Following are the top stories in the national and international press today.
The Sunday Times leads with a story on the former National Bank saying that the government tried to drop the 35-year-old court case involving shareholders by claiming it was time-barred, sparking outrage from those who had expected a Nationalist administration to deliver justice.
The Malta Independent on Sunday also reports on the National Bank saying that although mediation efforts were underway there was no sign of an agreement scheduled ahead of a scheduled meeting.
Malta Today reports on the result of an opinion poll it carried out saying that while the gap between the Nationalist and Labour parties has narrowed, Labour was still in the lead.
Kulhadd says that Gozo Channel captain Mario Grech had been proved right in his claims by an independent disciplinary board.
Il-Mument reports on the Prime Minister's contact meetings in Gozo with representatives of civil society.
Illum says that the police are investigating reports of leads shot by a bow at cruise liners in Grand Harbour.
It-Torca says that Rakhat Aliyev was recently interviewed in Malta by a foreign journalist.
The international press
Italy is in shock after an unexplained bombing at a school killed a 16-year-old girl and left five other teens gravely injured, sparking emotional protests across the country.
Ansa reports thousands of young people led protests in several cities and many said they believed the attack could be linked to the mafia or political militancy at a time in which Italy is struggling through a painful economic crisis. There were scenes of chaos and carnage when the powerful blast went off yesterday near the entrance to the building as students were arriving for classes at the vocational high school in the southern city of Brindisi. Victim Melissa Bassi's friend, Veronica Capodieci, also 16, was in a "very serious condition" with injuries to her chest, hospital doctors said. The four other victims being treated were all suffering from extensive burns and five more had been discharged from hospital with lighter injuries.
ABC quotes President Barack Obama hailing the progress made in tackling Europe's economic crisis at the end of a G8 summit, noting leaders' agreement that growth and jobs must be the priority. His comments capped a sometimes fractious, marked by competing visions about how best to end Europe's roiling fiscal and economic woes. Eyeing market turmoil that has been prompted by Greece's possible exit from the eurozone, Obama stuck a positive tone saying the direction the debate took “should give us confidence that Europe is taking significant steps to manage the crisis”. He said the upcoming EU and G20 summits were the source of further progress on what he dubbed a "consensus for progress".
Earlier, the leaders of the world's most powerful economies said they wanted debt-stricken Greece to remain in the eurozone. Quoting their summit communiqué, the, BBC reports the G8 leaders also committed themselves to promoting growth alongside fiscal responsibility. However, the leaders acknowledged "the right measures are not the same for each of us". Greece's possible exit from the eurozone was high on the agenda, following inconclusive elections there.
According to AFP, the leaders of France, Germany, the US, the UK, Italy, Japan, Canada and Russia have also expressed "deep concerns" at the "provocative actions" of North Korea and united in condemnation of its botched test last month of a long-range missile.
The urged Kim Jong-Un's regime to comply with its international obligations and abandon all nuclear and ballistic missile programmes in a “complete, verifiable, and irreversible manner”. They also expressed concern about North Korean human rights violations, including abductions and the situation of political prisoners.
The Voice of America says the dissident Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng has arrived in the United States with his wife and two children after a month-long diplomatic stand-off. The blind activist, who came to prominence exposing forced abortions in the Chinese countryside, thanked the US and praised “China’s restraint and calm”. He had taken refugee with American officials last month after escaping from house arrest at his home in northeast China.
L’Avvenire reports that the Vatican has called for the legal prosecution of those responsible for leaking confidential documents, which it called “a violation of Pope Benedict’s privacy”. The statement follows the publication of a book by an Italian journalist who quoted from letters and memos between the Pope and his private secretary.
Voters in Serbia go to the polls shortly to elect a president, with a choice between reformist Boris Tadic and nationalist Tomislav Nikolic. Blic says Tadic, who has already served two terms in office, has portrayed the poll as a referendum on EU membership. Nikolic says he also supports the EU bid but not at any cost. A bitter row erupted after the first round of the election on 6 May, when the nationalists accused Tadic's supporters of rigging the ballot. Electoral officials found no evidence that 500,000 votes had been falsified, as Nikolic alleged, while foreign monitors declared the vote to have been fair.
USA Today says Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has ended a hectic week which saw his company valued at $104 billion after a stock market flotation by getting married. He wed his long-time girlfriend Priscilla Chan, 27, in a ceremony at his home in Palo Alto, California. Chan also had a busy week, graduating from medical school on Monday, as Zuckerberg marked his 28th birthday. The couple met nine years ago at Harvard, where Zuckerberg founded Facebook in 2004. They later moved to California, where Facebook has its headquarters, and Chen studied at the medical school of the University of California, San Francisco.
Newsday reports that Hollywood star Will Smith slapped a male television reporter who tried to kiss him before the Moscow premiere of “Men in Black III”. The reporter from the Ukrainian TV channel 1+1 approached Smith on the red carpet, put his hand on the actor's shoulder and tried to kiss him. Shocked by the journalist's behavior, Smith pushed him away and then slapped him lightly across the cheek with the back of his left hand. It was not clear whether reporter Vitalii Sediuk intended to kiss Smith on the cheek or on the lips.
The Observer says the Olympic flame was greeted by thousands of cheering spectators as it began its 70-day relay journey around Britain and Ireland ahead of the 2012 London Games. Over the next 10 weeks, the flame will travel over 12,000 kilometres around England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and will also visit the Republic of Ireland. Some 8,000 people, one for every mile of the route, will take part in the torch relay as it heads for the Olympic Stadium in east London for the opening ceremony on July 27. The oldest runner in the torch relay is a 100-year-old woman.
The London Club Chelsea have won the European Champions League final by defeating Bayern Munich in a penalty shoot-out 4-3. The match, played in Bayern Munich’s stadium ended 1-1 at the end of 90 and after extra time. Sky News reports veteran striker Didier Drogba scored the decisive spot kick to beat Bayern Munich and deliver the one trophy that Chelsea had never won. In regular time, Drogba's 88th-minute equalising header had cancelled out Thomas Muller's opener for Bayern just five minutes previously.