The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press:
The Times features Annabelle Vassallo who presented a copy of her book Irrid Nghix to the prime minister. She said every day she lives is a gift in her fight against cancer. In another story, the newspaper reports that the Good Friday power cut was the result of a spike in demand.
The Malta Independent leads with the Enemalta recommendations to avert a repetition of the Good Friday power cut.
MaltaToday says the government will hold a campaign to say that the power station extension will be less harmful than emissions from Marsa power station.
l-orizzont reports that legal procedures have been launched against Mario Debono, GRTU vice president, over alleged illegal medicine imports. The newspaper also reports that the Archbishop has defended the Church spending on the papal visit.
In-Nazzjon also reports that strong demand, and industrial action contributed to the Good Friday power cut. It also reports an increase in online tourist bookings.
The overseas press:
As expected, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has announced that the UK will hold a general election on May 6, signalling the official start of a general election campaign which may lead to a hung parliament. The Daily Telegraph divides its front page to pictures of Gordon Brown and David Cameron with a message to the voters from each.
The Daily Express reports on David Cameron's promise to give Britain a fresh start if he is elected, warning of a grim future for Britain if Gordon Brown were to beat him.
On the other hand, The Daily Mirror issues a stark warning to its readers not to believe the Tory message.
The Washington Times reports President Barack Obama has announced a new nuclear strategy that includes new restrictions on the use of American nuclear weapons and a commitment not to produce new nuclear weapons. However, the US reserved the right to use them against countries like Iran and North Korea.
O Globo reports that at least 95 people have been killed in landslides and flooding in the Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro, where 28cm of rain fell in 24 hours. A state of emergency has been declared while the city's mayor has told people to stay indoors. Authorities say the transport system is close to collapse.
The Egyptian Gazette says 70 people have been arrested in Cairo following clashes between members of the opposition ‘Youth of 6th April' movement and the police. A crowd of 200 demonstrators marched through the streets trying to reach the central Tahrir square, when it was surrounded by police. Another group went before the Parliament building. Witnesses said the police used batons on the protesters and confiscated the cameras of Al-Jazeera TV crew.
Az-Zaman reports that in one of the most sophisticated attacks in months, eight bombs exploded in rapid succession around Baghdad, killing at least 49 people. Sources said the death toll could rise to 60 with more than 100 injured. The bombs mainly targeted four- and five-story apartment buildings, causing several of them to collapse.
The Dean of the College of Cardinals, Cardinal Angelo Sodano, told L'Osservatore Romano, that the failings and mistakes of priests were being used as weapons against the Church. The cardinal said the only strategy the Church used came from the Gospel, Sodano said, echoing Benedict who in an Easter Thursday sermon said, "Jesus did not respond when he was insulted".
Meanwhile, Vatican Radio expressed fears that "the media campaign of anti-Catholic hate" may degenerate. As "the first worrying signs", it recalled an attack by a mentally-unstable man on a German bishop, anti-Catholic slogans daubed on a church near Viterbo and attempts by to disrupt Easter services across Europe. It praised the Wall Street Journal for being among the few media outlets who had noted that "Cardinal Ratzinger did more than anyone else" to force paedophile priests "to answer for what they had done".
An Indian priest accused of raping two teenage girls while he worked at a Catholic church in Minnesota has told ABC News he was innocent and claimed that the accusations were inspired by a desire for money. Rev. Joseph Palanivel Jeyapaul said he was ready to return to the US to stand trial. Police have an arrest warrant for Jeyapaul and considers him a fugitive. He denies that he fled Minnesota for India because of the charges.
France's RTL Radio announces that a preliminary investigation is underway in France to find the origin of Internet rumors that claimed President Sarkozy and his wife Carla Bruni were having affairs. So far two reporters have lost their jobs. Both worked for the Internet edition of France's Sunday newspaper Journal du Dimanche, which repeated the rumours in a blog and started the media frenzy.
A source near Buckingham Palace has told The Daily Beast's Tina Brown that two days in June have been blocked on Palace diaries - June 3rd and 4th - suggesting these are the likely dates for the engagement announcement of the 27-year-old Prince William and 28-year-old Kate Middleton. If so, a wedding itself would probably follow in November, like the wedding of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, who married at Westminster Abbey in 1947.
In a statement to People magazine, Oscar-winning actress Sandra Bullock has denied the existence of any sex tape. Bullock was responding to a Radar One report that her estranged husband, who allegedly cheated on her with at least four other women, has made more than a dozen sex tapes. Yesterday's statement marks Bullock's first public remarks since reports of James' alleged philandering surfaced.