The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press:
The Times leads with new policies to ease congestion in the Emergency department of Mater Dei Hospital.
The Malta Independent says Malta has renewed its opposition to the financial transactions tax in the EU.
Malta Today says pressure is mounting over the worst result in 40 years for the PN, and fingers are being pointed at Paul Borg Olivier.
In-Nazzjon says the prime minister is in London to promote investment in tourism and financial services in London.
l-orizzont leads with further criticism by Franco Debono who said that nothing has changed and responsibility has to be shouldered. He also called for votes to be moved in parliament.
The overseas press
The International Business Times quotes European Commission president José Manuel Barroso calling for an end to the “constant drama” about the single currency. He told Euro MPs in Strasbourg that the EU “may be turning a corner” towards stability and growth, following a summit two weeks ago which approved tough new controls on eurozone economies and cleared the way for a new Greek bailout. It was the first summit for two years not to be swamped by crisis management.
The Irish Enquirer says a blow has been dealt to Ireland's chances of rescheduling repayments on €31 billions’ worth of Anglo promissory notes. European Economic Affairs Minister Olli Rehn has said Ireland should respect its commitments and obligations, ruling out a postponement of the payments. He was speaking after a meeting of EU Finance Ministers in Brussels. The first €3.1 billion installment is due on March 31.
The Wall Street Journal reports the US, Japan and the European Union, have teamed up to take China to the World Trade Organisation, accusing it of breaking world trade rules in restricting the export of rare earth minerals. It has been accused of trying to artificially restrict domestic prices to favour domestic manufacturers and to pressure multinational companies to move operations to China. The Asian giant is the world's major supplier of the minerals – a group of 17 metals that are rarely found in concentrations large enough to mine but which are vital for the production of high-tech products like mobile phones, missiles, batteries and hybrid cars. However, China denies it was distorting foreign trade adding it had implemented the export quotas to protect the environment.
Reuters reports that Republican Rick Santorum has won two of crucial Deep South primaries, staking a claim to leadership of the party's conservative wing and dealing a severe setback to presidential rival Newt Gingrich. Television networks projected Santorum would narrowly defeat Gingrich and Mitt Romney in tight three-way battles.
France 24 reports French far-right leader Marine Le Pen said she had obtained the 500 signatures from elected officials necessary to formalise her bid for the presidency. She had warned that a stigma against her anti-immigrant National Front party might keep her from getting the signatures needed to join the race. The deadline for submitting the signatures is Friday. The elections are being held in two rounds – on April 22 and May 6.
The Guardian leads with the arrest of former News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks, her husband Charlie and four others in fresh phone-hacking raids by British detectives. They were reportedly held on suspicion of perverting the course of justice following dawn raids by officers investigating hacking at the now-closed News of the World newspaper. All six people were later released on bail.
President Bashar al-Assad of Syria has called elections for May 7, as activists accused his regime of laying landmines along the at border crossings to stop refugees fleeing into Turkey and Lebanon. Al Bawaba says the vote is part of a raft of reforms announced by Assad in a bid to calm a year-long uprising against his regime that began with democracy protests. The United States said plans to go to the polls while violence in the country continues are "ridiculous".
ATN Bangla TV says at least 32 people died and more than 100 people were missing after a ferry sank in Bangladesh. Some 35 survivors had been found. Rescue workers began retrieving bodies from inside the double-decker ferry, which was hit by another vessel in the middle of the Meghna river, 40 kilometres south-east of the capital Dhaka.
The BBC announces that after 244 years in print, Encyclopaedia Britannica has called time on its iconic 32-volume book sets and would shift its focus to digital content. A new version is usually printed every two years, but the company has announced the 2010 set would be the last. The first set of thick-printed volumes was published in Scotland in1768.