The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press.
The Times of Malta reports how the Speaker said yesterday that he had been advised that the impeachment motion against Judge Farrugia Sacco is no longer valid.
The Malta Independent says no meeting is planning between the prime minister and Commissioner Reding on the citizenship scheme.
In-Nazzjon says a PN government will withdraw passports sold under the citizenship scheme, with no compensation.
l-orizzont says a partner in Henley and Partners said the PN declaration of withdrawing citizenship was bluff.
The overseas press
Kyiv Post announces that Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich has agreed to scrap controversial anti-protest laws at talks with opposition leaders in Kiev. The anti-protest laws were introduced on January 16 and within days clashes with police broke out after weeks of mostly peaceful protests.
Tribune de Genève quotes UN mediator Lakdar Brahimi saying at the end of a gruelling day of discussions about the Syrian civil war, that after face-to-face discussions in the morning, and individual discussions with each side in the afternoon, progress was very slow. He also said that he had warned both delegations about giving too many press briefings. Brahimi said both sides were still working on a way of evacuating civilians from Homs, and that talks were continuing on allowing a Red Crescent convoy of humanitarian aid into the besieged city.
Al-Ahram reports Egypt's military has backed its commander Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to run for the presidency, which he is assured to win after ousting the democratically elected Islamist president Mohamed Morsi. The army's announcement came after a weekend in which dozens were killed in street clashes between Morsi's supporters and police and militant attacks, underscoring the difficulties Sisi will face.
The Washington Times announces that the Obama administration has reached a deal with major US technology companies that would provide greater transparency on public surveillance. In a letter to tech giants Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, Microsoft and Yahoo, the Justice Department freed them to release the approximate number of customer accounts targeted.
The Times reports a British Parliamentary Committee has criticised the way money is spent by the Queen's royal household. The public accounts committee says there’s scope for Buchingham Palace to raise more income and cut costs. It also highlighted a backlog of property repairs as a cause for concern.
According to Metro, London’s High Court has approved a settlement against Great Ormond Street Hospital For Children NHS Trust of a £2.8m lump sum to a girl whose brain was accidentally injected with glue during treatment. Maisha Najeeb, who is now19, will also get £383,000 a year until increasing to £423,000 per year for as long as she lives, which some experts expect to be to the age of 64. Despite having a rare medical condition that involved arteries and veins getting tangled, which could result in a bleed, Maisha was a healthy 10-year-old until she went into hospital in June 2010.
In Italy, a theft of a vial containing the blood of Pope John Paul II has sparked a nationwide search involving sniffer dogs and 50 police officers. Ansa says the blood was stolen from a church in the Abruzzo region, where the late pontiff liked to go on skiing holidays.
Il Tempo reports an animal welfare group has urged Pope Francis to refrain from releasing helpless doves in future, after two of the birds freed from the Apostolic Palace during the pope's weekly Angelus prayer were attacked in mid-air.
The Lancet says Eric Lawson, the “Marlboro Man” in a famous series of ’70s cigarette ads, has died of a smoking-related disease. He is the third actor in that role to die of a pulmonary ailment. Lawson, 72, who portrayed a rugged smoking cowboy from 1978 until 1981, had started to smoke at age 14. In 1992, Wayne McLaren, the “Marlboro Man” of numberless magazine ads, died of lung cancer. Three years later, another “Marlboro Man”, David McLean died of the same disease.