The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press:
The Times says there is cautious optimism that a solution would be found shortly in the visas dispute between Switzerland and Libya. It also says that bouncers are to be subject to licence conditions under a new law.
The Malta Independent also leads with the visas issue. In other stories it report on the Valletta pedestrianisation project.
l-orizzont reports that Nationalist MP Jean Pierre Farrugia says it was one of his fellow MPs who leaked his e-mails to the press.
In-Nazzjon says the GRTU is seeking dialogue instead of street protest ‘comedies’. It also reports that Cardinal Health is planning to expand; and there have been new developments on the Libya visas issue.
The overseas press
British police have launched an inquiry into how fraudulent British passports were used by the alleged killers of Hamas commander Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai. The Independent says Prime Minister Gordon Brown called the police to investigate the alleged identity theft by the Mossad security, the Israeli service. The Guardian quotes British officials saying relations between the UK and Israel are now “in deep freeze”.
Kyiv Post reports a Ukrainian court has suspended the result of the recent presidential election while it considered the evidence presented by defeated candidate Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, who claimed the result was rigged. The Ukrainian Central Electoral Commission declared on Sunday that Viktor Yanukovych had won the vote by a margin of 3.48 per cent.
Afghan Times quotes Gen Mohiudin Ghori, an Afghan general, saying Taliban militants were increasingly using civilians as "human shields" as they battle against a joint Afghan-Nato offensive. He said his soldiers had seen Taliban fighters placing women and children on the roofs of buildings and firing from behind them.
The Washington Times says the White House has hailed the capture of the Afghan Taliban military commander, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, as a "big success" for US-Pakistani cooperation. Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar wass said to have overseen Taliban military operations in Afghanistan, run the group's leadership council, and controlled its finances.
Haiti’s Le Matin reports that eight of the 10 Americans accused of kidnapping children after last month’s quake, have been released from custody and were heading for home. But the group's leader Laura Silsby, and one other member are being held for more investigation.
Le Parisien says 12 French winemakers and traders have been found guilty of a massive scam to sell 18 million bottles of fake Pinot Noir to leading US buyer Gallo, making a profit of €7 million. They were given suspended jail sentences ranging between one and six months and ordered all the defendants to pay fines of between €1,500 and €180,000.
Asia Observer reports that three Malaysian women have been caned by the authorities for having extra-marital sex – the first women to receive such a sentence under Islamic law in the country. The punishments come as another Malaysian woman waits to hear whether her caning – for drinking beer - is carried out. Malaysia's majority Malays are subject to Islamic laws, while the large Chinese and Indian minorities are not.
More than a million people have reserved places to see the Turin Shroud when it goes on public display for the first time in 10 years since it underwent restoration in 2002. Visitors to Turin cathedral, where the shroud is kept in a bulletproof climate-controlled case, will get three to five minutes to admire it between April 10 and May 23. Organisers are hoping for as many as two million over the 44 days, with interest expected to be bolstered by the presence of the Pope on May 2.
Berliner Zeitung says the city's local government, the senate, has passed a law giving children the right to be noisy – the first law of its kind in Germany. But all Berliners – children included – must continue to respect the official quiet time at night and all day Sunday. Until now, only church bells, emergency sirens, snow ploughs and tractors hd fallen outside the stringent rules on excessive noise.
The Sun reports that an intelligent British toddler aged three became one of the youngest people ever to join high-IQ society Mensa. William Potter, of Staffordshire, central England, loves solving word puzzles on his computer and already speak some Chinese and Spanish. He scored an IQ of 140 in tests, making him one of the most intelligent two percent in the UK and qualifying him for Mensa. Only some 30 Mensa members are under the age of 10, two of them girls who joined aged two.