The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press.
The Times says that Trafigura won an oil tender without bidding. It also says that a university academic owes 39,000 to a university in Slovenia after having raked up 'ineligible expenses.'
The Malta Independent reports how the former Enemalta projects officer was charged in connection with the oil scandal.
MaltaToday says a court has blocked a €58m AFM helicopter tender. A request for the tender to be blocked was made by Eurocopter which is protesting over its disqualification.
l-orizzont leads with the evidence presented in the oil procurement scandal yesterday.
In-Nazzjon leads with the opening of a new school in Qormi and the prime minister's accent on education. It also reports that no PL deputy leader turned up for a deputy leaders' debate held at the university.
The overseas press
According to Avvenire, Pope Benedict XVI has left the Catholic Church in unprecedented limbo today as he became the first pope in 600 years to resign – capping a tearful day of farewells that included an extraordinary pledge of obedience to his successor. As bells tolled, two Swiss Guards standing at attention at the papal palace in Castel Gandolfo shut the thick wooden doors shortly after 8pm local time, symbolically closing out a papacy whose legacy will be most marked by the way it ended – a resignation instead of a death. The pontiff, aged 85, said he now wanted to become a single pilgrim. Earlier he was flown by helicopter from the Vatican to his retreat at Castel Gandolfo, near Rome.
The Vatican now enters the Sede Vacante - or period of transition between two pontificates. L’Osservatore Romano says that for the time being, the governance of the Catholic Church shifts to Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the camerlengo, or chamberlain, who along with the College of Cardinals will guide the church and make plans for the conclave to elect the 266th leader of the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics. One of Cardinal Bertone’s first acts was to lock the papal apartment inside the Vatican. In another task steeped in symbolism, he will ensure that Benedict’s fisherman’s ring and seal are destroyed.
Zenit quotes Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe, the Archbishop of Naples saying that the meeting that could reveal the start date of the conclave to elect Benedict's successor would take place on March 4. On Monday Benedict issued a decree changing the rules of the conclave to make it possible for it take place sooner than the mandatory 15 days from a papacy's end, and so before mid-March.
The Catholic Herald says no clear front-runner has emerged as a successor to Pope Benedict but speculation is mounting that the cardinals could choose to back a candidate from the developing world – either Africa, Latin America, or Asia – which have the largest Catholic populations. However, it is unclear whether a cardinal from any of these continents would be able to command the necessary majority. By country, Italian cardinals make up the biggest group of electors, at 28 votes and by continent, Europe is dominant with 62 electors. There has not been an Italian pope since John Paul I died in 1978 and some commentators believe that the papacy could well revert back after the reigns of John Paul II, a Pole, and Pope Benedict, who is German-born.
Sky News reports that the British Liberal Democrats have won the Eastleigh by-election as Ukip pushed the Conservatives into third place. Local councillor Mike Thornton claimed 13,342 votes for the Lib Dems, with 11,571 for Ukip's Diane James and 10,559 for Conservative candidate Maria Hutchings. Labour's John O'Farrell was fourth with 4,088 votes. A by-election was called in the Hampshire constituency following the resignation of disgraced Lib Dem MP Chris Huhne.
Bulgaria’s Duma daily reports EU ministers have agreed to establish Youth Guarantee Schemes. Sergey Stanishev, leader of the Party of European Socialists (PES) and the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) says the adoption of the scheme would bring back the future of millions of young people, who lost it as a result of the period of unemployment. PES described the agreement as a remarkable success. The initial funding of the fight against youth unemployment amounted to €6 billion of the EU budget but the Socialist leader pointed out that in order for the Youth Guarantee to reach all parts of the EU, the funding had to increase to €10 billion.
VOA says the US soldier accused of leaking hundreds of thousands of secret documents to the Wikileaks website – the biggest such leak in US history – has pleaded not guilty to a charge of aiding the enemy, telling the court he divulged the documents to spark public debate about US actions. But Bradley Manning, 25, has pleaded guilty to 10 lesser charges of misusing classified material. A military judge later accepted the guilty pleas, with which he could face up to 20 years in prison. The “aiding the enemy” charge carries a potential life sentence.
The Los Angeles Times reports the Obama administration is urging the US Supreme Court to overturn a ban on gay marriage in California. The administration has filed a brief with the court who must now decide on the constitutionality of California’s ban at the end of the month. Gay-rights activists had been urging the administration to intervene.
South Asia Media says at least 30 people have been killed and hundreds injured in protests across Bangladesh after an Islamist leader was sentenced to death for his role in the war of independence more than 40 years ago. Delwar Hossain Sayeedi was found guilty of murder, torture and rape. In the latest violence, three police officers were beaten to death in the north after Islamist supporters went on the rampage. In the southern region, Hindu houses and temples were burned.
Le Matin announces that the former president of Haiti, Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier has for the first time appeared in court for a hearing to determine if he can be charged with crimes against humanity during his rule between 1971 and 1986. Human rights groups say hundreds of political prisoners were tortured or killed under his rule. He returned to Haiti in 2011 after spending 25 years in exile in France.
El Universal says Mexico’ powerful teachers' union has elected a new president – two days after its previous leader was charged with embezzlement. Elba Esther Gordillo, who was regarded as the country’s most powerful woman, is accused of diverting more $200 million of union funds that and spent them at a US department store, on plastic surgery, property and a private plane. She had led the union since 1989. The new leader, Juan Diaz de la Torre, was appointed at an extraordinary congress of the union.
South Africa's Daily Sun reports that a taxi driver has died after being handcuffed to a police vehicle and dragged hundreds of metres. The man, 27-year-old Mido Macia from Mozambique, was later found dead in a police cell in Johannesburg. The video, obtained by the newspaper, shows officers struggling to overpower a man believed to be the taxi driver before attaching him to a point at the rear of their vehicle and then driving off leaving him hanging outside