Press digest

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

The Times and the other newspapers feature the opening of the World Cup on their front pages. In other stories, The Times says the sports village at White Rocks will include 300 residential units. It also says that a waterpolo player has failed a dope test and been suspended.

The Malta Independent quotes the finance minister saying that austerity is not Malta's policy.

In-Nazzjon leads with the acquisition of a PET scanner for Mater Dei. It also says that the planned corporate village has won a design award.

l-orizzont quotes GWU General Secretary Tony Zarb saying that beggars are knocking on doors as poverty gets worse.

The overseas press:

L'Ossservatore Romano reports that Pope has begged forgiveness from clerical abuse victims and promised to "do everything possible" to ensure priests never molest children ever again. He made the pledge during a Mass in St. Peter's Square marking the end of the Vatican's Year of the Priest. In his homily, the Pope said the scandal was a call for purification of the Church.

The BBC quotes French officials saying Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has said Moscow will freeze the sale of surface-to-air missiles to Iran, according to French officials. Mr Putin made the comments in talks with French President Nicolas Sarkozy in Paris.

Trouw says Dutch Liberal Party leader Mark Rutte has told Queen Beatrix he was considering a coalition with the far-right, anti-Muslim Party of Freedom of Geert Wilders. The Party of Freedom saw the biggest gains in the election, jumping from nine seats to 24 and into third place.

Ansa reports that the European Commission has said it would be "very vigilant" on the issue of press freedom in Italy. The comment came after a bill aimed at restricting the use of wiretaps and their publication before trials was passed from the Senate to the House.The draft measure would make it harder obtain authorisation for wiretaps and impose stiff fines on newspaper publishers and journalists who publish wiretaps before investigations reach trial.

Times of Central Asia says a state of emergency has been declared in the Central Asian nation of Kyrgyzstan after at least 16 people were killed and hundreds injured after gangs attacked shops and set cars alight in Osh, the country's second-largest city. More than 40 were in serious condition.
Several buildings across the city set on fire. Many of the injured were being treated for stab and gunshot wounds.

El Observador reports 39 people have died in gun attacks by gangs in two Mexican cities. Gunmen stormed a rehabilitation centre in the northern city of Chihuahua, killing 19 and wounding four others. Twenty others were killed when armed men launched multiple attacks in the city of Ciudad. Both cities have been caught up in turf wars between drugs gangs fighting over lucrative smuggling routes.

Mynmar Alin says the Burmese government has denied recent reports that it is developing a nuclear weapons programme. The Norway-based Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) broadcaster had run a documentary based on a defector's information about a nuclear plan.

According to the Arkansas Post, flash floods have killed 16 people and some 40 othes are reported missing in a pair of remote Arkansas valleys. Floodwaters, which for a time rose as high as 2.4 metres, inundated campgrounds, catching many while they were asleep.

Metro reports Catherine Zeta-Jones has added a royal honor to Hollywood stardom when she was named a Commander of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II. The Academy Award winner is part of an eclectic list of honorees, announced to mark the queen's official birthday.

Globe & Mail leads with the opening ceremony of the World Cup in Johannesburg. Fans filled a 91,000-capacity stadium to watch an opening ceremony packed with colour, traditional dancing and music. The excitement, however was tempered by the absence of former president Nelson Mandela, who cancelled a planned appearance after his 13-year-old great-granddaughter, Zenani, was killed in a car crash on her way home from Thursday's World Cup kickoff concert.