The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press:
The Times reports that the Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance will hold talks with the shareholders of the former National Bank amid the possibility of an out-of-court settlement in a 35-year case.
The Malta Independent says the rolling electoral register will raise the number of eligible voters by 3,000. It also says that the president of the PN executive Council has denied a claim by Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando that his letter on the dismissal of Richard Cachia Caruana from the PN will not be discussed at the next meeting of the Executive.
l-orizzont says that a court will decide today whether Silvio Mangion is mentally fit enough to stand trial on the third murder he alleged committed. He is already serving life and a 21-year sentence.
In-Nazzjon says a Eurostat report has confirmed how unemployment in Malta is among the lowest in the EU.
The overseas press
EU Observer reports that unemployment in the 17-country eurozone hit another record in May. Eurostat, the EU’s statistics office, said that the jobless rate rose to 17.6 million people or 11.1 per cent in May – 1.8 million higher than the year before. That is the highest since the euro was launched in 1999 and is expected to rise further in the coming months as the eurozone economy teeters on the edge of recession. Analysts say the eurozone’s May’s unemployment rate compares negatively with an unemployment rate of 8.2 per cent in the United States and only 4.4 per cent in Japan.
The Wall Street Journal says the British pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline has agreed to pay $3 billion to settle what US officials described as “the biggest healthcare fraud in American history”. The authorities said the company persistently broke US laws in the way it marketed its best-selling antidepressants for unapproved uses and failing to report safety data about a top diabetes drug.
ABC reports four staff members from the International Criminal Court are in the Netherlands after being released by the Libyan authorities after four weeks' detention. The team – including Australian International Criminal Court lawyer Melinda Taylor – had been accused of spying while visiting Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, son of deposed Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, in the town of Zintan. Saif al-Islam has been indicted by the ICC for crimes against humanity but Libya has insisted he should be tried by a Libyan court. The ICC team are still scheduled to appear before a court in Tripoli later this month for a final ruling on their case.
The New York Times says the UN human rights chief has warned of a major escalation of the crisis in Syria. Navi Pillay said the violence was being fuelled by an increasing flow of arms top both the government and the opposition. She also renewed her call for the UN Security Council to refer the conflict to the International Criminal Court.
Meanwhile, Istanbul Post reports say 85 Syrian soldiers, including a general and at least seven other officers, have crossed the border. They described it as one of the biggest military groups to defect to Turkey since the Syrian uprising began.
According to the Financial Times, British Prime Minister David Cameron has announced a parliamentary inquiry into the banking sector, following the revelations about interest rate manipulation by Barclays Bank. Its findings are to be incorporated into a new finance Bill.
Five million "test tube babies" have now been born around the world, according to research presented at a conference of fertility experts. The BBC says Delegates hailed it as a "remarkable milestone" for fertility treatments. The first test tube baby, Louise Brown, was born in the UK in July 1978. Her mother Leslie Brown died last month. However, delegates at the conference in Turkey warned couples not to use fertility treatment as an "insurance policy" if they delayed parenthood.
The European aerospace company Airbus says it plans to open its first assembly plant in the United States. La Tribune says the France-based company would build its A3-20 aircraft in the southern state of Alabama in a bid to increase its market share in the US.
La Hora says dozens of people have been injured in Guatemala in clashes between police and students protesting against educational reform. Among those injured are the ministers for education and the interior who were caught in the clashes in the south of the capital. The protesters, who are studying to become teachers, object to changes which would see the length of their university course increase.
CNN reports that hours after Mexico's presumed president-elect, Enrique Peña Nieto, said it was time for his country to leave behind the political rancor of the campaign season, his closest opponent in the polls, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, refused to concede defeat and said the vote had been "plagued by irregularities before, during and after the process ". His supporters protested nationwide. In Mexico City, they staged sit-ins and blockades. A quick count based on samples from polling stations throughout the country gave Peña Nieto the lead, with between 37.93 and 38.55 per cent. Peña Nieto pledged on Monday to focus on energy, labour and tax reforms and said he hoped to strike deals with opponents to help shepherd quick changes through Congress.