Press digest

The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press:

The Times says that according to the Auditor-General's report Enemalta does not have a contract for the disposal of fly-ash from the power station extension, contrary to what an official had previously told Mepa. It also reports that Nationalist MPs agreed on the nomination of Michael Frendo to serve as Speaker. Karl Gouder, 30, appears to be set to take Frendo's seat in Parliament.

The Malta Independent reports on the discussion in a House committee on the Fairmount ship conversion contract at the dockyard. It also says that Air Malta lost €3m because of the ash cloud disruption.

In-Nazzjon says that Malta was one of just two EU countries which narrowed their deficit last year. In other stories it features the nomination of Michael Frendo to the Speaker's Chair, and the discovery of a punic tomb in Attard.

l-orizzont asks if the government will offer compensation to travellers because of the recent disruption.

The overseas press:

The New York Times reports President Barack Obama has sent a tough message to financial barons, American voters and Republican opponents critical of his plans for US financial reforms, warning of future economic meltdown if the bid fails. He said a free market "was never meant to be a free license to take whatever you can get, however you can get it".

The Wall Street Journal claims that Greece's debt crisis is worse than investors believed, delivering a fresh shock to European markets and all but ensuring that the IMF and euro-zone countries would have to step in within weeks to bail out the country. Eurostat said Greece's 2009 budget deficit was wider than Athens had estimated and Moody's downgraded Greece's debt rating.

The International Herald Tribune says airlines world-wide scrambled to move millions of passengers grounded by a five-day ban on European flights due to the Icelandic cloud of volcanic ash. Airline-industry officials said the initial response of regulators across Europe was haphazard and created confusion for airlines and passengers, illustrating the urgency of implementing the European Union's "single sky" project, under which air traffic and oversight will be coordinated across the 27-country bloc.

Bangkok Post reports at least three people have been killed and dozens injured in a series of grenade explosions in the business district of Bangkok. The blasts came as hundreds of pro-government demonstrators were staging a rally in the Thai capital to call for an end to weeks of mass protests by the anti-government "Red Shirts".

National Catholic Register says a man who says he was the victim of American paedophile priest had filed a lawsuit against the Pope and the Vatican in a US federal court asking the Church to release any files it has on abuse cases involving priests. The alleged victim says he was abused by the late Fr Lawrence Murphy, accused of attacking up to 200 children during his 20 years at a school for deaf children in Milwaukee.

The Catholic Times reports the leaders of the Catholic Church of England and Wales have apologised to those who were abused as children by priests. In a statement to their five million followers, Archbishop of Westminster Vincent Nichols and his bishops expressed their "heartfelt apology and deep sorrow" to those who have suffered abuse, those who have felt ignored, disbelieved or betrayed. They said, "There can be no excuses."

Meanwhile, Avvenire reports the Vatican has confirmed that the Pope has accepted the resignation of a third Irish bishop over the hierarchy's handling of clerical child abuse. Bishop of Kildare and Leighlin James Moriarty was one of those criticised by a report into inadequate church investigations into a paedophile priest in Dublin in the 1990s.

And in Germany, Bild says one of the country's most prominent conservative bishops tendered his resignation amid allegations that he routinely flogged children decades ago as a priest, becoming the most senior Catholic official to offer up his post in the country's widening clerical abuse scandal. Vatican spokesman Rev. Federico Lombardi said the Vatican would review Bishop Walter Mixa's offer to resign.

Britain's election race has tightened even further after the latest live TV debate between the nation's three main political leaders The Times claims the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats are neck and neck in the opinion polls. According to The Daily Telegraph, David Cameron performed stronger in the debate and was more successful in engaging with the audience. Metro says Nick Clegg fought off attacks from David Cameron and Gordon Brown to keep his election bandwagon rolling.

USA Today reports that the oil platform, rocked by a massive explosion three days ago, has sunk in the Gulf of Mexico. The US Coast Guard confirmed the Deepwater Horizon had gone under and said the Coast Guard was still searching for 11 workers missing since Tuesday's blast. The rig, about twice the size of a football field, had been burning since the explosion.

Le Soir says Belgian Prime Minister Yves Leterme has tendered his resignation after his government fell apart. However, the country's King Albert II withheld his decision on whether to accept.

The Jerusalem Post says five Israelis have been charged with running a human organ sales ring that ensnared dozens of potential victims. Police said the traffickers allegedly offered up to €70,000 per kidney to donors who were sought through adverts who were flown from Israel to Europe, South America or Southeast Asia, where the organs were extracted in illegal procedures.

California Globe reports that a US court has rejected a bid by film director Roman Polanski to be sentenced in absentia for a child sex case. The move clears the way for Polanski, now 76, to be extradited from Switzerland to the US. He has been under house arrest in Switzerland since September facing a US arrest warrant over his conviction for unlawful sex with a 13-year-old girl.