The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press.
Times of Malta says Germany will send two warships to help in Mediterranean search and rescue missions.
The Malta Independent says an Eastenders actor is in Malta to support MOAS in its Mediterranean rescue mission.
In-Nazzjon says workers in Gozo hospital face uncertainty because of lack of information by the government after it announced plans for a new hospital.
l-orizzont says there are movements in the PN to remove Giovanna Debono after losses in the local council elections.
The overseas press.
Left-wing groups and trade unions have staged rallies across Europe, the Middle East and Asia to mark International Workers Day.
Corriere della Sera reports that in Milan, police used water against hundreds of demonstrators, many of them scrawling graffiti on walls or holding smoky flares during a march in the city, where the Italian premier and other VIPs were inaugurating Expo, a world’s fair that runs for six months. Protesters set parked cars and a bank branch on fire, smashed store windows, tossed bottles and chopped up pavement slabs.
Hurriyet reports clashes in Istanbul between the police and May Day demonstrators as crowds determined to defy a government ban tried to march to the city’s iconic Taksim Square. Security forces pushed back demonstrators using water cannons and tear gas. Protesters retaliated by throwing stones and hurling firecrackers at police.
El Pais says around 10,000 protesters gathered under sunny skies in Madrid to take part in a May Day march under a banner saying: “This is not the way to come out of the financial crisis.” With the country is still saddled with a staggering 23.8 percent unemployment rate, some of those working don’t earn enough to pay for decent food.
In other news…
Associated Press reports rage turned to relief in Baltimore when the city’s top prosecutor charged six police officers with felonies ranging from assault to murder in the death of Freddie Gray. State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby said Gray’s arrest was illegal and unjustified, and that his neck was broken because he was handcuffed, shackled and placed head-first into a police van, where his pleas for medical attention were repeatedly ignored as he bounced around inside the small metal box.
President Obama said it was “absolutely vital” that the truth comes out about Freddie Gray’s death. CNN says that at a press briefing hours after the announcement that six officers involved in Gray’s death were being charged, he said, “It is my practice not to comment on the legal process that’s involved… but I can tell you that justice needs to be served.”
In an interview with Süddeutsche Zeitung, President Joachim Gauck has raised the possibility of Germany addressing Greece’s demands for reparations for the Nazi occupation of the country. Berlin has previously repeatedly rejected Athens’ claims that Berlin owed Athens €278.7 billion, a figure included a €10.3-billion-euro repayment of a “forced loan” that the Nazis took from the Bank of Greece.
The International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor has said she is weighing opening war crimes investigations into Palestinians as well as Israelis after Palestine joined the tribunal’s jurisdiction last month. In an interview with Israel’s Haaretz, Fatou Bensouda rejected Israeli fears of bias by the court, promising to consider the evidence “independently and impartially without fear or favour”.
South Korea’s Chosun Ilbo reports North Korean leader Kim Jong Un cancelled his planned visit to Russia to attend the country’s World War II anniversary celebrations on May 9 because Moscow refused to comply with Pyongyang’s request to provide him with “special treatment”. This would have been his first foreign visit since taking power from his late father, Kim Jong Il, in 2011.
Bangkok Times reports authorities in Thailand have uncovered a mass grave in an abandoned jungle camp believed to contain the remains of migrants from Myanmar and Bangladesh. The discovery comes as Thailand’s junta cracks down on human trafficking following accusations that officials have been complicit in the trade.
ABC says yet another Australian woman faces a possible death sentence for drug trafficking – this time in Malaysia – after a chemist’s report confirmed the substance found in her bag was crystal methamphetamine. Maria Elvira Pinto Exposto, a 52-year-old mother of four, was arrested last December at Kuala Lumpur airport with the drug, also known as ice.
Swapping a daily sugary drink for water or unsweetened tea or coffee can lower the risk of diabetes by up to 25 per cent. Metro says a study by the University of Cambridge also found that for every five per cent increase of a person’s total energy intake provided by sugar-sweetened drinks, the risk of developing type 2 diabetes may increase by 18 per cent.
El Universal reports a female TV newscaster decided to strip naked while announcing the news of a relationship between between Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo and “Playboy” model Daniella Chavez. The handsome anchor-woman, sporting a tattoo in intimate areas, spoke for more than a minute without showing any embarrassment.