The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press.
Times of Malta quotes PN officials saying that the Police chief must go over the meters scandal.
The Malta Independent says the European Commission is awaiting the environment impact assessment on the new power station from the government.
In-Nazzjon says evidence in court proves political interference in the police.
l-orizzont quotes different court evidence to report that the Smart meters had been opened in a professional manner.
The overseas press
RIA Novosti reports Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered a snap check of the battle-readiness of the armed forces in the west and centre of the country, including the area bordering Ukraine. The drill involves 150,000 army, navy and air force troops based in the western military district, a vast territory bordering Ukraine, Belarus, the Baltic states, Finland and the Arctic. The Associated Press says the announcement prompted a blunt warning from the United States that any military intervention in Ukraine would be a “grave mistake”.
Kyiv Post says Putin's announcement of the huge new war games came as Ukraine's pro-EU protest leader Arseniy Yatsenyuk was picked to head the government of the crisis-hit country until presidential elections are held in May. His nomination was announced in front of tens of thousands of people on Kiev's Independence Square, the epicentre of three months of protest that culminated in the ouster of President Viktor Yanukovych, along with an entirely new cabinet.
Meanwhile, the Baltic Times reports foreign ministers from Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Hungary will travel to Ukraine on Friday to meet representatives of the new Ukrainian government. The Slovak Foreign Ministry said the ministers’ visit was closely coordinated with EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, and had her full support. The three ministers would be joined by a representative of the Polish foreign ministry and would meet acting President Oleksander Turchinov in the eastern city of Doneck.
La Sicilia says Italian President Giorgio Napolitano has called on the European Union to shift its focus from the sovereign-debt crisis and austerity measures to stimulating growth. Speaking in Sicily, Napolitano said the debt crisis had “absorbed all of Europe’s attention and energy,” while “now we need to shift our attention to other policies, namely industrial policies”.
The Irish Examiner reports EU's poorest citizens would continue to get food, basic material assistance and social welfare from an EU Fund worth over €3.5 billion. MEPs yesterday approved the Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived, which will run until 2020.
Gazete Oku says a second day of protests against Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan took place against the backdrop of the publication of emails purporting to show the prime minister asking his son to make large sums of money disappear. Demonstrators in Istanbul, Ankara and other cities across the country, carried anti-government banners that said corruption was rampant, government members were thieves and called for their resignation.
Tribune de Genève reports Switzerland’s second largest bank, Credit Suisse, accused by Washington of helping US clients hide billions from the taxman, acknowledged on Wednesday there had been “misconduct” by some of its employees. In a statement submitted to the US Senate, it insisted the bank management had been unaware of the misdeeds.
Speculation regarding the validity of the resignation of former Pope Benedict XVI is “simply absurd” he said in a letter published in Italian newspaper La Stampa. The Pope-emeritus wrote: “There is absolutely no doubt regarding the validity of my resignation from the Petrine ministry.” He said he had complete freedom in making the decision.
South China Morning Post reports the former editor of a Hong Kong newspaper whose ouster triggered protests over media freedom was hacked with a cleaver on Wednesday in an attack that drew condemnation from the United States and press groups.
VOA News says a Missouri man was executed by lethal injection on Wednesday for raping and killing a 15-year-old-girl. She was kidnapped at a Kansas City school bus stop 25 years ago. The US Supreme Court rejected Michael Taylor’s appeals to stay the execution, including a claim drugs used for lethal injection could cause a slow and painful death. .
With a picture of a heart printed in 3D, a Kentucky surgeon saved a 14-month-old baby born with four different congenital malformations in the heart. The Courier-Journal says the head of the surgical team showed images of the heart to three other colleagues but got conflicting opinions on what to do. He then turned to the University of Louisville, which had developed a software that could translate the images of the CAT scan to a 3D printer. In 20 hours they created a model of the baby’s heart into three parts twice as big as the original. The surgeon said the model helped him to perform the operation with a procedure that he would never had come to mind – and with a large reduction of cuts and sutures required. The operation was carried out on February 10, and the baby is doing fine.