The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press.
Times of Malta leads with the plea of a father after a knife attack on his son in Paceville.
The Malta Independent reports that Cyrus Engerer will retain his government consultant role.
In-Nazzjon leads with a statement by a pharmacist insisting there was discrimination in the distribution of medicines.
l-orizzont says optimism about the local economy has grown by 4% according to an EU survey.
The overseas press
Voice of Nigeria reports the government in Abuja has rejected Boko Haram’s request to exchange the 276 kidnapped girls for members of the terrorist group held in Nigerian jails
Russia is taking its time before reacting to Donetsk People’s Republic’s appeal to consider its accession into Russia while calling for dialogue between Kiev and the eastern regions. President Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov has told Kommersant newspaper Russia did not yet have a response to the plea.
Le Soir says EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels have added two Crimean companies and 13 individuals to the bloc’s sanctions list against Russia over its annexation of Crimea.
Pravda reports Russia’s state-controlled gas company, Gazprom, said it would require Ukraine to pay in advance for monthly gas supplies as of June, and pay €2.54 billion in arrears – or Moscow would cut off Ukraine’s gas supply. Gazprom coordinates its pricing policy closely with the Kremlin.
All India Radio says exit polls suggest that voters in India’s parliamentary election would deliver a mandate for the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Narendra Modi.
Italian Interior Minister Angelino Alfano has told Sole 24 Ore the European Union was not “helping” Italy enough to cope with its migrant crisis. His comments came on the heels of Tuesday’s boat tragedy where a ship carrying 400 migrants capsized, leaving at least 14 dead off the coast of Sicily.
El Mundo reports Spain is in shock after Isabel Carrasco, a well-known provincial politician from the country’s ruling party, was shot dead as she crossed a footbridge near her home. Two women, thought to be a mother and daughter, have been arrested over the death of the 59-year-old local government leader in the northern city of Leon.
Hurriyet says the European Court of Human Rights has ordered Turkey to pay €90 million to Cyprus over the 1974 invasion of the island and its subsequent division. Cyprus has been divided since Turkey invaded after a coup by supporters of union with Greece.
Mail & Guardian reports a psychiatrist called by Oscar Pistorius’ defence team at his murder trial has told the court that she believed the athlete was suffering from an “anxiety disorder”.
Bloomberg says NASA has warned that parts of the Antarctic ice sheet appeared to be in “irreversible decline”. Researches say relatively-warm sea water beneath the ice was eroding it. They said they could not be sure how fast a consequent one-metre rise in sea level might occur and deluge coastal communities.
Ansa reports Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi on Monday found a 20-euro note on his way from his office to the headquarters of his Democratic Party. The quick-witted former Florence mayor used the find to deflect allegations that he had been struggling to get the financial cover to fund moves like an 80-euro-a-month bonus for low earners. “And they say I can’t find the resources,” quipped the youthful premier as he handed the note to a bodyguard and instructed his staff to try and find the owner.