The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press.
Times of Malta reports how Giovanna Debono has left the PN after her husband was accused of misappropriation of public funds yesterday. It also quotes the prime minister saying the plan for a new university puts pressure on Jerma Hotel owners to redevelop or rehabilitate the site.
MaltaToday says Giovanna Debono has resigned from the PN but not from Parliament.
The Malta Independent reports that Mrs Debono has resigned from the PN and Chris Said will not seek re-election as PN general secretary to focus on Gozo.
In-Nazzjon quotes Simon Busuttil saying he is changing the way politics is conducted in Malta.
l-orizzont says Mrs Debono's husband faces 13 charges. It also says the GWU is seeking alternative jobs for Panta Lesco workers.
The overseas press
The Obama administration has approved the first ferry service in more than 50 years between the United States and Cuba. Baja Ferries, which operates passenger service in Mexico, said it received a license from the US Treasury Department. The Sun-Sentinel in Florida said approvals also were received by Havana Ferry Partners of Fort Lauderdale, United Caribbean Lines Florida in the Orlando area and Airline Brokers Co. of Miami.
Bild says the Germanwings co-pilot suspected of deliberately crashing a plane in the French Alps in March, killing all 150 people on board, practiced a descent on the previous flight. Quoting sources close to France’s BEA crash investigation agency, the German newspaper said an interim report that BEA was planning to publish later today would reveal that Lubitz had practiced reducing flight altitude on the outbound flight from Dusseldorf to Barcelona the same day as the crash.
Deutsche Welle reports the EU has said it would resume talks with Iran to hammer out a deal on the country’s nuclear programme. Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif says the final deal expected for June 30 was “moving forward”. Talks between the EU and Iran will begin on May 12 in Vienna with the US, Russia, China, France, Britain, and Germany joining three days later.
Le Figaro says French lawmakers have approved a new law that gives the state extensive powers to spy on citizens. The bill, approved 438-86, has been criticised by civil liberty organisations, but gained wider support in the wake of the Charlie Hebdo attacks.
In Britain, a telephone poll for ITV News and the Daily Mail puts the Conservatives ahead by 3 percentage points over Labour and UKIP on their highest vote share since January. On the eve of the general election, the Conservatives are ahead on 35per cent while Labour are down by one point to 32per cent. UKIP are in third place with 14 per cent and the Lib Dems in fourth position with nine per cent. Meanwhile, UKIP has suspended a parliamentary candidate for apparently threatening to shoot a rival. Robert Blay was filmed by the Daily Mirror insulting Conservative rival Ranil Jayawardena and calling him not British enough.
Slate Magazine quotes a Centre for Public Integrity report saying at least 115 enlisted US military personnel deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan have been convicted since 2005 for committing theft, bribery, and contract rigging crimes which have totalled more than $52 million in damages. All are serving sentences ranging from three months to over 17 years. One of the massive scams uncovered involved soldiers selling US military fuel to citizens in Afghanistan and pocketing the money. The fuel thefts alone have totalled at least $15 million since the start of the war.
Two civilians have been killed in Saudi Arabia, near the border with Yemen, since the launch of rockets and mortars by Yemeni Houthi Shiite rebels, who also captured five Saudi soldiers. Saudi TV reports schools in the area were closed and showed images of burned cars and damaged buildings. Air links between Riyadh and Najran were discontinued.
Priests sent out by Pope Francis to dioceses in the Jubilee Year of Mercy that starts in December would be able to absolve “the sin of procured abortion”, the head of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelisation, Archbishop Rino Fisichella, told Ansa yesterday. During confession, priests would be able to absolve the woman who has an abortion and the doctors and other medical staff who helped her. Mgr Fisichella also said the Vatican hopes Mother Teresa will be canonised on September 4 next year – the Voluntary Work Jubilee. A second miracle credited to her intercession is required before she can be recognised as a saint by the Catholic Church.
Spending on drugs to fight cancer reached a new milestone in 2014, with the figure of $100 billion representing a 10 per cent increase on 2013. NBC quotes the IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics saying therapies which target specific drivers of cancer now make up nearly half of total spending. The US accounted for 42.2 per cent, closely followed by the five biggest European markets: Germany, France, Britain, Spain and Italy, where spending on oncology drugs rose to 14.7 per cent of total drug spending
Europe will face an obesity crisis of vast proportions by 2030. Tribune de Genève says that according to new World Health Organization projections, many countries are likely to see far more than half of adults above the healthy weight limit. Researchers said the figures present “a worrying picture of rising obesity across Europe” with very few countries showing decreasing trends.
Interpol has issued a global alert over the threat posed by “diet pills” which claimed the life of a British woman. The Guardian reports the world police agency raised the alarm with forces in 190 countries after the toxic pesticide dinitrophenol was linked to the death of 21-year-old Eloise Parry and also left a Frenchman critically ill. A study last year warned the drug, sometimes used as a weight-loss or bodybuilding aid, could cause breathing difficulties, fast heart rates, fever, nausea and vomiting.