The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press.
The Times reports that low level radiation may have reached Malta but there are no health concerns. It also says that Malta was isolated after its urgent appeal to the EU over migrants.
The Malta Independent says the Libyan opposition has set conditions for a ceasefire. It also says that a wanted woman has been extradited from London and is to face drug trafficking charges.
l-orizzont also reports how the 53-year old woman, Rita Bugeja from Qormi, who stands accused of importing Ecstasy drugs in a teddy bear, has been extradited to Malta.
In-Nazzjon says Malta may become a centre for ship maintenance in the Mediterranean.
The overseas press
The New York Times reports that UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon has described as “outrageous” and “cowardly” and attack on the UN building in Afghanistan, in which at least 12 people died, including seven foreigners. Police officials said local clerics had urged people to protest over the reported burning of a copy of the Quran by an American pastor in the United States last month. They also announced the arrest of more than 20 people, including a militant they suspect was the ringleader of the assault.
Battles raged in Libya on Friday as mixed messages of peace put forth from several corners brought no guarantees of an end to the bloody conflict. Al-Libiyah TV said the Libyan government has rejected the offer of a conditional cease-fire by rebel forces. A spokesman said it was mad to expect the government to withdrawn its forces from cities as the rebels had demanded. In the rebel stronghold of Benghazi, Libyan opposition leader Mustafa Abdul Jalil laid out conditions for the cease-fire: the removal of snipers, mercenaries and militias from western cities, an end to the sieges laid on cities such as Misrata and freedom of expression for the Libyan people.
On the battlefront, Libyan state Al-Jamahartija quotes a military official as saying civilian and military areas in Khoms and Arrujban have been hit by air strikes by what he called “the bombardment of the colonial and crusader aggressors". Khoms is about 100 km east of Tripoli, while Arrujban lies is about 190 km southwest of the capital.
BBC correspondents say rebel forces were pressing on to the front line around the Libyan oil town of Brega. The added that more uniformed and better disciplined soldiers seemed to be bolstering the usual disorganised rebel fighters. The Associated Press says that on Friday only former military officers and the lightly trained volunteers serving under them were allowed on the front lines. Some were recent arrivals, hoping to rally against forces loyal to the Libyan leader who have pushed rebels back about 100 miles this week.
The west Libya city of Misurata continues to be under heavy bombardment. Residents have told Reuters that Gaddafi loyalists have attacked shops and homes in the city centre, as the rebels' hold on the city began to weaken. A rebel spokesman said the pro-government troops used tanks, rocket-propelled grenades, mortar rounds and other projectiles to hit the city. He aid they were pillaging the shops and homes and destroying everything in the process.
Seven civilians died and 25 were hurt in a coalition air strike on a pro-Gaddafi convoy in eastern Libya. Dr Suleiman Refardi has told the BBC that Wednesday's raid happened in the village of Zawia el Argobe, 15km from Brega. The strike hit a truck carrying ammunition, and the resulting explosion destroyed two nearby homes. All the dead were between the ages of 12 and 20, Dr Refardi said. Nato says it is investigating the claim.
Corriere della Sera says Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has threatened to issue migrants arriving in Italy with temporary permits which would allow them to travel to other EU countries. He expressed anger at what he sees “the failure of to help Italy with the influx of people fleeing upheaval in North Africa.
Syria Daily reports that the protest movement against Syrian President Bashar Assad proved its resilience Friday as thousands of people took to the streets in cities across the country, brushing off Assad's limited gestures of reform and defying security forces who beat them back with tear gas, batons and bullets. At least three people were killed. The government blamed the bloodshed on "armed gangs."
Assabah says Tunisian police fired tear gas on stone-throwing youths in Tunisia's capital after a demonstration by hundreds of Islamists protesting the country's secular laws. Protesters held two demonstrations, one by a group demanding more economic freedoms and another by young Islamists shouting religious slogans. Their demonstration came as the Interior Ministry announced Friday that women are no longer required to take off headscarves for official state ID cards.
News Yemen reports more than 1.5 million anti-regime protesters gathered in Sanaa to take part in “Friday of Salvation” – the largest demonstrations in more than a month of demands the country's longtime ruler Ali Abdullah Saleh step down. The speaker in Friday's sermon labelled President Saleh as a Pharoah of Egypt “because he thinks that Yemenis are his slavers”.
According to Al Ahram, Egyptians returned in their thousands to Cairo's Tahrir Square to demand former President Hosni Mubarak and members of his ousted regime be brought to trial to face accusations of corruption, vote-rigging and abuse of dissidents. Many in Egypt's pro-reform camp said the current military rulers were not moving fast enough to meet demands to transform their country's politics.
Asahi Shimbun says Japanese and US military ships and helicopters trolled Japan's tsunami-ravaged coastline looking for bodies Friday, part of an all-out search that could be the last chance to find those swept out to sea nearly three weeks ago. More than 16,000 are still missing after the disaster, which officials fear may have killed some 25,000 people. The 9.0-earthquake and tsunami also ravaged a nuclear plant that continues to leak radiation despite frantic efforts to control it.
Arizona Herald says the state's cash-strapped Medicaid programme is considering charging patients $50 a year if they smoke, have diabetes or are overweight. A spokeswoman said the fee is intended to rein in health care costs by pushing patients to keep themselves healthy.
Santa Clara Weekly reports that an educational organisation has cancelled an event planned for a Mahatma Gandhi biography that was banned in part of India after reviews hinted the father of the nation's independence had a homosexual relationship. The event, in honor of Pulitzer Prize-winner Joseph Lelyveld's "Great Soul," was to have been hosted on April 13 in Santa Clara, California, by the Foundation for Excellence, a nonprofit that provides scholarships for students in India.
Goal.com says Bosnia-Herzegovina coach Safet Susic has stated that it would be best if UEFA devised a solution to the football federation's reluctance to comply with governing body Fifa's regulations. The Bosnian Football Federation had been ordered to change its three-man presidency into one single position by both Fifa and European body Uefa. But the move was rejected at a NSBIH meeting on Wednesday, prompting Fifa to take immediate action. The suspension means Bosnia cannot play any international matches.