The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press
The Times reports how Parliament this evening will start debating Franco Debono’s motion on reforms in justice and home affairs. His motion on party financing is also due for debate shortly.
The Malta Independent reports how the Libyan partner of a lawyer found dead in April had tried to strangle her a month earlier. It also says that people are ignoring signs not to swim at Qalet Marku.
In-Nazzjon says NSO figures show a strong increase in women’s participation rate in employment.
l-orizzont quotes GWU General Secretary Tony Zarb reiterating the union’s commitment to fight precarious work.
The overseas press
The UN has said that a number of children in Syria have alleged they had been used a human shields by government troops to discourage attacks by opposition fighters. The BBC quotes the UN special representative for children and armed conflict, Radhika Coomaraswamy, also criticising the opposition Free Syrian Army for using children under 16 in front-line situations but she said there was no evidence they had been used in combat roles.
Meanwhile, Fox News reports that a UN report issued in New York early this morning, for the first time includes Syrian government forces and their allied "shabiha" militias on a list of 52 governments and armed groups that recruit, kill or sexually attack children in armed conflicts. It said that in Syhria, children as young as nine years old had been victims of killing and maiming, arbitrary arrest, detention, torture, and sexual violence, and have been used as human shields. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has expressed grave concern at "the unacceptably high, and growing, number" of long-term abusers of children.
UN monitors have said Syrian helicopters fired on rebel strongholds north of Homs and that many women and children are trapped in the city. Al Jazeera says the observers have called for "immediate and unfettered access" to the conflict zones, while in Haffeh, a mainly Sunni town near the Mediterranean coast, the US State Department said it feared a "potential massacre". It was the first time the UN has verified repeated allegations by activists that Assad's forces have fired from helicopters in the military crackdown on rebels. International envoy Kofi Annan said he was "gravely concerned" about the latest escalation of fighting by government and opposition forces in Syria.
In an interview with the Financial Times, European Commission president José Manuel Barroso has urged all 27 EU member states to submit their big banks to a single cross-border supervisor as part of a banking union to be enacted as soon as next year. Barroso’s proposal to put such a supervisor in place would give one EU authority power to wind down a bank and impose losses on bondholders without the approval of national authorities.
Governments in developed nations will have to raise retirement ages gradually to match increasing life expectancy. Deutsche Welle quotes OECD’s new pensions outlook reports for 2012 warning that failure to do so would make pension systems unaffordable. It said that over the next 50 years, life expectancy was expected to increase by more than seven years in industrialised nations. The report says increases in retirement ages are underway or planned in 28 out of the 34 OECD member countries, but those measures were expected to keep peace with improved life expectancy only in six nations for men and in 10 countries for women.
The Guardian leads with the Church of England’s opposition – “in scathing terms” – to the British Government’s plan to introduce same-sex marriage, calling it “one of the most serious threats” in its 500-year history. The paper says anxiety among Church leaders is so acute that they raise the spectre of disestablishment, warning that any attempt to alter the definition of marriage is a potential attack on the role of the Church itself and could fatally undermine the Church’s privileged position. The Church believes extending marriage rights to same sex couples is simply “a step too far”.
Kyiv Post says two high-profile EU representatives – former European Parliament president Pat Cox and former Polish president Aleksander Kwasniewski – are in Kiev to observe the legal proceedings against jailed former Ukrainian prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko, who is serving seven years in prison for abuse of office. The West has condemned the prosecution of Ms Tymoshenko as politically motivated and has called for her release. Senior EU officials are boycotting European Championship soccer matches hosted by Ukraine to protest the case.
A Libyan government spokesman has told ABC that Australian lawyer Melinda Taylor could buy her freedom by leading authorities to a key former regime henchman Mohammed Ismail, linked to Muammar Gaddafi's son Saif al-Islam. Taylor, a member of the International Criminal Court, is being held in what the Libyan government says is "preventative detention" after being arrested in the town of Zintan last week. They claim she tried to give Saif a coded letter from Ismail. ABC says Libyan government spokesman Mohamad Al-Hereizi said he and the rebels believe that Taylor knew where Ismail was hiding.
At the 2012 European football championships, Ukraine have won their opening maych against Sweden, 2-1, following a standout performance from Andriy Shevchenko. Nash Sport says the former AC Milan hitman put a stop to all talk about his age (he's 35) and carried Ukraine to a great victory in its first every European Championship game. On the other side of the field, Zlatan Ibrahimovic put in some solid work, scoring a goal and creating numerous opportunities for his side, but he was overshadowed by his more experienced counterpart. England's 1-1 draw against France drew praised from the British nationals. The Sun says the result sent expectations soaring once more. Lescott opened the score for England and Nasri equalised nine minutes later for France. Today, Greece face the Czech Republic at 6 p.m. and co-hosts Poland takes on Russia at 8.45 p.m.