The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press:
The Times says 150 migrants drowned after their boat capsized off Lampedusa. It also reports how a man was handed a suspended sentence for having caused a fatality through careless driving.
The Malta Independent says the AFM helped to coordinate a search for missing migrants off Lampedusa.
l-orizzont reports that a former industry minister in Libya has fled to Malta. It also gives prominence to a PL statement saying there had been agreement on how 2,800 young people could vote in the referendum.
In-Nazzjon, however, quotes PN General Secretary Paul Borg Olivier saying the PL had known since February 22 about the mistake in its motion which denied the vote to these young people, but it did not correct its mistake.
The overseas press
Ansa reports that children were among ''dozens'' of victims spotted at sea amid searches for as many as 250 missing people after a boat carrying refugees from conflict-hit Libya sank near the southern Italian island of Lampedusa early on Wednesday. The International Organization for Migration said they estimated around 300 were aboard the boat after its staff spoke to the 51 survivors picked up in the Sicily Channel, although some survivors put the figure as high as 370. Initial reports said the boat that left Libya two days ago was carrying around 200 refugees, mostly of Eritrean and Somali origin.
Belgium’s Le Soir quotes a European Commission report which states that the EU had failed to meet its 2010 goals for increasing development aid. Even if the EU managed to give €4.5 billion more aid than in 2009, it still fell short of Brussels' stated goals. The EU remained the world's largest aid donor, contributing €53.8 billion in 2010.
Jornal de Negocios leads with the Portuguese Prime Minister’s announcement that Lisbon would apply for a bailout from the European Union – the third Eurozone member after Greece and Ireland to ask Brussels to prop up its economy. The news came in the aftermath of the collapse of Portugal's government last week which led to Jose Socrates calling snap elections for June 5. The country's parliament had failed to pass austerity measures aimed at reducing its debt burden.
Associated Press reports that with a stalemate developing on the Libyan battlefield, attention moved to diplomatic efforts. Curt Weldon, a Republican member of the US House of Representatives, arrived in Tripoli on a private mission to try to find a solution. Meanwhile, the US has rebuffed a personal appeal from Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi to US President Barack Obama, repeating that he should impose a ceasefire, withdraw his forces, resign and go into exile.
The BBC quotes unconfirmed reports from Libya saying a coalition air strike has damaged a disputed oil pipeline on the Sarir oilfield in the Sirte basin. However, the oilfield has been under rebel control, and the rebels reported attacks by Libyan government forces which forced a halt to oil production. The UK's Ministry of Defence on Wednesday afternoon reported that British jets had hit targets around Sirte and Misrata, attacking armoured fighting vehicles and tanks.
Bahrain Post says a hard-line Iranian cleric has called on Bahrain's people to resist their government, underlining the sectarian nature of the unrest in the strategic island kingdom, where majority Shiite Muslims are demonstrating against a Sunni monarchy that has ruled for two centuries. The government warns that giving in would allow Shiite Iran a foothold
Syria Daily reports that President Bashar Assad has made gestures in the direction of conservative Muslims in an attempt to lessen criticism of his government. He lifted a ban on face veils for teachers and closed the country's only casino. Opposition leaders have called for demonstrations for the rest of the week to honour more than 80 protesters killed in clashes with government forces.
El Universal reports protest marches have been held in more than 20 cities across Mexico against the drug-related violence sweeping the country. Some 35,000 Mexicans have died in drug-related violence since President Felipe Calderon began deploying the army to fight the the cartels in December 2006.
The Greens have overtaken the Social Democrats as Germany’s largest opposition party, according to a new poll conducted for the news magazine Stern. Support for the centre-left environmentalist party has risen to 28 percent – seven points higher than in the previous survey. The Social Democrats, traditionally Germany's largest center-left party, are polling at 23 percent. If national elections were held today, Germany would likely have its first Green chancellor.
A record number of 180,000 Catholics in Germany have turned their backs on the church. They officially cancelled their membership in the wake of child abuse scandals that rocked church institutions across the country. Data provided by 24 of Germany's 27 Catholic dioceses and published by the newspaper Die Zeit shows that 50,000 more Catholics cancelled their church membership last year than in 2009, an increase of 40 percent.