The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press.
Times of Malta says a number of migrants were injured in Tuesday's riot, despite official reports that no one was hurt.
The Malta Independent says David Casa is ready to defy the prime minister about the controversy over LNG storage at the power station.
In-Nazzjon leads with a GRTU statement complaining about a substantial increase in commercial vehicle licences.
l-orizzont says Tonio Fenech had not done anything about a report on theft of electricity made by the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association. It also says that the police have asked the Director of Fisheries to clarify matters over alleged irregularities.
The overseas press
Ukraine's ousted pro-Moscow president emerged defiant yesterday from five days in hiding as the country's new leaders issued a blunt warning to Russia against any aggression on the volatile Crimean peninsula. RIA Novosti quoted fugitive President Viktor Yanukovych saying he was still the legitimate president of Ukraine because the decisions taken by the parliament in Kiev were illegitimate.
Meanwhile, Le Monde reports anxious Western powers have voiced fear over the growing Crimea crisis, warning Russia not to escalate tensions and telling pro-Moscow separatists they were playing a “dangerous game”.
Kyiv Post says Ukraine's interim president Oleksandr Turchynov warned Russia any movement of troops in its Black Sea fleet, which is based in Crimea, would “be considered as military aggression”.
The new Ukrainian government would do everything possible to return security to the streets and ensure that the rights of the Russian-speaking minority wre protected. Obozrevatel reports that in his first speech to parliament as prime minister, Arseniy Yatseniuk promised that the situation would be “under control” throughout the country warning “all citizens found carrying weapons on the streets would be detained”.
In other news:
Russia is planning to expand its military presence abroad, opening new army bases in several countries including Vietnam, Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua, the Seychelles and Singapore. Itar-Tass news agency quotes Defence Minister Serghei Shoigu telling reporters in Moscow that talks were under way, and “we are close to signing the relevant documents”.
EU Observer reports former Jean-Claude Juncker is the European People Party (EPP)'s candidate for the post of European Commission president, with European Parliament elections coming up on May 25. Juncker has the support of his CSV party, of the Germany CDU and Greece's Nea Demokratia. The EPP represents 73 parties from 39 countries.
Cyprus Mail says the Cypriot parliament has failed to adopt a controversial bill to sell off state utilities mandated by a bailout from international lenders – potentially endangering the next tranche of a 10-billion-euro loan. As hundreds of protesters gathered outside parliament, the vote was split evenly, with 25 in favour and 25 against, and five abstentions. The bill required a simply majority to pass.
Amnesty International has accused Israeli leades of having shown “callous disregard” for human life “killing dozens of Palestinian civilians, including children, in the last three years in the West Bank”. Metro says that in its latest report, the humanitarian organisation describes “the growing bloodshed and human rights violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territories as a result of use by the Israeli army, since January 2011, of unnecessary force, arbitrary and brutal against the Palestinians”.
Ansa reports three middle-school students in the northwestern Italian town of Venntimiglia, on the border between Italy and France, allegedly sold sex because their pocket money was not enough for their tastes. The three alleged prostitutes, aged 14 and 15, were reported to police by a 30-year-old man they propositioned. They allegedly decided to go into sex work after reading about the headline-grabbing case of underaged prostitutes who plied their trade in the high-class Parioli district of Rome. Five people have been placed under investigation on suspicion of pimping.