The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press:
The Times says Two Maltese-Australian sisters have flown a distance of about 156,000 kilometres and spent some €15,000 on airfares travelling back and forth between the two countries to fight a court case that keeps getting put off.
The Malta Independent reports how restaurateurs yesterday called for less red tape and a level playing field. It also says that the possibility of ethical IVF does exist.
In-Nazzjon says there has been an 18% increase in government funds to NGOs. It also reports how Mosta health centre is to be modernised.
l-orizzont says a new office has been set up at Mater Dei to tackle waiting lists for operations. It also reports on GWU criticism of the fuel price increases.
The overseas press
CNN reports that police in California say they have arrested a gunman who opened fire at a private Christian college in Oakland, killing seven people and wounding at least three. Local television showed students being evacuated from Oikos University by police and loaded into a SWAT vehicle as other armed officers took up positions around the school. Police said a suspect had been taken into custody and said there was no longer any "imminent public safety threat".
Euroalert says eurozone unemployment hit 10.8 per cent in February – the highest for almost 15 years, up from January's 10.7 per cent. In the EU-27, unemployment rose from 10.1 per cent to 10.2 per cent. According to Eurostat, the number of persons unemployed increased by 167,000 in the EU and by 162,000 in the euro area in February 2012. The lowest unemployment rates were recorded in Austria, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Germany, and the highest in Spain and Greece.
The New York Times quotes UN envoy Kofi Annan telling a behind-doors-meeting of the UN Security Council that Syria had accepted his plan and would withdraw government forces by next Tuesday. But the news immediately met with scepticism as Syria's ambassador to the UN insisted the April 10 deadline would only work if the rebel forces also pulled back.
Burma’s pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi has said her election to parliament was a “victory of the people”. Myanmar Times says Suu Kyi told the crowd greeting her as she arrived at her party's headquarters in Rangoon, that this was “the beginning of a new era”. She stressed that words, behaviour and actions that could harm other parties and people must be avoided completely
The BBC reports that West African states, members of the regional body Ecowas, have imposed immediate diplomatic, economic and financial sanctions on Mali. They had also closed borders to trade and frozen Mali's access to bank accounts and put Ecowas' military force on standby. The group had given the leaders of the country's military coup until Monday to step down.
Ria Novosti reports that Moscow's night sky was lit up by flames as a fire broke out in a skyscraper under construction, which is planned to be Europe's tallest building. Authorities say the fire started on the 67th floor of city's Federation Tower, which is under construction and is due to have 93 floors when it opens in 2013. The building is part of a group of skyscrapers that make up Moscow's new financial district.
Magyar Nemzet announces the resignation of Hungary's President Pal Schmitt, a close ally of prime minister Viktor Orban, after being stripped of his 1992 doctorate title for plagiarism. Schmitt, 69, a former two-time fencing Olympic champion, left the mostly ceremonial post less than two years after he took over in June 2010. Budapest's Semmelweis University stripped him of his PhD, after finding last week that he copied "word-for-word" large passages of other writers' work in his thesis on the history of the Olympic Games.
Voice of America says President Barack Obama has urged South Sudan to show restraint after heavy border fighting with Sudan. As officials from Sudan and South Sudan held crisis talks in Ethiopia, others expressed over growing hunger, refugees and fears of all-out war. Obama, who spoke to US-backed South Sudan's president Salva Kiir, also pressed the two nations to reach an agreement on oil production. South Sudan became independent in July last year after an overwhelming vote following two decades of war.
ABC quotes the results of a study by researchers at the University of Sydney which showed that children who consumed fizzy drinks might be at greater risk of developing heart disease later in life. The scientists found that the children who drank one or more soft drinks each day had narrower arteries in the back of their eyes – a factor associated with increased risk of heart disease and high blood pressure. The university said the results reinforce the importance of a healthy diet.
USA Today says the bowler hat in black felt that Charlie Chaplin wore in “The Kid” and his iconic stick of bamboo were among Hollywood memorabilia that was sold at an auction in Beverley Hills. The hat went for €43,000 and the stick for €31,000. The items – legendary costumes, props and pictures of celebrities – were sold by Julien's Auctions.
Times of India reports that a newborn Indian girl has been left unwanted as her presumed parents seek custody of a baby boy handed to them by mistake. The two babies were born on the same night in a hospital in the western Indian city of Jodhpur a week ago. The hospital said the couple refused to accept the girl after accidentally being given the boy, who belongs to another couple. Indian society has a long history of discrimination against girls. The baby girl is currently being cared for in the hospital nursery while the outcome is decided.