Press digest

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

The newspapers give prominence to the reports on the suspension of funds for EU education programmes and abuses at the licensing office.

The Times says three officials have been blamed for the suspension of EU funds. It also reports the rampage in the UK which saw a taxi-driver kill 12.

The Malta Independent says disciplinary measures are being taken at Transport Malta after licensing irregularities. It also says Malta is backing Italy in the Crucifixes row at the Council of Europe.

In-Nazzjon says the inquiry into the suspension of EU education funds found the issue could have been avoided, but there were no bad intentions in what had taken place. It also reports that Censu Galea was appointed Deputy Speaker.

l-orizzont says three workers have been suspended over irregularities at the licensing department. It also says that the government blocked an opposition call for an inquiry by the Auditor-General into the Fairmount ship-conversion contracts.

The overseas press:

UK nationals are dominated by the shooting rampage in Cumbria, as police continue their investigation into what sparked gunman Derrick Bird's killing spree amid reports he was involved in a bitter family feud. The taxi driver ran amok in Cumbria killing 12 people, including colleagues and random passers-by, and injuring another 11. It is believed his first victim was twin brother David and reports suggest the pair were locked in a row over a will. Later Bid killed himself.

The Jerusalem Post quotes Israeli officials confirming that all detainees from the Gaza aid flotilla - Turks, Israelis, Palestinians and Europeans - had been released and were being deported.

The New York Times says UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon has demanded that Israel lift its blockade of the Gaza Strip immediately. He said the underlying problem behind Monday's tragedy was the long-running, crippling Israeli siege of Gaza which he described as "counter-productive, unsustainable and wrong."

Baltic News says EU ministers meeting in Sarajevo have indicated their willingness to move forward on plans to accept Balkan nations in the union, reassuring countries that economic problems would not halt integration.

The International Herald Tribune reports that heavy rains have triggered floods across central Europe, killing at least two people in the Czech Republic and forcing thousands from their homes in Slovakia and Hungary.

Los Angeles Times says the oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico has nearly tripled in size over a one-month period and is now nearing Florida. Robot submarines have made another risky attempt to control the underwater Gulf oil leak as the surface pollution spread, closing in on Florida. Meanwhile, in an interview with the The Financial Times, BP Chief Executive Tony Hayward admits the company was not fully prepared for the massive oil spill.

Kathemerini reports Greece's government will sell off stakes in a string of state-owned companies to pay off debt. It wants to raise €1 billion per year between 2011-13 through privatisation projects under commitments made to receive EU and IMF rescue loans of €110 billion.

According to Bild, prosecutors say they are investigating German Archbishop Robert Zollitsch of Freiburg on suspicion of aiding and abetting the sexual abuse of children. He is suspected of allowing the re-appointment of a priest accused of child abuse in 1987. The archdiocese rejected the charge, accusing prosecutors and the media of "sensationalism".

Cyprus Observer says a boy of five died in Larnaca after being forgotten inside a locked car for hours when his surgeon father was called away for an emergency operation. Police said the child had stayed in the parked car, outside the private clinic where his father works, for at least nine hours in outside temperatures of up to 32C. An autopsy ruled out heatstroke or suffocation as the cause of death, but found the boy had a heart defect.