The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press
The Times and the other newspapers feature the appointment of Michael Frendo as Speaker of the House. The newspaper also reports that the government is seeking the go-ahead of BWSC to publish the power station extension contract. The contract includes a confidentiality clause.
The Malta Independent reports how a motorcyclist was killed in a crash in St Paul’s Bay while an 11-year-old girl was seriously injured when she was hit by a van while crossing a road in Attard.
In-Nazzjon gives prominence to the plans for the redevelopment of the Dock 1 area as an open space for the people.
l-orizzont says a magisterial inquiry is being held after its two reports about how patients were charged millions of euro for care using special equipment at Mater Dei. The inquiry was requested by the Health Ministry to ascertain whether patients were abusively charged.
The overseas press
Börzen Zeitung quotes European Central Bank president Jean-Claude Trichet calling for a strong sense of direction to lead Europe out of dire financial straits due to debt trouble in Greece. He told the Munich Economic Summit that the key to sparing other European nations from further collateral damage from Greece's financial woes was getting the 45-billion-euro rescue package to Athens as soon as possible. Greece's first urgent deadline is on May 19 when it must repay maturing debt worth 9 billion euros
Meanwhile, Kathimerini reports Greek police have fired tear gas to disperse hundreds of protesters demonstrating outside the finance ministry building in Athens after senior trade union officials, briefed by Prime Minister Georges Papandreou earlier in the day, said the EU and IMF want Greece to save 25 billion euros in the next two years in return for the bailout. They said Athens was also asked to get rid of 13th and 14th month bonuses for public sector workers and pensioners and raise VAT.
The Washington Times quotes President Obama saying "every single available resource" would be deployed to help contain the Gulf Coast giant oil slick which is closing in on Louisiana's vulnerable coast, prompting the US government to declare a national disaster. New Orleans City Business reports Louisiana shrimpers have filed a lawsuit accusing the operators of the rig behind a Gulf of Mexico oil spill of negligence.
Haaretz says Israel's Knesset speaker Reuven Rivlin has said he would rather accept Palestinians as citizens of one country than divide Israel and the West Bank into two separate states. Speaking during a meeting with the Greek ambassador to Israel, Rivlin said that he did not see any point of Israel signing a peace agreement with the Palestinian Authority. He did not believe Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas "could deliver the goods".
Al Ahram reports that the Egyptian foreign ministry has denied Hamas accusations of pumping toxic gas into a smuggling tunnel under Gaza's border which led to the death of four Palestinians from suffocation. Egyptian security officials admitted their forces had destroyed four smuggling tunnels along the Gaza-Egypt border but were not aware of any casualties.
In an interview with Rome’s La Repubblica, the No. 2 official of the conservative order Legionaries of Christ, Rev. Luis Garza Medina has said he did not know before 2006 that founder Rev. Marcial Maciel had fathered a child and abused seminarians. He suggested cases of sexual abuse by priests should be referred to civil law enforcement. Later today, five Vatican experts are to discuss their investigation into the order with the Vatican’s No. 2 official, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, who ordered the probe last year.
Le Soir reports Belgium's lower house of parliament has voted unanimously for a law that would ban any clothing that obscured the identity of the wearer in places like parks and on the street. It means women are banned from wearing the full Islamic face veil in public. The law is expected to become law by June or July.
As The Economist declared its support for David Cameron's Conservatives, polls published immediately after the third and final leaders' debate before the General Election suggest he was the winner. Mr Cameron used the last chance to debate his rivals to declare the Prime Minister was "someone who's in a desperate state". Mr Brown insisted neither Mr Cameron nor Lib-Dem leader Nick Clegg were ready to govern.
Arlington’s Sun Gazette says women can now serve on US submarines. The US defence department had announced the move in February and the deadline for any objection from Congress passed at midnight on Wednesday. The cramped conditions had previously precluded women, despite serving alongside men on surface ships.
In the UK, the Daily Mail dedicates its front page to the case of a teacher who struck a pupil with a dumbbell and who has been acquitted of attempted murder and causing grievous bodily harm with intent. Peter Harvey, 50, hit the 14-year-old with the 3kg-weight last July 2009. The boy suffered a fractured skull. The court heard he had been mocked by pupils moments before the attack.
The Lancet medical journal quotes the findings of a US survey which shows that AIDS, smoking and obesity were reversing progress made in helping people live longer around the world, with mortality rates worsening over the past 20 years in 37 countries. Researchers at the University of Washington in Seattle found Icelandic men and Cypriot women have the lowest risk of premature death. Malta ranked third in terms of male mortality risk.
The young woman rattling French football, Zahia Dehar confirms in an interview with Paris Match that she had paid sex with several national team players but claims none of her customers knew she was under 18 at the time. The football stars – including Frank Ribery, Karim Benzema, and Sidney Govou –could face up to three years in prison and a €45,000 fine.