Press digest

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

The Times of Malta reports how two bodies were found after a boat tragedy. It also reports how MEPs from the Green Party yesterday took EU Commission President Manoel Barroso to task over the John Dalli case.

The Malta Independent reports that Green MEPs described the Olaf Supervisory Report on the investigation in the Dalli case as 'a bomb',

MaltaToday says Barroso had to answer for damning Olaf investigations, Green MEPs said.

In-Nazzjon reports how the PN will today appoint Simon Busuttil as its new leader and salute Lawrence Gonzi.

l-orizzont leads with the 'tragic holiday' of five French tourists missing from their yacht. Two bodies were found yesterday.

The overseas press

Euronews reports Russia and the United States have agreed to arrange an international conference aimed at ending the crisis in Syria. They plan to engage both the government of President Assad and the rebels fighting to overthrow him. A visit by the US Secretary of State John Kerry to Moscow appears to have gone some way towards bridging the gap between the powers, which have long held opposing views on the Syrian conflict. Meanwhile, according to AFP, Canada on Tuesday urged a political solution to the Syrian conflict as the “one way” to end Syrian suffering.

According to The Times, voters and Tory MPs have warned British Prime Minister David Cameron that he must scale back Britain’s relationship with the European Union to little more than free trade – or risk losing a referendum. As Lord Lawson (who was Margaret Thatcher’s longest-serving Chancellor) called for Britain to quit the EU sent shockwaves through Westminster, senior MPs challenged Cameron to scrap most of the Union’s powers. A shopping list being drawn up by influential backbenchers includes social and employment law, the Common Agricultural Policy, the Common Fisheries Policy and justice and home affairs legislation.

The Daily Mail says the Queen plans to “job-share” her public duties with Prince Charles after the announcement that she will not attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government Conference in Sri Lanka. In a rare admission that the Queen is feeling the effects of her advancing age, Buckingham Palace said yesterday that she is to miss the meeting and instead would be represented by the Prince of Wales. The Queen, as Head of the Commonwealth, has attended every meeting since 1973. The announcement came after Canada’s refusal to attend in protest over Sri Lanka’s human rights record.

Italian news agency AGI reports three people were killed, six others seriously injured and several others are missing in the port of Genoa after a container ship bound for Messina smashed into a control tower. Rescuers said part of the tower, in which about 14 people were present at the time of the accident, crashed into the water. The impact happened during a shift change at the tower which meant that more people were present. The vast metal structure bent 45 degrees and a part of it fell into the sea. The captain was quoted as saying: "Two engines seem to have failed and we lost control of the ship."

USA Today quotes US Deputy Defence Secretary Ash Carter saying the Pentagon plans to cut its vast civilian workforce by between five and six percent over the next five years to match similar reductions in the number of US troops. Carter told the National Press Club in Washington, that the Pentagon had about 780,000 civilian employees and had already frozen hiring additional workers. The US Army was already scaling back from 565,000 to 490,000 troops by 2017, while the Marine Corps is due to drop to 182,000 from about 201,000 service members. Even with the cuts, the military will still be larger than it was before the attacks of September 11, 2001.

The Los Angeles Times says the problem of sexual assault in the military leapt to the forefront in Washington on Tuesday as the Pentagon released a survey estimating that 26,000 people in the armed forces were sexually assaulted last year, up from 19,000 in 2010. And an angry President Obama and Congress demanded action. At a White House news conference, Obama said anybody “engaging in this stuff” would “be held accountable, prosecuted, stripped of their positions, court-martialed, fired, dishonourably discharged. Period.”

The Daily Mirror reports that three women held captive in a Cleveland dungeon for a decade had given birth to five babies during the ordeal. Gina DeJesus, 23, Michelle Knight, 30, and Amanda Berry, 26, and her six-year-old daughter fled the house after the police were alerted when one of the girls escaped through the help of a neighbour. Three brothers have been arrested. Police sources said the girls were kept in different rooms, tied up with chains and tape. Officers also revealed the three women had “multiple” pregnancies. One of the victims suffered as many as three miscarriages because she was so malnourished. The women were beaten so badly they lost other babies. Police were today seen examining dug up areas in the back garden.

Finland was considered to be the country where mothers enjoy the best conditions in the world, according to a worldwide report issued by Save the Children before the Mother's Day. Global Post says the report on 186 countries showed the Democratic Republic of Congo was considered to be the toughest place. The mothers' well-being was assessed under five indexes, including maternal health, child mortality, education, working income and political status. According to the annual report, more than one million babies die the day they are born.