The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press.
The Sunday Times of Malta reports how the government paid €1.65 million
for half ownership of a property in Valletta that an investor, Mark Gaffarena had bought for a fraction of the price just weeks earlier.
The Malta Independent on Sunday says the waiver does not exonerate Skanska over faulty concrete to Mater Dei Hospital.
MaltaToday says Skanska cited a waiver to avoid paying €200,000 for a faulty reservoir at Mater Dei Hospital.
It-Torca leads with the heading 'The concrete mesh' and focuses on politicians or their relatives possibly involved in the supply of concrete to Mater Dei Hospital.
Il-Mument says Labour landowners were promised development at Zonqor before the general election. It also says conflicts of interest in the inquiry into weak concrete at Mater Dei Hospital is growing.
Illum reports that the government is close to achieving a 'solution' on development of a university at Zonqor. It also says an 'order' from Castille says there should be no attacks on Labour MP Marlene Farrugia.
The overseas press
Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi has said he was optimistic “as always” on the outcome of the regional elections being held today. Answering questions by LA7 journalist Lilli Gruber, Renzi promised that in September, “Italy will start, with determination, a battle in Europe against austerity”. He said he was optimistic of the EU agreement on immigration but stressed problems in Libya must be resolved. He repeated his commitment to refloat the wreck of the trawler which sank in April and to lay the 800 victims to rest.
Kathimerini says a record number of 758 migrants have landed on the small Greek island of Mytilene in the last 24 hours. Mayor Spyros Galinos is reported to have written a letter to the Greek government to warn that the situation on the island had now reached “a critical point” and called for immediate aid.
The European Union has slammed Russia’s decision to impose a travel ban on 89 European politicians over their criticism of Moscow’s handling of the Ukraine crisis. Deutsche Welle reports those banned said they were proud of their stance. Russian newspaper Kommersant said the list included European figures with top positions in the military and intelligence spheres.
Welt am Sonntag writes that the EU Commission could open up “a procedure” against Germany regarding the Germanwings aircraft which crashed in the French Alps at the end of March, killing all 144 passengers and six crew members on board. The crash was deliberately caused by the co-pilot, Andreas Lubitz, who had previously been treated for suicidal tendencies and been declared “unfit to work” by a doctor. The EC is expected to accuse Germany of “violation of European treaties”, because of “deficiencies in controls on airworthiness of the pilots”.
AFP reports Libya’s internationally-recognised government has called for outside help in combating jihadists, warning that the Islamic State group’s capture of a key coastal airport endangered nearby oil terminals. In a statement on its official Facebook page, the government based in Tobruk called on the international community to “supply arms to its forces to fight IS plans to seize oil fields to fund its operations”.
Reuters says Islamic State militants blew up a major prison complex in the central Syrian city of Palmyra. The Islamic State announced the explosion in a statement on social media and supporters posted pictures of huge clouds of grey smoke above the sprawling complex in the city, also known as Tadmur. According to a group monitoring the war, the prison was empty at the time of the detonation.
Nigeria’s military yesterday repelled a Boko Haram attack on the key northeastern city of Maiduguri, hours after President Muhammadu Buhari took office vowing to crush the Islamist group. The overnight attack on the Borno state capital saw rocket-propelled grenades fired into homes in a bombardment that reportedly lasted several hours. In his inaugural speech after taking the oath of office on Friday, Buhari described Nigeria’s Islamist rebels as a “mindless” and “godless” group that would ultimately be destroyed.
Xinhua reports a former Chinese elementary school teacher has been executed for molesting or raping 26 students, some as young as four. The intermediate People’s Court in Gansu said it carried out the sentence against Li Jishun after it was upheld by the nation’s Supreme People’s Court. Li committed his assaults in the classroom, dormitories and surrounding forest areas in 2011 and 2012. The ruling said many of the girls, whose parents worked in cities, were left in the care of grandparents or placed in boarding schools where they are looked after by teachers.
A mega-poster showing Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has beaten the Guiness world record previously held by India. Hurriyet says the poster, measuring 4,709 square metres, was unveiled in Istanbul’s Yenikapi square ahead of today’s ceremony marking the 562 years since the conquest of Constantinople. However, the poster drew the ire of the opposition which saw it as “a new manifestation of megalomania” by Erdogan and condemned “the exploitation of the commemoration for electoral purposes” in view of next Sunday’s elections.
The Sunday Telegraph reports Arsene Wenger has challenged his Arsenal players to use their FA Cup final masterclass as inspiration to mount a serious bid for the Premier League title next season. Wenger’s side made history at Wembley yesterday with a 4-0 rout of Aston Villa. Wenger became the first post-war manager to win the FA Cup six times, while the Gunners are now the most successful club in the history of the famous old competition after lifting the trophy for the twelfth time. It was also the biggest FA Cup final margin of victory since 1994.