The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press:
The Times features the legal battle over a big screen set up in Spinola. It also reports on the pioneering work of a Maltese doctor on a new prostate cancer pill.
The Malta Independent says Malta is defending its own interests as the EU proposes new limits on fisheries.
In-Nazzjon says Joseph Muscat is refusing to answer questions on a person who accompanied him on a visit to Libya.
l-orizzont quotes Joseph Muscat saying the PL has various proposals how to reduce the energy tariffs.
The overseas press
Al Ahram reports that Egypt’s Supreme Constitutional Court has ruled that last year’s election breached the constitution and has ordered the country’s Islamist-dominated parliament dissolved. It said that a third of the parliament was elected illegally and the election should be re-run. The court also struck down a law that would have banned the last Mubarak-era prime minister, Ahmed Shafiq, from contesting this week-end’s presidential election run-off against Islamist Mohammed Morsi.
The British nationals lead with Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne’s warning of dire consequences if Greece left the eurozone without an “ambitious” plan to deal with the fallout. The Financial Times says that in his annual speech to bankers, Osborne again suggested that the Greek exit might be the only way to force fundamental reform in the currency area. But, he said, allowing the struggling country to leave before measures were in place to contain contagion would be the “worst case for everybody”.
Osborne’s comments came after interest rates on Spanish bonds hit fresh highs, sparking fears about the country’s ability to service debts. Börzen Zeitung says that senior German figures also played down the prospects of compromise on the key issue of closer financial integration. Chancellor Angela Merkel cautioned world leaders against “overestimating” her nation’s ability to resolve the crisis..
The Wall Street Journal reports that former Texas billionaire R. Allen Stanford has been sentenced to 110 years in prison for orchestrating one of the largest fraudulent schemes in US history. The sentence was handed down by a US District Judge in Houston after Stanford was convicted by a jury in March on 13 of 14 fraud-related counts for taking more than $7 billion from investors from more than 100 countries. The jury also cleared the way for US authorities to seize millions in bank accounts connected to the 62-year-old.
The New York Times says that at a stormy UN meeting on the 30th anniversary of the end of a war over the Falkland Islands, President Cristina Kirchner of Argentina has demanded that Britain discuss the sovereignty of the disputed territory. Kirchner made a high-profile appearance at the UN decolonisation committee, considered a fairly low-level UN committee, to challenge Britain, which has steadfastly refused contacts on sovereignty. But Argentina's Foreign Minister Hector Timerman refused to accept a letter from the Falklands government offering talks after Kirchner's speech.
According to The Washington Times, the US State Department has back-tracked on its claims that Russia was sending attack helicopters to Syria and said its claims, in fact, referred to refurbished machines already owned by the Assad regime, not new ones. The Russians had angrily denied American claims first made by Secretary of State Hilary Clinton last Tuesday.
Researchers have concluded that governments around the world have done little to protect marine life over the past 20 years. Writing in the American journal Science, international experts said almost every pledge made at the UN Earth Summit in 1992 had not been met. Their analysis is being discussed during final preparations for the Rio+20 summit in Brazil.
Metro reveals that almost 80 people have been arrested in raids as part of an operation targeting suspected internet paedophiles in Britain. Officers from more than 40 police forces executed more than 143 search warrants in England, Scotland, Wales and the North in the 48-hour operation led by the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre. Some 80 children were “safeguarded” following the raids and more than 30 cases were referred to child services.
The London Times says a research team from Oxford University have found new evidence they say supports the theory that a knuckle bone and other human remains found under a church floor in Bulgaria might belong to John the Baptist. The relics, found in a small marble sarcophagus two years ago on a Bulgarian island called Sveti Ivan (Saint John), also included a human tooth, part of a skull and three animal bones. Bulgarian archaeologists had found a small box made of hardened volcanic ash close to the sarcophagus. The box bore inscriptions in ancient Greek that referred to John the Baptist and the date that Christians celebrate his birth, June 24. The findings are to be presented in a documentary to be aired on The National Geographic channel in Britain on Sunday.
Euro 2010: Fernando Torres scored twice as Spain knocked the Republic of Ireland out of Euro 2012 with a dominant display. El Mundo is ecstatic with Torres' emphatic performance. It was his powerful finish from nine metres that opened the score inside four minutes. David Silva's composed effort just after half-time doubled the advantage, Torres poked in a third after a quick break and substitute Cesc Fabregas drove in a fourth. The victory was enough to move Spain above Croatia, who they face on Monday, at the top of Group C. Referring to the first match of the day, Jutarnji List describes “Super Mario” Mandzukic's second-half equaliser that earned Croatia a vital draw against Italy to leave Group C wide open. The Italians appeared in total control after taking the lead through Andrea Pirlo's wonderful first-half free-kick. But Mandzukic's third Euro 2012 goal means the Italians may now need a big win over Ireland to progress. Spain and Croatia lead the table with four points, Italy two and Ireland nil. Today’s programme sees Sweden against England at 6 p.m. and the Ukraine against France at 8.45 p.m.