The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press.
Times of Malta reports that 100 have applied for the citizenship scheme and deposited €100m. Arriva arrived on time in 90 per cent of journeys.
The Malta Independent says Transport Minister Joe Mizzi is in Spain for talks with the shortlisted bidder for the bus service.
In-Nazzjon says the UHM has warned of industrial action by bus drivers unless it was granted recognition.
l-orizzont leads with the testimony of a man who was stabbed in a Gozo courthouse.
The overseas press
Reuters reports that less than 48 hours before the month-long soccer World Cup kicks off in Brazil, President Dilma has Rousseff defended the cost of hosting the tournament, vowed to punish corruption and urged Brazilians to give visiting fans a warm welcome. Following a year of protests over the $11 billion Brazil is spending to host the World Cup, Rousseff said in a televised address that investments in stadia, airport terminals and other infrastructure would provide long-term benefits for the country.
The BBC says the aid agency Oxfam has run an alternative World Cup to highlight the gap between rich and poor in the countries competing in the tournament in Brazil. The winner of what they called “The Inequality World Cup” was Belgium because it had the smallest gap between rich and poor. Brazil, which has considerable inequality, would fail to qualify from the group stage.
Meanwhile, Gazeta Esportiva reports FIFA president Sepp Blatter has been urged to quit next year because of the damage corruption allegations have inflicted on football's governing body. The plea came a day after Blatter claimed allegations of corruption levelled at Qatar following its successful bid to stage the 2022 World Cup were motivated by racism.
VOA News announces the Republican majority leader in the US House of Representatives has been defeated by a challenger backed by the Tea Party in the primary in Virginia. David Brat, a college professor, won nearly 56 per cent of the vote to Eric Cantor's 44 per cent, a margin of more than 7,000 votes, in the district north and west of Richmond.
CNN reports President Obama said he was ashamed that the United States could not stop the mass shootings which claimed lives almost weekly. He was speaking just hours after the latest incident in which a student at a high school in Oregon was killed. Obama said no other country was facing a similar situation.
Eight members of the Italian Navy involved in migrant rescue operations have tested positive for tuberculosis. However, Ansa quotes Navy Chief of Staff Giuseppe De Giorgi saying they were not sick. The eight have been involved in the Mare Nostrum rescue operations that began last October. Meanwhile, more than 2,320 migrants have arrived in Taranto from Sicily and some are reported to be suffering from scabies.
Al Ahram announces Egypt's new President Abdul Fattah al Sisi has ordered a crackdown on sex crimes after a video emerged of a woman being assaulted in Cairo's Tahrir Square. The video prompted Sisi to call for sexual harassment to be confronted immediately, calling it an "unacceptable form of conduct, alien to the best principles of Egyptian culture". It comes as a global summit to stop sexual violence in war zones, co-hosted by Angelina Jolie, continues in London.
The Jerusalem Post reports the Israeli parliament elected Reuven Rivlin, a member of the far-right ruling Likud party, to serve as the nation's tenth president when incumbent Shimon Peres steps down in July.
Al Ayyam says a leader from the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas has accused President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah party of jeopardising a reconciliation deal, just a week after a unity government was formed to end their feuding. Problems between the two sides surfaced just days after the new administration took office, when it failed to pay some 40,000 civil servants hired by Hamas in Gaza, saying the employees had to be vetted before receiving their salary.
Asia Times reports 15 crew members from the sunken South Korean ferry appeared in court to enter pleas on charges of negligence and failing to save more than 300 dead or missing passengers.