Press digest

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

The Times says that the Gozo stab suspect left the law courts unchallenged. It also highlights the row in the EU over catch quotas.

The Malta Independent reports the state visit of the President of Montenegro, saying the two sides discussed economic ties. It also says that the downsizing of the City Gate bridge will not affect access to the capital.

In-Nazzjon says new opportunities have been created between the hospital and Mcast. A new diploma course for paramedic aides has been opened.

l-orizzont reports on domestic violence, quoting a Swedish expert saying that Malta is male-dominated and rather than speaking of domestic violence one should speak of violence by men.

The overseas press

European Commission President José Manuel Barroso has announced that a scheme to deepen economic integration would be presented at the EU summit by the end of the month. La Tribune says that during a debate in the European Parliament, Barroso warned that some countries did not seem to fully realise how grave the euro area crisis was and the need of urgent measures. “We are now in a defining moment for European integration.” Barroso also condemned a decision of the EU governments to shut the European Parliament out of Schengen governance. EU interior ministers took a controversial decision to allow separate Schengen members to independently restore border control not only in case of security threats, but also in case of a large immigrant inflow.

Bloomberg reports weaker than expected economic data from the United States and a continued rise in funding costs for European countries have pushed global stocks mostly lower. After the close of trade in the US, Moody's downgraded its credit rating for Spain to Baa3, just one notch above junk, and placed the country on review for a further downgrade that could put it below investment grade. It also downgraded Cyprus by two points reacting to fears of a Greek exit from the eurozone.

The Wall Street Journal quotes senior US officials saying US intelligence operatives and diplomats have stepped up their contacts with Syrian rebels in part to help organise their burgeoning military operations against President Bashar al-Assad's forces. US officials are also considering sharing intelligence with the Free Syrian Army, or FSA, to allow the rebels to evade pro-Assad forces, which are believed to be getting intelligence, arms and communications support from Russia and Iran. The latter denies it is involved in Syria; Russia says the arms it sells Syria aren't used in the crackdown.

The United Nations' largest-ever conference has kicked off in Rio de Janeiro. O Globo says the Rio+20 conference on sustainable development was expected to draw an estimated 50,000 participants including delegates, environmental activists, business leaders and members of indigenous groups. The event runs through June 22, with three final days of high-profile talks among about 130 top leaders from nations around the globe. Rio+20 is a follow-up to an environmental summit held in Rio in 1992. Sustainable development aims to find more environmentally healthy ways to achieve economic growth.

ABC reports that Australia's ambassador-designate to Libya David Ritchie has demanded authorities allow detained lawyer Melinda Taylor to call her parents in Brisbane. Taylor, who works for the International Criminal Court (ICC), was detained along with three colleagues last week on suspicion of spying after meeting with former dictator Muammar Gaddafi's son Saif al-Islam, who is being held by a militia brigade in the town of Zintan. Taylor's parents John and Janelle said they were finding it hard to cope because of the lack of information coming from her captors.

Le quotidiene says a military court has sentenced ousted Tunisian president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali to life in prison for his role in the deadly repression during last year's popular uprising. Prosecutors had sought the death penalty for Ben Ali, who is exiled in Saudi Arabia, over the killing of 22 people while trying to put down the revolt in the two central cities of Thala and Kasserine. Earlier on Wednesday, a Tunis military court sentenced Ben Ali in absentia to 20 years imprisonment on various charges including incitement to murder. Former interior minister Rafik Belhaj Kacem was also sentenced to 12 years in jail over the case.

The New York Times reports the death after a long illness of Henry Hill, the former mobster who inspired the Martin Scorsese film Goodfellas, aged 69. Hill was a powerful member of the Lucchese crime family in New York in the 1970s and 80s. He later became an informant for the FBI, testifying against his former mob bosses and entering the witness protection programme. In 1990, Martin Scorsese was inspired by his story to make the movie Goodfellas, with Ray Liotta playing Henry Hill.

The Times says a Labour motion calling for the Culture Secretary to be referred to the independent adviser on ministerial standards has been defeated in the House of Vommons. MPs voted 290-252 against an investigation into the way Jeremy Hunt handled the BSkyB bid, giving the government a majority of 38. It followed a Commons debate in which MPs questioned whether Hunt should be investigated for allegedly breaching the ministerial code in his handling of News Corp's attempt to take full control of BSkyB.

Sky News says the Premier League have sold the domestic broadcast rights from 2013-16 for £3.018 billion (€3.726 billion), with BSkyB and BT the two winners. The new deal is worth a remarkable £1.254 billion (€1.55 billion) more than the current one, which is shared between Sky and ESPN.

Euro 2012: Mario Gomez scored twice as Germany beat the Netherlands 2-1 in Group B – a result that leaves the Dutch facing the exit door. Eurosport says Germany will only be denied a spot in the last eight if they lose to Denmark and Portugal won their match against the Netherlands. It would then come down to the head-to-heads between the teams to decide who goes through. Germany have six points and Denmark and Portugal have three after Portugal's 3-2 win over Denmark earlier in the day.  Meanwhile, UEFA said Russia will have six points deducted in qualifying for the next European Championship if their fans step out of line again after disturbances at their opening Euro 2012 game against the Czech Republic last Friday. Today, in Group C, Italy faces Croatia at 6 p.m. and Spain plays the Republic of Ireland at 8.45 p.m.