The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press.
Times of Malta reports that Libyan waters are teeming with migrant boats and some 6,000 migrants were rescued, mostly by Italy, over 48 hours. It also reports that the Mayor of Tripoli had warned that bombing boats in harbour will not solve the migration problem.
The Malta Independent quotes the Speaker as saying that the close proximity of monti stalls poses a security risk.
In-Nazzjon quotes Simon Busuttil saying the PN’s policies have to be based on the people. It also reports that the police have resumed security duties at social security offices.
l-orizzont reports how a court has ordered an investigation into a man’s claims of excessive use of force by the police. It also says the setting up of a university near Marsascala will be the biggest ever investment in the area.
The overseas press
As people smugglers take advantage of calmer seas, nearly 5,800 migrants were plucked from boats off the coast of Libya and 10 bodies were recovered in less than 48 hours. La Sicilia quotes Italy’s coast guard saying this was one of their biggest rescue operations this year. Separately, Al Ahram reports authorities in Egypt said that three people died when a migrant boat attempting to reach Greece sank off its coast. Thirty-one people were rescued.
AP says six days after riots sparked by Freddie Gray’s death, Baltimore’s mayor has lifted a citywide curfew and faith leaders called for continued activism until justice is achieved. A jubilant crowd of several hundred prayed and sang civil-rights anthems at a City Hall rally. Yesterday’s peaceful gathering came two days after the city’s top prosecutor announced criminal charges against six officers involved in Gray’s arrest.
Kantipur reports runway damage has forced Nepalese authorities to close the main airport to large aircraft delivering aid to millions of people following the massive earthquake, but UN officials said the overall logistics situation was improving. The death toll climbed to 7,276, including 57 foreigners; 109 are still missing. Meanwhile, four people pulled alive from the rubble, including a 101-year-old man.
Israel’s Channel 2 says Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called for calm after police in Tel Aviv subdued protests by hundreds of Ethiopian Israelis to protest brutality and discrimination. The police used water cannons, stun grenades and tear gas to disperse the rally while some demonstrators hurled stones, bottles and chairs from nearby restaurants after attempting to storm the Tel Aviv municipality building. Some 20 officers, and about as many protesters, were injured. A number of arrests were made.
The Daily Mail quotes royal sources revealing the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have decided on a name for their daughter but want to inform the Queen personally before it is publicly released. Yesterday, they introduced their newborn to her brother George and grandparents Charles and Camilla, and Michael and Carole Middleton, who were accompanied by their other daughter, Pippa Middleton.
Pope Francis yesterday asked a group of elderly and sick members of Rome’s Ostia parish to pray for him because he, too, had grown old and was ailing. Catholic channel TV2000 quotes him jokingly telling the parishioners in a private meeting, “I’m a little old and a little sick, but not too much.”
AFP reports Christie’s auction house is hoping to set new world records with a Picasso valued at $140 million and a Giacometti worth $130 million, as New York’s spring auction season kicks off. Pablo Picasso’s colourful “The Women of Algiers (Version 0)” depicting a scene from a harem, will be up for grabs when Christie’s puts it on the auction block May 11. The same goes for Alberto Giacometti’s bronze statue “Man Pointing” of which there are only six casts in the world.
Today says the search is on for a Los Angeles man who cashed a lottery ticket worth $75,000 and only received $75! The clerk said neither he nor the man noticed the ticket’s real value until later. Now, officials are using surveillance video to find the man and give him the rest of his winnings.
Meanwhile, Forbes announces “The Lucky 16”, a group of workers at a New York biopharmaceutical company who have been cooperating and pooling their ticket buys for five years, won $58 million in the Mega Millions Lottery.