington against same-sex marriage as the US Supreme Court prepares to hear arguments tomorrow on whether same-sex couples have a constitutional right to wed. Representatives of the Protestant and Orthodox churches were present, with the message that marriage begins with God and not the State. But the tide of opinion may be against the church. The decision is expected in June.
Metro says concern has been expressed in London as a ward of St Mary’s Hospital, the Duchess of Cambridge is expected to give birth to her second child, had to be closed down three patients contracted an intestinal infection caused by a “super-bug”. The ward will be reopened next week after “a thorough disinfection of the environment”. Kate, who according to the accounts should have given birth during the weekend, is overdue.